New Year on the Farm
NextBackJanuary saw the arrival of the thrashing box and the disappearance of the various ricks. We weren’t allowed to stand on top of the box as this was too dangerous. It was here that the sheaves were defty tossed, the binding twine cut and the sheaf dropped into the awaiting hopper. The only two safety measures were a string loop attaching the man’s knife to his wrist and both knees of our trousers being tied just below the knee. The knife was thus prevented from falling into the drum and the rats were preventing from running up your trouser leg. Contractors from Avoncroft came to do the thrashing. They had smart fast David Brown tractors with a courting seat, able to accommodate two adults, or one adult and two extremely squashed kids. Compared to the slow plodding Fordson, these were formula one racing cars, having seen previous service on airfield duty and fitted with a high speed gearbox they were the bees knees!
