Old Pond publishing days

The first Doncaster-produced Farmall M and the last CX

Nearly at the end of filming for Stuart Gibbard's new DVD, McCormick International - the Doncaster Years. This week we spent a day at the Cambridgeshire farm of Stephen Haylock and his son Matthew.

Peter Neale came to the farm and drove his very special machine: the very first Doncaster-produced McCormick tractor. Farmall M, September 1949.

Stephen Haylock owns the very last CX off the line (right), McCormick CX 105 XtraShift, July 2007.

Then there's his Diamond Edition CX 105 from 2006 (left).

Not to mention the restored Coronation Model Super BMD (right).

Finally, Matthew put their Interntional BTD 5 (left)through its paces on the heavy clay soil.

The Rural World of Eric Guy - forthcoming book

From the 1930s to the 1960s commercial photographer Eric Guy apture the rural world from his base at Basingsoke and Reading. Guy was a countryman through and through, working almost exclusively on agriculture and country life. He operated mainly in Berkshire, south Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, north Hampshire and south and west Buckinghamshire. When he retired in 1963, the Museum of English Rural Life, Reading, bought his negatives and copyrights.

Jonathan Brown, Honorary Fellow of the museum, has selected 176 images from the 2,000 held there. The topics these portray include: farms and estates; cereals and sheep on the Downs; cattle, dairying, pigs and poultry, working horses and the change to mechanization; the Second World War; the village scene and crafts. Dr Brown has supported the photographs with a knowledgeable text and captions.

The Rural World of Eric Guy by Jonathan Brown, paperback 128 pages including 176 photographs. ISBN 978-1-905523-87-0. Now in stock, £9.95.

Plant Names Simplified - now in stock

"Dahlia, dah-le-a; named after Andreas Dahl, a Swedish botanist and pupil of Linnaeus. Originally (and still in America) pronounced dah-le-a and not day-le-a as commonly heard. All dahlias usually grown are hybrids from species rarely seen in gardens. Half-hardy tuberous herbaceous plants.

COCCINEA, kok-sin-e-a, scarlet

IMPERIALIS, im-peer-e-a-lis, powerful

JUAREZII, ju-a-re-zei, after Juarez

MERCKII, merk-ei, after Merck

VARIABILIS, var-e-ab-il-is, variable coloured

ZIMAPANII, zim-ap-a-nei, after Zimapan."

This glossary contains over a thousand entries like the one above, the aim of the authors being to remove the 'awkward obstacle' that these names can present. In recent years this classic aid for the gardener and plant lover has been published by Landsmans Bookshop. Old Pond has agreed to take the book over.

Plant Names Simplified, A.T. Johnson & H.A. Smith, paperback 180 x 120 mm, 128 pages. ISBN 978-1-905523-82-5. £7.25, available now.

Astrid Massey - growing up in Germany 1928-45

H W Freeman (see post 16 April) and his wife Betty were the centre of a group of friends/helpers attracted by their personalities and lifestyles. Betty's closest friend was probably Astrid Massey who, like Betty, was a German expatriate. Astrid, a generation younger than Betty, took over from the older woman when she retired from teaching German classes at Suffolk College, Ipswich.

Astrid in about 1944

When Astrid died in 2005 she left pencil jottings in which she had sketched for her four adult children an account of growing up in Germany. Her widower, Harry, has collated the notes and published them under the title 'Astrid's Book'.

Few of us who knew the precise, hard-working and very helpful person when we attended her evening classes could have guessed at the backgound revealed by the book. Astrid Ziolkowski, born in 1928 near Bremerhaven in north Germany, grew up in a poor but close family against the backgound of the immense changes in Germany. Astrid describes some of the impact of these changes and the differing attitudes of members of her family to the Nazi regime. Astrid herself 'danced for Hitler'.

When she was quite young Astrid moved with her family to Hamburg. In July 1943 they were there during the three nights of carpet bombing. Her unemotional description of how she survived is riveting.

After the bombing came evacuation to Bavaria and the confusion and poverty of the end of the war when she had to come to terms with the loss of family members. Her story ends happily when she meets and marries Harry who was with the British occupying forces.

If you would like to read a truthful, concise account of one person's experience growing up in Germany between the wars, then you should look at 'Astrid's Book'. It is obtainable at £6.95 from Harry Massey, 48 Holcombe Crescent, Ipswich IP2 9PW, United Kingdom. Phone 01473 683090. The book includes photographs.

JCBs filmed

On Saturday 13th we were lucky to have a perfect day a day filming some excellent machines for Tim Starkey-Smith's forthcoming history of the JCB backhoe loader. For more information about the programme see blog 24 August.

Mike Eacock of Wildmoor, near Bromsgrove, has a wonderful collection of restored machines. This is his 3DII (left), with Caribbean cab and tinted glass. The parallel lift loader comes complete with a 4-in-1 shovel. The backhoe loader dates back to 1972.

A year older, and awaiting restoration, is this rare 4DII (right).

Tim Starkey-Smith put Mike's JCB1 Gravedigger (left) through its paces. It was first built in 1963.

Then he showed off the 25 cwt ID Dumper (right), dating from 1964.

A couple of junctions north up the M5 Russell Harper showed us his early 1957 Hydradigga / Major loader (left). Not a runner - yet!

Hy-Mac holiday

We're just back from a week in Crete. Flew out with BA on Terminal 5, Day 2 fearing the worst. No problems. No problem coming back to T5, either.

In western Crete we walked down the Imbros gorge following the path taken in 1944 by 12,000 servicemen looking to be evacuated from the island after the German invasion. The 5-mile gorge ends in the south at the Mediterranean with Africa over the horizon.

Looking towards Africa was a friend from Gt Yeldham, Essex: Hy-Mac serial no. 1225-570.

Know Your Sheep - new book in stock

First-time author Jack Byard has come up with a simple recipe for a new book. He was surprised to discover that children in Yorkshire schools thought that 'a sheep was a sheep and they were all the same'. He was even more surprised to learn how difficult it was to get clear information about sheep breeds that he could hand out. So he prepared for himself the book he wanted.

Know Your Sheep is a pocket-sized paperback, 88 pages including 41 photographs. ISBN 978-1-905523-83-2. Published 6th April by Old Pond. Price £4.99.

The book contains details of the 41 pure breeds that Jack thinks 'you are most likely to see on your rambles in the British countryside.' To each breed he dedicates two pages: one is a photograph showing the animal in a typical setting; the other is a concise description. This covers the breed's distinguishing appearance, history, range and uses.