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| Living at
Strickley in the 1930's were four young Robinsons, Henry Wilson
(born 1916), William Arthur (born 1920),
Abigail Isabella (born 1922) and Margaret Frances (born 1924) They probably all kept diaries, and William Arthur's from 1940 gives an insight to the daily work on the farm, as well as a record of the weather for the whole year.
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Click here
for a month by month account of life at Strickley during the early days
of the war.
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The elder son, Henry Wilson Robinson was a prolific diarist, and these extracts are taken from diaries beginning written in 1935, 1937, 1938 Wilson was married in 1938, and from then on the diaries also refer to his life at Over Bleaze. The fields at Over Bleaze are now (2006) part of Strickley. Grateful thanks to Wilson for allowing me to publish these extracts and apologies to those who don't know the farm or family and may be puzzled by some of the references Click here to see all the field names. |
| 1939 |
| JANUARY |
| 6th Rabbitting. Got 4 and 1 long tailed one |
| 10th At Strickley killing pig |
| 14th Started saving Wyandottes eggs for hatching |
| 20th Hedging in Colley Garth against Benthams field with valve house in |
| 23rd At auction. Took 2 pigs and 13 lambs |
|
25th Snowing all day. 2 inched.
Paid income tax for landlord £9-5s-7d
|
| FEBRUARY |
| 1st Carting rust at Strickley. 32 carts from 9.30 am to 2.30 pm. One hour for dinner. |
| 2nd Sowing slag. Sew Brant field and top end of Bleaze Meadow |
| 7th Marking calves and cows for attested herd scheme |
| 8th At auction with Jubilee a reactor |
| 16th First duck egg |
| 20th Monday. James and Mary married. Mr Stinton MRCVS to examine farm |
| 22nd 115 chicks out. Phyllis in bed |
| 23rd Hedging between Wheat Close and Far Long Close. Phyllis in bed. Doctor here |
| 25th Saturday. Went to Kendal for us |
| 26th Phyllis up. Showers of hail |
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28th Dot and Bill married
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| MARCH |
| 11th Vet here to test all stock. |
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15th At Newbiggen for horse, Jock. Brought one to Barrows Green for Mr Prickett. At Strickley carting muck with Jock.
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| APRIL |
| 4th 4 goslings out |
| 12th Finished hedging around Bleaze Hall garden |
| 13th Baby born. |
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15th At Market. Made cot
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| MAY |
| 1st Dad bought 3 sheep and 3 lambs for me. 42 lambs from 25 sheep |
| 9th Vet here top test Penrith cow |
| 12th Vet here. Cow passed test |
| 13th Laid cows out |
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31st Last day of separating milk
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| JUNE |
| 1st Vet here again. Started selling milk |
| 2nd Vet here again. All passed |
| 4th Jean Christened |
| 8th Putting barbed wire up according to TT regulations |
| 20th In bed with cold and temperature |
| 21st In bed |
| 22nd Willie and Dad washed carts up again |
| 24th Phyllis at market |
| 26th Went to meet Holmes joiners for a rubber tyred cart. Started hay at Strickley |
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30th 260½ gallons of milk in the
month
|
| JULY |
| 3rd At Holmescales hoeing turnips 7 hours |
| 6th Phyllis up |
| 24th Started hay at Over Bleaze |
| 29th Vet here to test cattle |
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30th 230 gallons this month
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| AUGUST |
| 4th Willie at Lancs Show. Swept Front Bank to gate |
| 8th 3 carts out of Back Bank without rain, fresh |
| 14th Finished hay OB. 7 carts Strickley Meadow. |
| 15th Carting 23 carts at Strickley. |
| 17th Willie and Abbie at Garstang Show. |
| 18th Tom at Strickley from Greaves to cut corn, I was helping. All others amongst hay. |
| 21st Started opening out ley corn cut |
| 22nd Cut ley corn after 2.30 pm. Got 2 rabbits |
| 26th Thunder all day. Pulled a quarter of corn down and set it up in hattocks. Made 1 pike of hay from around half side of corn. |
| 30th Pulled all sheaves down and set them up again. Strickley finished harvest |
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31st At Holmescales
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| SEPTEMBER |
| 2nd Finished harvest |
| 3rd Sunday. War declared. |
| 4th Canny Brow thrashing all day |
| 10th Very wet all day. Sheep bad with Garget |
| 18th At auction with ducks. Leon and Mabel here. |
| 26th Finished stubble ploughing. 8 hours to do 1¼ acres |
| 30th Saturday. Vet from Ministry to test cattle |
Extracts taken from diaries written in 1935, 1937, 1938, 1939
