Notes by Jan Brown, daughter of John Todhunter, Niece of Laurie Chamen.

I worked at Corn Hall for a year prior to going to Agricultural College in Warwickshire. As part of this year I had to keep a farm diary - I still have this and I see that I started on September 22nd 1958 and finished in September 1959 - this would account for the number of photos of me!!

Mrs Cundy - This lady was someone who came, with her husband (Fred) , on a casual basis to thin sugarbeet and help with harvest. They caused chaos one year as they were supposed to count the sacks of grain coming off the combine, but they counted in the old way (yin tin tethera etc) so no one knew how many bags there were. They also singled beet on their hands and knees rather than with a hoe!

Reg Dolling father was the cowman and my ‘tutor’. From the diary it appears that Reg was the only person whom I called by their first name, everyone else was ‘Mr’!
Other names from the diary are Mr. Brown, Mr. Farrow and Mr. Cundy.

The scenes of ploughing etc. with horses were taken at the original High Pale. It was owned by Mr. Thompson and his sister Miss Thompson, who worked it together with their Suffolk Punches – they didn’t own a tractor.

The gardener was Mr. Friend. He had been gardener to my Grandfather in Essex and on the death of my Grandfather he moved to Corn Hall where my Aunt built a house for him (Kingsmoor) and his wife, where he continued working as the gardener