A wet summer if not as wet as Gloucs* or Worcs has left the harvest on the proverbial knife edge. Lots of sun now it could be good-more rain, a disaster. Some farmers are actually starting on the harvest. The images above taken around Hutton may give an impression of golden bounty in an attractive landscape but it is going to be a lot of finger crossing hard work before the harvest is safely in. In the place of the numerous farm workers of the 19th century we now have the huge mechanical harvesters-one of the Laird's was so tall that it interfered with the power cables and plunged greater Hutton and metropolitan Paxton into darkness-this a couple of years ago. It is the Laird's 'Hollander' pictured above and you can see from one image that all it has achieved so far is a deeply rutted track and probably precious little grain. But today is dry and windy which should help to get work started.

* Dr Foster
Went to Gloucester,
In a shower of rain.
He went into a puddle
Up to his muddle
And subsequently sued
the Environmental Agency

(attrib: Piers Ploughmans-Lunch, 'Nursery Tales Spun and Tweaked 2007 (out of print))

Labels: Hutton, Laird, Merse

  ¶ 11:04 AM