Before returning to full time education in my mid-twenties I had spent seven years working on a farm. When I joined the Development Studies BA in 1980, I got involved with the practical work on the original Dev Farm including working with the draught oxen (Gunder and Frank). We soon moved across the road to a larger site that was referred to as the Rural Technology Unit (RTU).
The work with the oxen and the toolbar development continued with undergraduate and post graduate projects. In 1981 and 1982 we attended the Royal Agriculture Show at Stoneleigh, where Gunder and Frank were introduced to the Queen and the then Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Peter Walker.
During a vacation in 1982 we hosted a draught animal training course for VSO volunteers, who were all going to join projects involving draught animals. This training course gave them an opportunity to handle draught animals for the first time before departing to their various projects overseas.
In 1982/83 I spent time at the RTU carrying out research for my undergraduate dissertation. This was when there was a debate about what source of draught power was best for small holdings practising self-sufficiency. Using the draft oxen, a pair of Irish cobs (Boxer and Joe) and the Ferguson T20, I used a load cell to collect data on a range of field operations and then compared the energy efficiency, and the economic efficiency, of the three sources of draught power.
After graduating in the summer of 1983, and while waiting to start a PGCE, I worked as the RTU Technician to cover Don’s holiday leave. What could possibly go wrong? Nothing except the invasion of the New Age Travellers! Apparently, this convoy of various vehicles had been causing the police a headache as it travelled through Norwich. As they left the city via the Earlham Road they passed into the RTU. We had to get the oxen and the horses out of the field, which meant taking them off site. This was for the safety of the people and the animals, as the travellers were digging latrines and using the fence posts for making bonfires. It took some time to restore order when they had gone.
While completing my PGCE in 1983/4 I developed the RTU Farm Trail, a resource for schools with two activity-based trail sheets for school students. These were piloted in spring 1984 with students from Swaffham High School.
Picture 4
It was a great privilege to be able to work with the animals, especially Boxer and Joe who were previously owned by Mr Seaman on a holding near Beccles. They joined the RTU to take part in the research into draught power and later they went to work with Friends of the Earth in Bristol collecting newspapers for recycling.
Dr Glenn Strachan
- January 2023
