As part
of his survey of Tickhill in 1942-43, the late Dennis Stables
investigated local farms. Of the 29 farms in the parish, he
surveyed the 14 largest ones (of at least 80 acres). Whereas
mixed farming was predominant before the war, about three
quarters of the land in the parish was devoted to arable farming
during the war. This reflects the national trend which saw
a doubling in the production of cereal and potato crops during
the war compared to immediate pre-war years. Only Stud Farm,
of those farms in the survey, did not grow potatoes but other
vegetable crops were left to small-holders apart from peas,
grown at Folds Farm. Thanks to the Ministry of Agriculture
subsidising fertilisers, these were widely used, especially
compound artificial manure, phosphate, nitrate and potash
on land around Tickhill. The increased output was also made
possible by reclaiming ‘bad lands’ and extending
cultivation; during 1939-45 some 6.5 million new acres were
ploughed nationally. Tickhill’s unproductive land along
the River Torne was ploughed during 1941-3 but it was poorly
drained, a situation not completely remedied until the 1960s.
Although nationally there was a considerable decrease in
the numbers of sheep, pigs and poultry, in an effort to reduce
imported animal feedstuffs, several Tickhill farms still had
flocks of sheep, and Sandrock Farm was renowned for its Wessex
Saddleback pigs, winners of prizes at the Great Yorkshire
Show before the war. (The Show was held at Doncaster in 1938.)
The number of hens kept on many farms was cut back because
eggs were rationed but Folds Farms and Sandrock still had
sizeable flocks of poultry. Bagley and Stud Farms with low-lying
fields beside the Goole Dike specialised in dairy farming.
Every one of the larger farms used horses, mainly for draught
purposes, but Stables notes that tractors were being more
widely used. Thanks to tractors imported from Australia, Canada
and the USA, Britain had 175,000 tractors by 1945 compared
to 55,000 in 1939.
The number of regular workers employed on Tickhill’s
larger farms ranged between one and eight. All but one of
the farms employed extra workers to help at harvest time.
Eight farms employed women as regular workers. A further three
farms employed women as seasonal workers, for example at potato
picking time. Stables does not indicate if they were Land
Army women (90,000 were recruited nationally). It is likely
that school children were also employed in the summer. In
1942 school children worked an estimated 10 million hours
on farms nationally.
Statistics on farming in Tickhill in 1942 based on
Dennis Stables’ survey
Some of the farms in Stables’ survey no longer exist.
Three of the farms were in the centre of Tickhill: Rawson’s
Farm was on the north side of Sunderland Street near the cricket
ground, Golden Hill Farm was on the west side of Northgate,
now Buttercross Court, and Count’s Farm was further
along Northgate, now Gant Court.
Location of some other farms:
Folds: southern edge of Tickhill near Sandbeck Estate
Bagley: due south of Lindrick
Gallow Hill: north west of Dadsley Wells Farm
Spital Croft: south east of Wilsic Hall
South Wongs: southern edge of Tickhill, just west of Worksop
Road
Sandrock: eastern side of Stripe Road, near Tickhill Spital
Stud Farm: south of the Castle
Information on farming nationally from Land at war: The official
story of British Farming 1939-1944, The Stationery Office,
2001.
Also some details on wartime farming as well as post-war
farming are in British agricultural policy since the Second
World War by J K Bowers, Agricultural History Review 1985,
vol 33, pages 66-76, accessible on website http://www.bahs.org.uk/backnumbers/33fastview.pdf
Use of Dennis Stables’ survey courtesy of the Stables
family.
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