This film is part of Free

Farm work: earth, oats, milk and concrete

On the farm there is heavy work to be done (ploughing, silage-making, concrete-ing) and lighter jobs (feeding fluffy chicks and tabby cats).

School programme and Educational film 1959 11 mins Silent

From the collection of:

Logo for National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales

Overview

In between the heavy farm tasks – the ploughing and harrowing with discs, the concrete-ing of a barn floor, the lifting and chopping of oat stooks to make silage – are the lighter ones, such as feeding the beautifully fluffy newly-hatched chicks and giving a bit of fresh milk to the cats.

Ion Trant was born and brought up on Dovea Farm in Tipperary, Ireland. He went on to study agriculture in Canada and then moved to Wales to work at the Welsh Plant Breeding Station in Aberystwyth where he met his future wife, Janet Owen of Maesmawr Hall, Welshpool, both of them working on developing improved grasses for upland farms with George Stapledon. The Trants farmed at Maesmawr Hall and the adjoining farm Cefn Du, and Esgairdraenllwyn at Llaithddu, Llandrindod, where Janet bred Welsh Black cattle crossed with Herefords. Ion created/filmed the "Country Close-Up" series for children (BBC - 1956-62), using footage of his own 3 for the programmes. He subsequently obtained work as a freelance cameraman.