Features from Wildlife magazine Wildlife articles 2008 -- Spring 2008 -- ::Severn Barrage ::The Variety of life ::A year at Willsbridge ::Willsbridge comes of age ::Reaching out - Willsbridge ::Round the reserves Wildlife articles 2007 -- Autumn 2007 -- ::Thinking BIG ::Watery webs:the pond network ::Wildlife in the landscape ::Variety of life ::How to be a climate friend ::Seasonal stroll - Walborough ::Round the reserves -- Summer 2007 -- ::The Folly Farm appeal ::Weston Big Wood-biodiversity at its best ::The variety of life ::How to capture a butterfly ::How to get to know an orchid ::Seasonal stroll - WestonBigWood ::Reserves update -- Spring 2007 -- ::Folly Farm - a very special place ::Making a difference at Folly Farm ::How find the magic at Folly Farm ::Seasonal stroll at Folly Farm ::Magic spots at Folly Farm ::Batscapes ::Climate challenge ::Variety of Life - the Ponways project ::Round the reserves Wildlife articles 2006 -- Autumn 2006 -- ::The Severn Estuary ::Bird Watch results ::How to identify garden birds ::Making space for wildlife ::How does your garden grow? ::Round the reserves -- Summer 2006 -- ::Going for green ::Stand up and be counted ::Happy birthday NSLMP ::Holi day - a riot of spring colour ::Avon's species-rich grassland ::How to photograph dragonflies ::The Big Switch ::Round the reserves -- Spring 2006 -- ::How to identify winter water birds ::Make 2006 the year you... ::Invasive invasion ::Sowing the seeds: Willsbridge Mill ::Round the reserves Wildlife articles 2005 -- Autumn 2005 -- ::Indentify common funghi ::Build a hedgehog hideaway ::Big Bird Watch ::Champions for wildlife ::Round the reserves ::Seeds of the futre: Willsbridge Mill -- Summer 2005 -- ::Restoring Folly Farm ::How to become bee-friendly ::How to identify the butterflies of spring ::Save our seas ::The variety of life: hedgerows ::Round the reserves ::25 Ways to make a difference -- Spring 2005 -- ::The variety of life: water voles ::The Avon Biodiversity Action Plan ::How to take really good wildlife photos ::How to help your garden grow ::Round the reserves ::Seasonal strolls: Browns Folly ::Sowing the seeds: for wildlife for people ::Sowing the seeds: looking back

Remembering Folly Farm

a place to enjoy, to learn and to be inspired

Folly Farm has always been at the heart of the Sutton Court Estate. At the beginning of the 20th century tenant farmers were brought in to manage the land. During the first world war there was a shortage of men to work the farm and women were employed for general labour.

"During the 1926 General Strike when pits were closed I had no work and started haymaking (2shillings and 10 pence and hour - less than 15p) and general farm work - then Mr Masters the tenant farmer at Folly Farm asked him to come to work for 32 shillings (£1.60 pence) a week. At that time Folly Farm kept 200 - 300 sheep. I had to check them each morning - there were 20 cows, Dairy Shorthorns, and the milk churns were taken out on a cart to the road, where there was a platform. On Saturday mornings I had to mop and scrub the flagstones in the kitchen till they were white and shake out the coconut matting."

Charles Bown, Bishop Sutton (1986)

Marshall Maggs

During the Second World War farmers were encouraged to plough up as much land as possible and many acres of Folly Wood were felled, to be replanted later in the war by Italian POWs.

"In 1940, when I was 14, my cousin and I stayed with Mr and Mrs Maggs at Folly Farm at Easter and again for the summer holidays.During the summer we helped in the fields and also with the haymaking. We started work at 6 am , and after picking mushrooms we enjoyed eating them with egg and bacon and Mr Maggs came back for breakfast as he started work at 5am.

After breakfast it was time for milking and the cows were herded into the cowhouses. There were no milking machines, it had to be done by hand, then the milk was poured straight through a cooler, into churns, ready for delivery.The cows were driven into both cowhouses, headed by their leader, otherwise it was absolute chaos. Provided the leader was first the other cows would follow into their own stalls. A few of the cows names I remember were: Apple Blossom, Blackie, Darkie, Countess and Rosie.

There was a duck pond between the house and the courtyard which you had to walk around from the cowhouses, and Jack the turkey always waited for someone to pass, always trying to ‘nip’ passers-by.

During one of our holidays at the farm an Agricultural Show was held nearby. Mr Maggs exhibited the bull which was the largest bull at the show and it won third prize. Chickens and a goose were entered, the goose taking first prize. I remember Mr Maggs working in the loft above the dairy until past midnight preparing the goose, with only a hurricane lamp for light. Later the goose made a very nice meal when the farm household dined at their friends house. They had kindly cooked the goose as their oven was larger than the Maggs’ oven. There were no tractors as such, but ploughs, harrows, mower, turners etc were all pulled by an old modified car (an old Ford or Morris). It was cut off at the back of the front seats and traction provided by double wheel rims with steel bars forged across them by the local blacksmith.

My cousin and I took it in turns to close the hen houses each evening. The henhouses were at the top of the field which meant walking down the drive from the house past a bank on the left which in the darkness was dotted with little lights, these were glow-worms."

friend of the Maggs family, 1986

Mr Maggs outside the cowhouse

At the outbreak of war Mr and Mrs Maggs were tenant farmers, but left the farm in September 1940. "We had a farm sale, which happened to be the day of the Battle of Britain, which very much affected our sale."

The Stevens family were the next tenants, and continued to farm here until the Trust bought the farm in 1987. Ben Stevens ran a milk round from the farm and excess milk was sent by rail to Bristol. Ken Stevens was the youngest son of the family, and lives now near Shepton Mallet.

"The first time I went to Folly Farm it was raining like mad. I was about 9years old and all I could see was water gushing down gullies, a cart road with great ruts in it - father had just taken the farm but we still lived in Marshfield. It was September 1940. My father and brothers had come down to repair the fences so myself and another lad went into one of the outhouses and spent our time playing conkers. I didn’t think much of the place that day!

Mr Stevens and pigs

But I lived there for 47 years, and I wandered around the farm night and day and in all wind and weathers and I certainly changed my mind. For a child it was a great place to grow up in.. Up in the attic we’d put the apples we picked from the orchard and it smelled lovely, and in bed at night you’d hear the bats above you in the attic. And it was nice when the snow was on the ground, and at night you’re away from everything - you’d see so many stars, hear a fox yapping, owls hooting - wherever you went on the farm you had a good view.

The tree behind the farm - the old woodsman Jo Bird whose memories went back to Victorian times said even then that he couldn’t see any difference in the tree. And when I was a lad an old lady came to visit who said she used to go out there when she was a little girl and play under it with her dollies - that tree could tell some tales..."