Screen Archive South East is a public sector moving image archive serving the South East of England. The archive's collections of magic lantern slides, films, videos and associated materials capture the many varied aspects of life, work and creativity from the early days of screen history to the present day and serve as a rich and invaluable historical resource.
This film is part of Free
In England's Garden
A nostalgic snapshot of pre-war Kentish farm life in the Garden of England - captured before the arrival of agriculture on an industrial scale
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Overview
This wonderful film, made by Ernest A 'Spot' Botting, captures life on a working farm in Egerton, Kent in the 1930s. After a montage of flowers and animals we see a mighty oak felled by hand, horses hauling a wooden plough, steam traction engines hauling mechanical ploughs and various harvesting machines at work. We also visit the farm's hop fields where we see hop-picking families at work. Sacks full of hops are taken to the oast house for drying where we see happy farmer Gore.
Ernest A. 'Spot' Botting was an amateur film-maker who captured rural and village life in pre-war Egerton, in the Weald of Kent. Screen Archive South East's collection of his films also includes other rural and rustically themed films like 'Our Daily Bread' and 'Egerton May Festivals'. The opening titles are lines from a traditional folk song called 'A Farmer's Boy'.
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