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
Our Daily Bread
The village of Egerton is the backdrop to this nostalgic look at a farming year in the inter-war years - from ploughing through to the harvest
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Overview
Ernest A 'Spot' Botting's film chronicles a farming year in Egerton, Kent. Both horse and tractor hauled ploughs are used and manure is spread on the land. Seed drills sow the crop while hops are sprayed. Blossom-time brings jolly antics, before harvesting begins in summer. Farm workers feed sheaves into a steam-powered threshing machine while the wheat is loaded into sacks. Cartloads of straw are piled into huge haystacks and before winter comes the potatoes are lifted.
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 'In England's Garden' and 'Egerton May Festivals'. The opening titles are lines from a traditional folk song called 'A Farmer's Boy'.
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