Tony Kent remembers:
MILKING & CATTLE

In the 1930s and '40s cows were milked by hand. The milk was run over a cooling radiator into 12-gallon churns - later 10-gallons. These were taken to the road, lifted chest-high onto a platform for a lorry to collect. After this came the bucket-type milking machine.
W Lincoln, at the dairy farm, sold milk, butter and cream/milk cheese around the village. His was the egg depot, too. Jack Stackyard lived in the Rosery and kept cows. He sold milk from a churn carried on his bicycle. Ambrose Broom lived in an old railway carriage off Long Lane. He kept animals more for a hobby and sold eggs.
One man...was the finest stockman I ever met: he could calm any animal with a word and a touch. He cured their illnesses without antibiotics. He could walk up to a beast, speak to it, then jump on its back to ride through a muddy gateway. He told the story of a man he knew who sold his soul to the devil to gain the knowledge to handle animals! He used to tell his apprentices, "It's a poor man who can't beat his master". Many years later they met up and after listening to the former apprentice talk of how he'd done his job with stock, he said, "You have beaten me!". It was a great moment for him.

Chris Mickleburgh worked for Dr Burfield at Kenningham Hall from the age of 11 to 14:
During the War [World War 2], children were alloed off school for 11 half-days in term-time for farm work, and all the holidays. Dr Burfield kept horses as long as he could - he had 8 horses and 1 tractor, and used horses for ploughing. After the war he'd take his horses to the Norfolk Show at Keswick, all trimmed up with braids and brasses.

As most farm work was done by horses, there was a need for replacement stock and this was bred on the farm. As stallions were dangerous and could be difficult to handle they were kept at stud farms and had a regular round. They visited different villages on each day. They wore braided mane and tail and had plumes in their manes and brasses on their faces and chests. They wore a wide girth strap to which a martingale was attached to. Their massive necks were arched like swans. At 18 hands and up to a ton in weight they were a sight to behold. They walked beside a cart drawn by a 12-hand pony. In the cart sat the groom in a herringbone worsted suit, black waistcoat, neckerchief ('wropper' in Norfolk), a flat cap and boots and buskins - every bit as smart as his 'Tire' (a Norfolk word for an entire, or uncastrated animal). They were indeed 'kings of the road' and they both knew it!

At harvest, school children went to the harvest field to chase and catch rabbits. In the winter, ferrets and snares were used to catch rabbits. Rabbit pie was very popular. Rag and bone men visited the village to buy rabbit and mole skins.
In the 1930s and '40s people gathered watercress from the stream at the bottom of the Common [alongside what is now 'The Meadows'] 
The local vermin catcher was one 'Waxy' Cooper* who used his hands to explain where the moles could be found. One hand always contained his mole-digging spud which swung with alarming speed as he said, "And there's some more over thar."                                                     (From material written by Tony Kent)

* George ('Waxy' or 'Waxer') Cooper, who lived in The Rosery and whose family were very involved with the Methodist Chapel.

1920 "Rat Week": Parish Council asked to report number killed to War Agricultural Committee (nearly 2000 killed).

THE SPARROW CLUB
From East Carlton Parish Magazine, December 1915:
The Mulbarton & District Sparrow Club held its Annual General Meeting on Nov. 19th. In the report it was stated that the Club was responsible for the destruction of 13,765 sparrows in the past year, an increase of over a thousand on last year's record. In the four years of its existence, 49,950 sparrows have been destroyed. This figure gives some idea of the usefulness of the Club and the amount of corn saved for national consumption. Mr Hill, in an interesting speech, pointed out that the rareness of hawks made a Club like this necessary, but that there was no fear of exterminating sparrows, who, though they made great depredations in corn, yet were useful in devouring the seeds of the Common Wire Weed, and so helped farmers.

And from the same magazine, in December 1916:
On Friday 10th November the Mulbarton & District Sparrow Club had its Annual Meeting. It is the 5th Annual Meeting and we believe that, with one exception, we are now the only Sparrow Club continuing to exist in the County. It was reported that 10,473 sparrows had been destroyed during the year, making a total of 77,557 (sic) since the formation of the club.

[Gross exaggeration or poor maths there, comparing the 2 accounts!]

That was during World War 1 - what about World War 2?

THE 1941 FARM SURVEY

In 2008 I visited The National Archives at Kew, and I took time off from family history research to find the returns for Mulbarton from the June 1941 Farm Survey. The Government of the day wanted to know the state of farming in wartime Britain and how food production might be improved. Farmers had to complete a questionnaire, and Inspectors assessed the state of each farm.
There were 6 full returns for Mulbarton: 4 from farmers (Paddock Farm - Mr F Jackson; Old Hall & Malthouse Farms - Mr A Fairman; Lodge Farm - Mr R Cross; Kenningham Hall Farm - Mr J Burfield); 1 from a landowner who lived at Arminghall Manor and rented out Hall Farm, Mulbarton; and 1 from Mrs Alice Muskett whose market garden surrounded Hill House.
Most of the farmers were tenants - only Mr Fairman and Mrs Muskett owned their land. Vegetables, fruit and flowers were sold from a number of market gardens and orchards. Barley was the main arable crop, with some oats, sugar beet and other root crops. There was even some flax grown at Kenningham Hall Farm. A lot of land was under grass - no doubt for the cattle and horses listed - and there were varying numbers of pigs and poultry. Generally, the Inspector found everything in good condition.
Labour was in short supply, and many farmers were managing with help from family members. Mr Fairman employed 3 men; Mr Jackson employed 4 men and 2 women. Probably all employed casual labour for fruit-picking and the harvest. But what I found fascinating was the almost total lack of machinery. Questions were asked about 'Motive Power', Tractors - and number of horses. None of the farms had electricity. Malthouse Farm had no machinery, 2 horses. Mrs Muskett had an engine for pumping water. Mr Burfield had 1 electric motor (10 hp) and 10 working horses at Kenningham Hall farm. Mr Jackson at Paddock Farm boasted 2 electric motors (5 and ½ hp) and 1 Allis Chalmers tractor. Mr Cross at Lodge Farm was the most highly mechanised with 3 oil or petrol engines (2 x 6 hp; 1 of 2¼ hp); 1 electric motor (¾ hp); 2 Fordson tractors (each 26 hp) and he still had 9 working horses. It seems that farming in Mulbarton in 1941 - less than 80 years ago and within living memory - was not far removed from Victorian times. Horse-power still meant just that - horses.
Today, only Vic Gray's business is partly a market garden. Paddock Farm relies heavily on pick-your-own fruit and veg (a concept unheard of in 1941). Kenningham Hall has lost its magnificent barns. The Old Hall, the Malthouse, Lodge Farm (now Willow Grange) and Hill House remain, but the farmland that once went with them is now part of much larger concerns.                 Jill Wright