Dairy farming in the mid-twentieth century

A herd of Shothorn Cattle, Kirkbride 1930s.

The first job of the day was milking and feeding the stock. Most local farmers in the 1930’s would have had between eight and twelve cows, which were hand -milked.

Mary Carrick feeding the calves, Highlaws 1930s

The milk was carried in buckets to the dairy to be cooled.  The milk ran over a zigzag cooler into a dish which had a gauze and cotton wool disc in the base through which the milk drained into the churn.  This pad caught all the dirt, hayseeds and other debris and had to be changed morning and night.

The milk in ten-gallon tins was taken to the milk stand and stood in the lea of the hedge or a building as protection against the sun, where it was picked up by lorry and taken to the dairy at Aspatria.  Sometimes in the summer heat, tins were returned as unfit for human consumption.  These red tickets were dreaded because the monthly payment for milk was an important part of the farm income. 

Elizabeth Pearson and Bess, the farm dog, Plasketlands.

The youngest calves were fed on milk with the farm cats trying to steal a drink and sometimes tipping a bucket over and bought-in gruel was fed to the older calves. Children helped with hand milking before school.

Margaret Carr, with pail and copy, ready for milking,
Beckfoot, 1940s.

In the 1900 –1930 period the railways were used to convey cattle to the auctions.  At Edderside the cattle were taken to Bullgill station for transport.

In winter two people were required to do this; one man in front with a stable lamp and the other to chase the animals along.  The man in front had to close any open gates and turn the cattle in the right direction at road junctions.

Cattle going to Annan were loaded at Bullgill and taken over the old viaduct on the Solway from Bowness to Annan.  The men had to leave at 4 o’clock in the morning, as it was a five or mile walk.

One of the main auctions at Annan was the bull sale.  Often these animals were reared and looked after by the farmer’s wife and a good price was eagerly awaited.

Dick Armstrong with his Ayrshire bull, Newtown

Adapted from ‘Plain People’
Holme St Cuthbert History Group,2004