Oral History with children of Local Primary School at Dunham Massey.

In addition to the performance, children of Oldfield Brow School also had a chat to Ron Hutchinson (who was born in Dunham Massey) about how he and other children used to harvest potatoes at the local farms in the school holidays.

Gina and Ron Hutchinson enthral the children with fascinating tales of  'the privvy'

Ron was born at Brook Cottage and told horrifying (!) tales of having to go to the privvy on cold wet, black nights!
We will transcribe the tales and put them here as soon as possible.

Gina's wonderful collection and display of

agricultural life in Dunham Massey

Many thanks too to Gina who brought along her collection of local photos...which help put the stories into perspective.

Local Primary School children perform their very particular Food Heritage Story

Year 6 children from the local Primary School have worked hard to produce a play in a day!
Children travelled to the  wonderful Dunham Massey Village Hall to work on the history of nightsoil and vegetables travelling 'to and fro' along the canal that runs as the end of their school playground.

Drawing a victorian potato seller from Potato Wharf

The pupils learned about the story of nightsoil collection from Salford and Manchester, its transportation out to the local fields as fertiliser, and the return on the same boat (!) of local crops to Potato Wharf and the City's markets.

Artist Rory Lynch works with the children

The children created the story for  'Remembering the Food Cycle' with reference to the Forgotten Fields research.
Using stories of local people and places they created characters, props and the set for the play.

The nightsoil cart...props cut out for the production

Characters include the Lord Mayor of Manchester, his maid, the nightsoil man and unhappy co-workers, Mr Jackson (market gardener, Lime Tree House)
and the potato dealer at Castlefield.
Props include 'the privvy, the night-soil horse and cart, the canal-boat, the heap of night-soil, the potato dealer's barrow, the toilet bucket, and the Manchester Times, 14th April, 1849.
The set included a Potato Wharf Warehouse and the Oxnoble Pub at Castlefield (named after a potato).

Dress rehearsal!

The children wrote their own scripts and practiced crab like moves across the stage to keep their 'characters' facing the audience!

 Mrs T created a wonderful rhythmn piece in costume with children not on the stage.

The whole performance was filmed by Rory and we hope to be able to show this soon...
Watch this space!

Night-soil Information shared at Abbey Leys Farmer's Market

On Sunday we had an interesting morning talking to people at the Abbey Leys Farmer's Market about the availability of locally grown food for the City's markets. 

There was lots of interest in the role of the canal and a good deal of disgust at the thought of using the returning night-soil boat for the transport of farm food to the city!

A busy Sunday morning at the Market

We would like to know more about the locally grown vegetables that were carried via the Bridgewater Canal from market gardeners such as Mr Jackson at Lime Tree House at Dunham Massey whose field backed onto the waterside. I'm told that his vegetables were loaded from the wooden pier there for transport into Castlefield.

Not really directly related... but amusing nonetheless: a resident of Stockton Heath retold his childhood story: 

Making the connection with Kindling's current growing initiatives.

''My grandmother, Marjorie Coombes, (born around about 1916) lived at Greenhalls Avenue, Stockton Heath...told me that in some of the houses, (I don't know if it was hers or her neighbours).... that didn't have ginnels, the night-soil men, to get through to the back to the night soil, had to come through the house to empty the pan, to carry it back through to empty it into the cart!

The other story that I remember, she told me when I was very young...when she was a little girl just after the first world war...the night soil man who drove the cart, he had one arm - he lost one arm in the first world war she said that one day the horse got startled by...and I think she said it was the swing bridge in Stockton Heath...I don't know what startled her but the horse either reared or bolted and the night soil men in the front of the cart ended up in the back of the cart covered in whatever was in the back!''

 

Copyright Training

Concentartion in Copyright training - there's a lot to take in!

Jan Hicks, Archives & Information Manager from MOSI (Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester), has given ten of us an enjoyable, clear and thought-provoking training on understanding copyright.
The trainees have come from all backgrounds: volunteers for Kindling, the National Trust, and the NW Heritage Seed Library at Ordsall Hall as well as representatives from organisations such as Cheshire Garden's Trust, Dunham WI and the Wooden Canal Boat Society.
Topics covered:
What is copyright?
How does it come into existence?
Who owns copyright?
How long does it last?
How does copyright apply to paintings, drawings, photographs, maps, works of architecture and artistic craftsmanship?
Management of copyright including Documentation, Licenses vs full transfer of rights, Explaining copyright to interviewees and caring for the documents,images and sound recordings.

Phew!...all explained clearly by Jan
flapjacks - homemade apple and raspberry from the allotment 
Some useful unexpected contacts were made between previously unconnected groups in the brief networking catchup at the end.

Comments: ''Such a useful session - Thanks!''

''We're not just Potato Pickers - we're Archeologists!''

Victorian Potato Pickers

Volunteers picked the last few rows of  potatoes at the  National Trust's Little Heath Farm, Dunham Massey.

What an enjoyable and worthwhile day! 

Fantastic company,

really helpful and hardworking, 

the volunteers were wonderful....

Their enthusiasm for the historical context, support and engagement with the task in hand was much appreciated.

Night-soil treasures were uncovered as we dug into the soil with a real sense of wonder at making the connection with this grubby but productive part of our heritage.

All volunteers getting stuck in!

All enjoying a day of   November sunshine in beautiful surroundings.

Castlefield Event - the boat arrives at Potato Wharf

The eagerly awaited crop  of Dunham new potatoes arrive at Castlefield

The event captures the attention of  passing crowds

A display on the Arena steps showed the historical research and had activities for children and adults alike including dressing-up and a self-led food heritage trail

Cardboard cutouts in period costume were created for interactive posing and storytelling.

The  boat arrives in Castlefield from Dunham, on the Bridgewater Canal

 

The crop of potatoes is transported by historic narrowboat past the  Potato Wharf, at Castlefield

 

Standing back as Charlotte films the unloading of the cargo

Backbreaking work as the boat is unloaded

At last, after an early start and a morning of hard work, volunteers are fed Soup or Lancashire Hotpot made by the Oxnoble with our own Dunham grown potatoes

Castlefield Event - 26th Oct 2013 - The Barrow

Potatoes would have been unloaded from the boat and transported by barrow to the potato markets. This rare street trader's barrow is thought to be similar to those used but we have yet to find out...any information gratefully received....

Cllr Carmine Grimshaw gets his barrow out of storage - recently repaired for this event

Back on the road - Carmine pushes the barrow past the eerily empty  old market trader's site on Church Street

Calling in at McCalls - the last traders on Church Street, now housed with a more permanent stall

Carmine with a photo of his former self  (back right) Lovely photos of street traders are displayed at McCalls

Collecting the produce that Alex King, of the Oxnoble, has kindly stored for the event

Nona and Carmine display the produce on the barrow under the arches at Castlefield

Displaying the art of the market barrow street-trader

Potato Wharf, Spud Spectacular!

Restoring the barrow

Cllr Carmine Grimshaw has a couple of old market trader's barrows in a lock-up behind Swan Street, Ancoats. He has said that if we could mend the axle block, then we could borrow the barrow!
Pete has offered to help mend it...

Barrow found!

The barrow sees the light of day again

Soaking the wheels in my garden ready for the event - this makes the wood swell and help stop the metal rims coming off

Another day off School!

Children from the local Primary School had an 'afternoon off ' to help harvest the potatoes before the boat arrives on Friday on its journey to Potato Wharf. Apparently this is how our long summer holidays and our half term came about - time off to help the farmers.

Victorian Harvest boy

Harvest Couple

Nightsoil treasures - alsorts were found including the 'bowls' of two old clay pipes

Recording in the field with a mobile phone

Harvest couple - altogether a class act

Development of Events and oral history training

We have now had two lots of training with Yvonne Hosker of Footloose Walks...
The first was to help encourage interaction at events and the second on developing a guided walk...both sessions were informal and enjoyable, clearly structured and informative...

Training at the Kindling office

Trainees at Castlefield

Oral History Training for Dunham WI with Stephen Kelly of  the North West Oral History Society

 Having come along to the event at Dunham Massey, certain members of the WI are interested in finding out more about the history of nightsoil and its relationship to agricultural practice as they are researching the history of the area as part of their centenary celebrations.

A barrow for the potatoes?

Stories from the Oxnoble pub about the potatoes being barrowed from the waterside up to campfield or other local Potato markets led me to think...
could I get one for our event on Saturday?

Market traders Church St. and Tib St

Found Norma at McCalls on Church Street... the last stall trading outside there.
Norma generously shared the photos above...but no news of a market barrow.
Were these the same kind of barrows as those that were pushed through the streets on a Sunday in Audenshaw and Droylesden from Ashton Moss to the cry of  'Celery!, Moss Celery!'?

When I was copying this picture in the Arndale Centre, a young woman exclaimed...'Oh! Is that Italy?...We trade like that!"

Contacted Castlefield Residents Association about the event on Saturday...to ask if anyone had researched (or remembered) activity relating to Potato Wharf and our food heritage.
Got in touch with Cllr Joan Davies who has been really helpful...I asked her if she knew anyone with a barrow (I had remembered them, from student days, up near Tib Street) She put me in touch with Cllr. Carmine Grimshaw, a former market trader on Church Street...
well! fantastic...he has an old barrow in need of a bit of restoration and then we could borrow it!...How kind is that!?

Children re-enact 'a day off school' to harvest the potatoes

On Monday 9th September some mancunian children had 'a day off school' to help bring in a local crop. Many thanks to the teachers; some of whom dressed up alongside the children to harvest the potatoes.




potato lifting fork

Tools, such as this fork for lifting potatoes in the yard, were used for the re-enactment. They had been lent for display by a local resident who grew up on a farm near-by. A manure fork, with rounder, sharper-ended tines and a fork for harvesting potatoes in the field, with flatter tines to reduce the risk of harming the crop, were also used.

boy harvesting potatoes

Girls and boys dressed up in roughly period costume.



Potatoes collected in wicker baskets

Local resident, Carol Davies said that not only did they use the potato sacks as aprons but they used to turn the corner of a hessian sack inwards to make a hat in bad weather (or as protection from the sun perhaps)



aprons were made of sacks

We had refreshments after all the hard work ... In Timperley the Forgotten Field project had learnt that this was called 'Baggins' after the bag of oats that was put over a horse's head during its break.
We are considering making a traditional outdoor storage heap for the potatoes made with straw... known as 'a Hog' in these parts.

weighing the potatoes

 A few more activities carried on inside, weighing the crop, creative cameo pieces on Dunham Village Hall's wonderful stage and creating a story time-line...but the short time we had went so fast...they'd 'like to come back'!
Many thanks to all concerned with the Hall for a fantastic venue. The flexible and patient support for this project has been much appreciated.



 

 



 

'Remembering the Food Cycle' event at Dunham

 'Clematis' with the  Brew Boat behind

On Sunday, 8th September, we held our first event for the  'Remembering the Food Cycle' project at Dunham Village Hall and Wharf.

Sharing Histories

'Clematis' was enlisted by the Wooden Canal Boat Society along with her crew, Liz, Nick and Chris Leah, to help us re-enact the arrival of city manures (human and horse - both a big problem at the time), and the return of locally grown vegetables to the city's  markets and warehouses such as those at Potato Wharf.

OK, so no, we didn't actually use night soil but instead used local manure - really well rotted - and a big thanks is due again to Sue and Mark Jones at Little Heath Farm for supplying and receiving this on their field!
The event was steadily attended from 12-4pm both by people who were passing on the canal, or through the village, and by many people who had seen adverts, tweets and fliers. Curious locals historians, horticulturalists and even those with careers in waste management dropped by.

Heritage potato crop harvested

Out in the field beside the Village Hall children and adults were able to dig their own heritage Royal Kidney potatoes to take home.
Unsurprisingly few adults took up the offer to dress as Victorian
potato harvesters!
Though there are many potatoes, they are rather small due, we think, to a combination weeds getting the better of us and dry weather...
the potatoes are reputed to be rather tasty though!




Local historians set up their own displays

Many thanks to Pat Coulburn ( local historian) who sat for hours engaging many people with photos and tales of local heritage.In particular Pat has  mapped the many nurseries and market gardens that existed in Sale around 1930's (many of whom may have benefited from night-soil or manure)
Also many thanks to Gina Hutchinson who brought a fascinating display of photos relating to the agricultural community of Dunham.






Manure being transferred to fields

The Brew Boat was enlisted to provide volunteers and visitors with  leek and potato soup; made from our own crop and really fresh Manchester Veg People produce...It was wonderful.Cups of tea, coffee and home made cake also helped the day go with a swing.
 

   All was filmed by Charlotte; so look out in a while for a new short film on the Forgotten Fields website
   www.forgottenfields.org.uk