Broodmare Fencing.

Broodmare Fencing.

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This was the style of fencing that was errected at the Gardeners and Moor Hall paddocks for the Cliveden Stud broodmares and their foals. With one exception that it was a double fence with a hawthorn hedge planted in between to act as a windbreak and shelter. Moor Hall paddocks had an open wood and corrugated iron shelters as well if it should rain.

The wood rail fences were taken down in 1945 and the wood use for other construction around the farm and was replaced with a barbwire and post construction.

Brood Mares and Foals.

Brood Mares Crossing.

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Before we go on to other historic buildings on White place farm, I would like to point out for purpose fenced fields that were set aside as pastures for the stud mares fall is during the summer months from the early 1920s until the farm became a tuberculin attested establishment in 1936.

The stable lads would bring the mares and foals down from the stud farm at Clievden across the River Thames using a chain ferry, marked on the photograph with "X's." after that period it fell into disuse and became waterlogged, and was swept away during the 1947 flood. There was a ramp up from the riverbank and through a wrought iron gate onto the pasture of White Place Farm.

The first two pastures were right next to the Islet Park Estate of Mr. Wagg a London, Banker. These fields were named "Upper and Lower Gardeners." You can see this indicated on the photo. This

The next two fields were quite some way from the river crossing, and were known as Moor Hall West and East. Later these two fields were used as pastures for dry and in calf heifers and cows will stop they were separate from the main herds, and the Dry Stockman would give them concentrates every day to steam them up before calving.

How to read a Village.

"How to Read a Village."
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This wonderful book, written by Dr. Richard Muir, has to be a very handy reference book for anyone studying any village in Britain. I received a copy as a Christmas present from my wife Deborah. Already, several passages have enlightened me, how a village like Cookham grew from the earliest times.

One of the sources it can be obtained from, are the publishers of "This England." Located in Cheltenham Gloucestershire.

Three Timers Milking Parlour.

Three Timers

Milking Parlour.

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When this new purpose built milking parlour was built in 1936-37 is was to not only produce high quality milk, but to produce as much as possible by milking three times a day. This was the schedule that was used. Milking was started at 4:00 a.m. 12:00 noon and at 8:00 p.m. This resulted the the cowmen having to rotate four or five shifts. After milking and the cows and turning them out to pasture, they would wash down the parlour. wash and sterilze all the equipment and flush out and use steam to clean all the pipe work from the parlour to the dairy.

Before they left to go home they would go up into the loft above the parlour and refill the hoppers with cattle suppliment such as linseed cake or similar type consentrate. The system ran very effectively for two years, until the war in 1939 and blackout restrictions made it impossible, and they had to result in returning to milking twice a day.

Due to labour reductions and a scaling down of the herd, this parlour was closed down and milking continued with the old bucket and churn method from the two older cowsheds.

Finally in the end the equipment and pipework was taken out and it became a barn for rearing capon chicken, but this venture did not prove successful as the birds had to have their upper mandibile cut to kerb the fighting in such close quarters. Then the risk of fowl pest raised its ugly head, and that put and end to that venture.

The Field Water Trough.

The Field Water Trough.

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Before I carry on with the milking parlour, which was purpose built in 1937. I would like to touch on the extensive work that was carried out on the various permanent pastures of the farm. For instance, one of the rules to become a tuburculin attested farm, is that an insulation perimeter fence be built. 6 feet away from any boundary fence, where there is a risk of contamination from non-tested neighbouring cattle, such as those on Widbrook Common.

Another requirement that was required, was that all pastures had to have a supply of clean fresh water. No longer would the cattle be allowed to drink water from the local Widbrook stream. This entailed a tremendous amount of re-fencing, and a all new fresh water network of pipes be laid to each of the pastures and the installation of new water troughs, as shown in the drawing above.

As you can imagine, this provided a lot of work for both a skilled and unskilled labour force to complete the job, as all the pipe work had to be laid underground by hand. You only have to look at the map of White Place Farm, to see the extent of the work that was involved. As every pasture from the river to Sutton Road, was included in the scheme, except the fields of Upper and Lower Gardners, which were next to the Islet Park, and those of Moor Hall and Sutton North and South, which took their water from the Rural water supply.

In the early days, Upper and Lower Gardners, and the Moor Hall fields, were used exclusively by the Cliveden Stud farm for their broodmares. More about these fields will be discussed, when I touch on the Cliveden Stud Farm in a future blog.

The Milk Churn Truck.

The Milk Churn Truck.

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I am not sure if this device was factory made or something that was made by the village blacksmith Tom Emmett. The reason I say this is due to the fact in all my research on dairy farm equipment. I could not find any reference to such a tool. Mind, I hasten to point out that this was a very modern farm, and at all space between dairy buildings were either finished in concrete or tarmacadam surface, even the holding yard and entry into the milking parlour was finished off with concrete, all of which were washed down with a hose every day.

This of course made it very easy for the cowman to trundle the milk churns when full to the dairy for processing, and return with with clean empty ones to the cowshed.

My drawing uses a full-size ten-gallon churn and the sketch is from memory. It was similar to the farms sack truck or barrow, except that the weight was supported on a hook which fitted into the handle on the churn, and two bars kept the churn from rolling sideways. The original had cast-iron wheels, then if my memory serves me correctly, Ernie Holland, who was the farm engineer at the time, came up with two solid rubber wheels which he fitted. It certainly cured a lot of squeaks and rattles when it was trundled across the pavement to the dairy.

Early Cowsheds # 19 and 20 on the map.

Two Early Cowsheds.

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I think it is necessary to keep the milking scene in sequence, as things happened at White Place Farm to show how the second Lord Astor progressed with building his model and most modern farm, especially in the 1920's and 30's.

Building is 19 and 20 on the farm map, were the first cowsheds to be converted to milking machine use in the early 1920's. Building 21 was a purpose-built building shortly afterwards, but it was taller and more airer, with plenty of light, plus it had a foot bath for the cattle to walk through both entering and leaving the cowshed. The older buildings 19 and 20 did not have this facility at all. Lighting for these buildings could have been one of the DeLaval vacuum pumps, but instead it was powered from a generator located in the pumphouse, (building 26 on your farm map.) This remained in use until mains power arrived in 1943.

This early vacuum unit is a compact view of the system and shows the option of having an electric generator run off the vacuum pump petrol or diesel motor.

This diagram is to show the plan layout of both buildings 19 and 20, building 21 was much larger with a similar layout. As for the stalls and milking machine. The blue line is the vacuum piping which was installed in about 6 feet and the crossover the doorway was about 8 feet.

This is an example of an early bucket unit in the 1920's. Note the four teat cups affixed to what was known as the claw, and the heart of the system or pulsator mounted on top of the lid of the bucket. After every milking, the units were taken apart and cleaned and reassembled in the dairy.

As the cattle spent quite a time in the cowshed. It was necessary that each cow should have their own drinking fountain or bowl. Figure "A" was the nose operated tap, that when depressed, water would flow into the bowl from the water pipe "B."