# 2. Sheriffs Court Farm

Sheriffs Court Farm is at the bottom of Sheriffs Court Lane. In 1976 at 600 acres (243 hectares) it was a reasonable sized farm. Crops grown on the farm were potatoes, onions, wheat, barley and peas. The farm was run by Fred Fuller and he had 6 men working for him. Norman Holden, Tom Cully, Ron Fuller, Bob Hood, Percy Huckstep & Fred Kulzer, and when needed, a regular group of women which included Brenda Graham, Eve Hiscoke and Val West. With at least a dozen tractors ranging from a brand new John Deere 3130, to a 25 year old Fordson Major's, and a new New Holland 1540 combine.

Compared with some other farms, it was quite a small staff. Monkton Court at that time, with its turkeys, dairy herd, sheep and arable crops, probably had 20 full-time male staff and half a dozen women. Montgomery's along Seamark Road, the biggest cauliflower farm in the area, would have a similar number of full-time men. Even some of the smaller, 200 acre farms, had 8 to 10 full time staff. Most of these farms such as Hoo Farm and Willet's at Acol, which grew mainly early potatoes, cauliflowers and cabbages, were very labour intensified.

The layout of the main farm buildings at Sheriffs Court is much the same today as it was in 1976, although all 3 of the big barns were then open ended. Most of the farm’s machinery was left outside for most of the year behind the barns. Like most farms in those days nothing was ever thrown away, nearly all farms then had a couple of acres that were covered in mainly obsolete or broken machinery. This was still an age when spare parts, nuts and bolts were often salvaged from old machinery, as to buy new was expensive and delivery could take weeks. As a teenager I often had the job of mending wooden seed trays and to do the job I would be given a hammer and a bucket full of old, mostly bent, rusty nails.

This was still a time when apart from combinable crops, everything was crated or put into bags on farm. In 1976 palleted goods were only just being used on farms. Forklift trucks were only designed for working on factory floors. Sheriffs Court had an old Coventry Climax forklift which would come to a standstill in the smallest puddle outside a barn. Pallets were then not commonplace and often palleted goods would only leave the farm or goods delivered if empty pallets were exchanged for loaded ones. Fertiliser and seed potatoes all came in 1cwt (50kg) bags and all had to be man handled at some point.

At Sheriffs Court, most of the cereal crops would have to be moved off the farm either as they were harvested or within a few weeks after being cut, as the floor space was needed to store the late potatoes. There were no fronts to the barns and with tin sides, the barns had to be lined with bales of straw for frost protection. When the potatoes were in the barn they would be covered with hessian and up to 2 foot of loose straw, again for frost protection.

Next Month: more on farming in 1976/77.

*Terry Marsh*

Originally published in the Monkton News (October 2024).