Industry & Agriculture Group

The fourth meeting of the Group was held on Wednesday 25th August 2004 in the house of Gwyn Skae.
Before the meeting started Martin Turner reported the very sad death of Charles Wilkinson and the enormous loss there was as a result to the History Society and particularly to our Group. Charles’ knowledge of Wadhurst people and Wadhurst business was probably second to none.

Those Present. Mary Offord (Chair), Sue Petrie, Michael Kent, Gwyn Skae, Sigi Goolden,
Martin Turner (Secretary).

Apologies. Had been received from Walter Hodder, John Millett, John Breeze and Dudley Groves.

Minutes of the last Meeting and matters arising. The matters arising focused on the action being taken by group individuals and this is shown under the Reports heading shown below

Visiting Archives. Mary talked about her visit to the Records Office at Lewes and drew attention to a precis “Sources of History for Wadhurst” which was handed out at the meeting. It was also noted that the Sussex Archaeological Society Records were available to be inspected at the Crowborough Library.
Michael said that he had in his possession a full set of the maps made under the direction of Colonel Mudge from 1805 onwards (1819 for this area) at a scale of 1 inch to the mile.

Meeting of the History Society Working Group Discussion Meeting on the 6th July. Mary handed out the minutes from this meeting. The main thrust had been that there was a lack of focus in the programme of studies and that therefore the first project for the Society should be a study of the development in Victorian times. Gwyn commented that there was not much in the Victorian times for the Iron Industry to report on.

Research Interviews. The questionnaire which Mary and Martin had produced for use prior to and at an interview, was discussed. It was favourably received by those at the meeting who considered it a good starting point. Martin said that he would ask John Hardcastle if he would be prepared to be interviewed, with Mary also taking part.
Sue Petrie said that she would talk to Barry Luck, who was the last farrier apprentice at Bassetts Forge in the 1960s to see if he would be willing to be interviewed. He now lives at Matfield and still shoes horses for a living. It was agreed that John Millett would be the best person to undertake this interview if he was willing. (After note. Barry Luck has agreed to be interviewed).
Michael Kent said that he would consider interviewing a local hop farmer, possibly Jim Overy if he could be persuaded.
Pamela Yeo was thought to be interested in giving her knowledge about Brick works in our area. Mary said that she would follow this up.
Other possible people to be interviewed were discussed, but the only two names that were put forward namely Peter Mulleneux and Harold Meech, have both been interviewed by others. It was agreed that we should try and obtain the transcripts of these interviews since they were quite likely to throw up information relevant to I & A.

Use of Recording Machine. The Uplands minidisc JVC recorder on loan to the History Society, was demonstrated by Martin.

Reports. Mary asked for reports from individuals concerning their particular areas of research. It appeared that apart from the Wealden Iron Industry section, not much progress had been made. Michael Kent said that he had discussed with Gwen Jones, the June speaker at a History Society main meeting on this subject, how best to research the Hop Industry in this part of East Sussex. He said that Gwen had advised him not to even try!!
Martin said that he thought Neil Rose would be prepared to give a full account of the railway and its influence on Industry and Agriculture in the area. (After note. It is understood that Neil is to give a talk at a main meeting of the Society, early in the New Year).

Material for Newsletter. Gwyn agreed to write a 600 words (or so), article on the Wealden Iron Industry particularly in relation to Wadhurst, for a future article in the Newsletter. Possibly for December? Sigi agreed to assist Gwyn with this.

Cardex. This was briefly discussed. It was evident that there is still uncertainty concerning the nature and form of the end product from the research that we are carrying out. Gwyn commented that she had 50 pages of notes as a result of her research on the Iron Industry, for which 600 words hardly did justice.

Any Other Business
Possibly useful references. Sue Petrie mentioned three references that could be useful to us:
1. Survey of Farms. A Survey of Farms that was undertaken by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries for the War effort in June 1941. All details are filed at the Public Records Office at Kew under the reference MAF 32 followed by the Parish number and individual holding number. The Survey gives details of every farm, the crops, grass, livestock, labour, Horses, buildings etc. There are also general comments made on the efficiency of the farm and problems of pests e.g. rabbits.
2. The Eridge Hunt. A book by Henry S Eeles published in 1936, could well have some interesting references to Wadhurst. Sue said that it had done in the case of Frant, when she had researched it.
3. Trees and Woodland in the British Landscape. Written by Oliver Rackman first published in 1976 revised in paperback in 2004. (Sue said she had a copy which she would be willing to loan)

Next Meeting. The next Group meeting will be on Wednesday 24th November at John Breeze’s home

After Note. The meeting went with a particular swing perhaps due to the excellence of a bottle of home made cider produced by Michael Kent. We were all most grateful and appreciative. This did however have effect on the note taking for these minutes. The secretary wishes to make apologies for those items that he may have left out!