New book out today, not published by me however I have stock of it, Farming Isle by Anita and Alan Hardcastle, price £8.95. It is an history of the farms in the Isle of Thanet, I haven’t had a chance to read it yet however a first glance shows it to be a detailed well researched book that quotes its sources.This from the preface:
Some three years ago we bought a pencil and sepia wash sketch in auction, dated August, 1814, and entitled, ‘A Farmhouse at Manston, near Ramsgate’, by an H.Scott. Believing it would be a relatively easy task to research the location where this had been drawn, we set out to identify it through local archives. We drew a complete blank. Not only couldn’t we easily uncover the identity of this farm, but it also became apparent that so little information regarding the history of farming in Thanet had survived. We felt this to be major loss to the history of the Isle, considering the importance of the industry to the past economy of the district. Therefore, we decided to form our own archive to pass on to future generations wishing to research the subject. We set about interviewing those who had been connected to farming locally. Not only those whose families had once run farms in the area, but also former, farm labourers, in order to form a balanced perspective of past events. Photographs, genealogical material and other documentation began to pour in to swell the archive we were collating.
Read on
Michael, you need to talk to David Linnington of Somali Farm Birchington. He has an extensive archive of local farming pictures, films and such. I have a copy of a film made by his father of the 1953 floods.
ReplyDeleteThanks Ken I have passed it on to the authors of the book, any chance of getting a copy of the film?
ReplyDeleteAlso please always remember if you have local material that could be included in one of my publications it preserves it permanently for future generations.
Michael, a Miss R K I Quested, whose family farmed at Woodchurch, revised a 2nd edition in 2001 of her "The Isle of Thanet Farming Community" (ISBN 0 9529147 1 9). fascinating stuff for those agriculturaly inclined.
ReplyDeleteWe wish to point out that 'Farming Isle' deals with the subject in quite a different way to Rosemary Quested's book of 1996. Her excellent volume is a concise work of 281 pages, and as is suggested by the title, is written from the perspective of a farmer's daughter. It does what is says on the tin, giving the reader a general historical overview of the farming community in Thanet. Farming Isle is the first in a series of books dealing with the histories of individual farming sites, and each of these are worthy of in-depth research. As the bulk of our research material has been from private sources, not that already held in the public domain, it should record rather than simply transmit historical fact. We have also attempted to achieve a balance between social divisions with our work, and it's written in such a way as to represent the standpoint of both land owner and agricultural worker. This has been possible to achieve as we are 'outsiders' to the local farming community. As a professional historian, and out of the great personal respect that I have for Ms Quested, I would certainly not attempt a simple rehash of her volume.
ReplyDeleteRegards,
Alan C Hardcastle
Michael also stocks a directory we have produced, which lists all people involved in agriculture in Thanet in 1881: farmers, market gardeners; dairymen, millers and Ag. Lab's. This gives names, addresses, ages, occupations and places of birth for each entry.
ReplyDeleteA4. Spiral bound. 67 pages.
Priced at £5.95
THANET FARMS ARCHIVE.