Old Pond publishing days

All change at Old Tractor magazine

"I shall remain as editor of Old Tractor for the next three months but the March 2010 issue will be my last in that role."

The words are those of Stuart Gibbard in an email to contributors and friends, 9 November.

Working on a freelance basis, Stuart has edited and produced Old Tractor since its inception in 2003. The December issue is number 75. Readers know that they are guaranteed excellent photographs and in-depth features, edited to a high standard.

The new editor will be Scott Lambert, currently the designer of Tractor & Machinery magazine. The change reflects owner Kelsey Publishing's policy of taking all its titles in house in order to make optimal use of its employed staff.

Stuart continues: "My position is now fluid and I have been asked to move to the position of group editorial consultant with increased input over all the Kelsey tractor titles as well as contributing to Tractor & Machinery, Old Tractor and others in the group."

In response to his email Stuart has received many replies expressing astonished disappointment and support.

Kings of Construction DVD off the list

Unfortunately Old Pond is unable to obtain reliable supplies of the popular Discovery channel DVD set Kings of Construction although it is included in our latest catalogue. We are unable to fulfil orders and are refunding any that we hold.

Old Pond at the Newark Show

Old Pond Publishing will have a stand in the Newark Pavilion at the show on 6 and 7 November. Several people have phoned to ask us to reserve books or DVDs for collection at the event, and we are happy to do so: 01473 238200.

A plague on both your houses! (The postal strike)

Old Pond has decided that its first reaction to the postal stoppages is to send all UK orders of £30 or more by DHL 48 hour service. There is no extra charge for our customers. 

Carl White's photograph book launch

Snape Maltings, East Suffolk, was the venue for the launch of Bells Beneath the Sea, published by Old Pond. (See also blog 28 August.)

Artist photographer Carl White signed copies of his new book in the Snape Gallery. Hung on the walls around him was a selection of his prints which are on display and sale there for another week.

Among those attending the launch were, from the left: Andrew Hurst who contributed the book's Foreword; Carl White; television journalist Tom Heap, principal speaker; Peter Raby of Homerton College, Cambridge.

Peter Boulton's photograph book launch

David Kindred’s book Hadleigh: the portrait of a Suffolk town – the photographs of Peter Boulton was recently launched at Hadleigh library under the auspices of the Idler bookshop.

We were fortunate that members of Peter Boulton’s family were able to attend. In the photograph, from left to right, are Rona Dyer, Nigel Rea, Marie Boulton, Anne and Clare Rea and author David Kindred.  Marie Boulton is Peter’s widow; Anne and Clare are his daughter and grand-daughter.

Rona Dyer worked for Boulton-Hawker Films for forty-eight years when they were based in Hadleigh. Nigel Rea (married to Anne) continues to run Boulton-Hawker Films  with Peter’s son David. B-HF, now based near Stowmarket, is a major supplier of DVD teaching programmes for schools and similar institutions. Nigel also runs Ibis Multimedia.

The new book contains an Appreciation of Peter Boulton by his son David and daughter Anne. An extensive review of the book based on this Appreciation appeared in the East Anglian Daily Times on Saturday 3 October.

More information about this book is in the blog of 5 June. You can buy a copy online at Old Pond.

Wartime Weekend Film Show

Wantisden Valley, whose annual event 'Power of the Past' is fondly remembered (it ran from 1996 to 2004) is starting a new event this year. We don't expect such a feast of working machinery although organiser Kate Leith says that quite a lot will be there. 'Wartime Weekend' takes place on 26-27 September.

As the poster shows, there will be lots of activities relating to the Second World War. The items listed are: steam threshing - steam wood-sawing and ploughing - vintage tractors working - tanks and military vehicles in operation - Land Army girls - 1940s dance demonstrations and classes - 1940s fashion show and cookery - children's funfair - archive film showing.

The archive film show is Old Pond's contribution. But rather than show just our own programmes we are working with Panamint Cinema, a Scottish company which specialises in transferring 'forgotten' documentaries to DVD.

The following are some of the films we shall show:

A Welcome to Britain. A War Office film from 1943 starring Burgess Meredith, Beatrice Lillie and Bob Hope showing what GIs could expect when they arrived over here, from country pubs to racial integration.

The True Story of Lili Marlene (1944) shows the progress of the war through the German and Allied troops' adoption of the Lili Marlene song. A Humphrey Jennings film featuring Marius Goring.

Women and Children at War is a collection of short documentaries from 1940-1943. Land Girls, the Women's Institute, a rural school, evacuees and factory workers are among the themes in this stirring programme.

Another collection of programmes from 1940 to 1944 gives a snapshot of how the services and civilians stood up to the threat of Germany. We Forgot About Germany includes appearances by Leslie Howard and Bernard Miles.

Four war-time farming films showing the seasons in 1941 to 1942 make up The Crown of the Year. The farms featured are from Dorset, Herefordshire, Lancashire, Cheshire and Norfolk.

Wantisden Valley is a few miles north of Woodbridge, Suffolk, off to the east of the A12. There will be plenty of signs leading in from the A12 itself.

26 and 27 September: 10.00 am to 5.00 pm.

Click on the map to the left to enlarge it.

Footpath conservation, Hoy, Orkney

Like so many other visitors to Orkney I was keen to see the Old Man of Hoy, the stack made famous in 1966 by Chris Bonington and colleagues as the first televised climb.

To reach it you walk a couple of miles over a headland from Rackwick, which is down at sea level. However, all these boots have an erosive impact, so it was no real surprise to find some path conservation going on.

The Volvo EC30 was being operated by Andrew Coleman, one of the partners in Highland Conservation Ltd.

The company was established in 1992 by Andrew and his partner John Urquhart. After four years' practical experience Andrew obtained more training from the Ross and Cromarty Footpath Trust.

Both the EC30 and the EC20B were tracked up to the working area.

The relatively slight gradient means that the path can be restored without the escessive use of stone, and this is lighter on the walker's feet. Indeed, the path was a pleasure to be on.

Highland Conservation has a website at www.highlandconservation.com

Raising beef on Orkney

Just back from a week's holiday in Orkney, first visit to this collection of islands off the north coast of Scotland.

This is the view from Ramsquoy farm where Mona Swannie runs a bed and breakfast while husband Jim farms with their grandson.

Ramsquoy is in the parish of Stenness on Mainland, the largest of Orkney's seventy islands. Across the sound is the low-lying small island of Graemsay and then the hills of Hoy.

The hay and silage harvest is in full swing just now. This baler was at work at Gearsan in the parish of Deerness at the east of Mainland. In three weeks' time it will be the turn of the barley harvest. Everywhere we went we saw large rectangular fields of grass or barley.

The grass and barley are for livestock feed and bedding. On some islands such as Rousay we saw more sheep than cattle, but on Mainland it was cattle that were more numerous.

Jim Swannie is a beef producer. He runs three holdings, the Ramsquoy one which he owns and two others which are rented. He stocks about a hundred breeding cows and runs four bulls with them, currently two Simmental and two Charolais.

The cattle are grazed outside from the end of April to the end of October after which they are housed to prevent the grass becoming poached. This is when adequate supplies of silage and barley become essential.

For thirty years Jim has reinvested all his earnings on the farm. One of the results is this highly efficient slatted housing unit. Another is his water supply: from a spring on high ground he takes water to troughs in all areas of his farm by piping buried four feet deep.

The cows have roughly a ten-year breeding life and Jim breeds his own replacements. The beef is supplied to Orkney Meat Ltd, established in 1982 in Kirkwall, the main market town of Orkney. It is marketed under the Orkney Island Gold banner.

The Charolais bull and followers are standing in a field which several years ago was rough heather but is now well on its way to becoming good grazing. Jim re-seeds his grass every two to three years.

It was really heartening to see a side of agriculture that appears to be prosperous and expanding, keeping people and livestock on the land.

A new tractor restoration website

'Reborn Tractor: farmyard to showground' will be focusing on restoration. It will include professional restorers' projects and trade tips and 'an interactive enthusiast's project area where registered users can document their own restorations.' The website is announced to be launched soon: www.reborntractor.net