Herry's Archives

My parents bought Harvestgate Farm in 1970 from the Biles's when they retired, as it was good land and closely adjoined Stocks . The Biles's stayed on in their cottage nearby, but Harvestgate famhouse, which had lain empty for several years, was given to Herry on his marriage to Prue in December 1971. The house consisted of two small flint and brick cottages with a milking shed with a fine beamed roof at one end. The upper floor of one of the cottages was a hay store, with a hatch from which one could throw hay down into the milking shed. The house stood on one side of a courtyard. The second side was a stable and the third, a large flint barn. An old flint wall closed the courtyard off on the fourth side and there was a a large pond outside the courtyard at the end of the barn. The buildings were roofed in Welsh slate but were simply constructed without damp proofing; the ceilings in the cottages too low for modern useage. To begin with we had to clear the buildings out ...