A Farm Journal ~ from the 27th to the 31st March 1870

My great great great uncle John Bayliff Bowman lived at Summer Hill, near Monyash in the County of Derby, until the end of January 1870 when he moved to Sandycroft Farm, Queensferry, Flintshire.

The Bowman family, who were Quakers, had rented three farms, One Ash Grange [which John Bayliff Bowman often referred to as O.A.], Cales and Summer Hill [which he usually referred to as S.Hill or S.H.]

John Bayliff Bowman is fourth from the left in the photo below ...

 A Farm Journal continues :~

 

1 - 27 Fine day Dearman Cloak [?] here to dine  - self in aft[ernoo]n to his home to tea & on to M[an]chester 7pm all well

 

2 - 28 Fine & frosty - self on to Longstone & Ashford found Father much better - on to B[akewe]ll mark[e]t full of cattle but dear Co[u]s[in] H[enr]y there buying for S.H. dined at Jos[eph] & on with W[illia]m to Middleton had tea & looked round - & on to O.A. at night - all well

 

3 - 29 Fine & frosty - looked ab[ou]t O.A. Eben[ezer] to M[an]chester - self round Monyash & S.H. & to Ashford

 

4 - 30 Fine Self & Co[u]s[in] E[liza] Gott [on the left in the photograph above] to Sandycroft - all well - to Copt Farm sale of imp[lement]ts good sale - on to Fishers & bo[ugh]t 14 sturks @ 8/15/- & 1 cow £15 - Less £1

 

5 - 31 Fine the beasts came from Fishers Chester Fair poor show of graziers many milkers of mongrel breeds 

 

 

A Farm Journal ~ 21st to the 30th October 1869 ...

My great great great uncle John Bayliff Bowman lived at Summer Hill, near Monyash in the County of Derby. 

The Bowman family, who were Quakers, had three farms, One Ash Grange [which John Bayliff Bowman often referred to as O.A.], Cales and Summer Hill [which he usually referred to as S.Hill or S.H.]

John Bayliff Bowman is fourth from the left in the photo below ...

 A Farm Journal continues :~

5 - 21 Fine but cold U & A[unt] W[ilson] to Ashford & S.A. at Kiln etc & ditto weather

[no entries for the 22nd, 23rd or 24th October 1869]

2 - 25 Fine but cold N wind sold S H cheese to Orr 70/-

3 - 26 very hard frost

4 - 27 Ditto bitter cold Chas Young & Geo Wallwin* to weigh swedes & corn. turnips for prize

5 - 28 Ditto weather to Ashford to dine & bro[ugh]t U[ncle] & A[unt] Wilson home

6 - 29 Fine frosty day W.N. fin[ished] Kiln Moss field & lit

7 - 30 Fine but no frost W.N. began to cut swedes & pit corn turnips in Ridge piece - Haven Fair beast sold well & sheep too slender show - foals 10 to 12£ 

* This may have been the George Wallwin who would have been 36 years of age or thereabouts in 1869. In the 1871 Census Return he was 38 and lived at Ashford Millhouse and was described as a farmer and corn miller. He had been born in Elton and lived with his wife, Hannah, who was ten years younger and had been born in Bakewell. Also in the Millhouse at the time of the Census was his daughter, Elizabeth, aged 2 years of age. They had a 19 year old General Servant, Clara Marples, who had been born in Bakewell, and a farm labourer, Luke Burn, who was 44 and married, and who had been born in Roscommon, Ireland. There is no mention of his wife and/or children.

Any reader who knows the area may be interested to read that ten years later in 1881 George Wallwin farmed 600 acres at Meadowplace and they had five children [including Elizabeth]. They also had five servants/farm workers, one of whom was Isaac Spencer from Over Haddon who was described as a sheppard !

A Farm Journal ~ from the 1st to the 15th March 1869 ...

My great great great uncle John Bayliff Bowman lived at Summer Hill, near Monyash in the County of Derby. 

The Bowman family, who were Quakers, had three farms, One Ash Grange [which John Bayliff Bowman often referred to as O.A.], Cales and Summer Hill [which he usually referred to as S.Hill or S.H.]

John Bayliff Bowman is fourth from the left in the photo below ...

 

 A Farm Journal continues :~

 

2 - 1st 3 Mo[nth] Very cold snow on gr[oun]d filling up a grove hole in Angle B[akewe]ll market calved cow [18.10/-] from Furniss Birchill & calf from here  to them 25/- bo[ugh]t 7 pigs Robinson 35/- very dear Self at Savings Bank

 

3 - 2 Very coarse day most snow gone to Birchill for 5qr Freez [sic] land oats 35/-

 

4 - 3 Fine very sharp frost M[onthly] M[eeting] at Bakewell Self to Ashford & walked on & back stayed dinner & tea - bro[ther] Eben[eze]r admitted into Membership again* - 4 ton cake from Hull

 

5 - 4 to 5 - 11 Frosty with little snow - met Travis at B[akewe]ll & agreed to send milk twice a day till 1st of 5th mo[nth] at 2/- p[e]r doz[en] pure

 

to 2 day 15 Fine but frosty lead[in]g soil onto poor places in Over Intake plough[in]g Watricle etc at B[akewe]ll Union about Vagrancy

 

 

* I assume by admitting my great great grandfather Ebenezer "into Membership again" John Bayliff Bowman is referring to the Society of Friends. Whether Ebenezer left by choice or whether he was forced out, I don't know.

A Farm Journal ~ from the 16th to the 28th February 1869 ...

My great great great uncle John Bayliff Bowman lived at Summer Hill, near Monyash in the County of Derby. 

The Bowman family, who were Quakers, had three farms, One Ash Grange [which John Bayliff Bowman often referred to as O.A.], Cales and Summer Hill [which he usually referred to as S.Hill or S.H.]

John Bayliff Bowman is fourth from the left in the photo below ...

 

 A Farm Journal continues :~

 

3 - 16 Fine A.Cox & Wm & I ferret[tin]g here to dine

 

4 - 17 Wet lead[in]g manure

 

5 - 18 Thunder rain showery - fin[ished] lead[in]g man[ure] S.H.

 

6 - 19 Fine day Truck of Grains in spread[in]g man[ur]e etc

 

7 - 20 Fine

 

1 - 21 Frosty

 

2 - 22 Beautiful day 

 

 3 - 23 Ditto stack in & chopped at Cales last stack

 

4 - 24 Wet aft[ernoo]n plough[in]g Watricle etc - stop[pe]d sending milk

 

5 - 25 Stormy began to make 2 cheeses p[e]r day 18 cows E.B.* sends his milk still

 

6 - 26 Very fine but cold & windy Co[u]s[in] Eliza SA & I & all went to Ashford to dine & tea**

 

7 - 27 Very stormy snow & hail at times - plough[in]g etc

 

1 - 28 Very stormy indeed Snow 6 in[ches] deep & drifted

 

 

* I assume 'E.B. refers to JBB's brother Ebenezer Bowman.

 

** It is likely that this meant a visit to my great great great grandparents Heny and Mary Bowman [the elderly couple in the photograph above] who lived at The Elms, Ashford in the Water.

  

I spy a Cavalier ...

Stand at the north-western end of Fennel Street in Ashford in the Water and opposite The Elms is a house half-hidden by a hedge. If you can peep over the hedge then you may get a glimpse of this ...

... on the front of the building. Now, to me, he looks like a Cavalier but why he's on the front of the house I have no idea. Anyone else know ?

Walk up Vicarage Lane and cross the end of Pennyunk Lane until you can take a path on your right across one field. This enables you to cross the B6465 and follow a path through more fields towards Longstone Lane. This path can get muddy in wintertime ...


   
Sometimes it gets too sludgy as does the path on the opposite side of Longstone Lane. The good thing about this latter path is that it brings you to the Monsal Trail. The only problem there are the bikes ... but assuming you can avoid them [and they can avoid you] head eastwards until you reach the bridge over Longreave Lane. At this point you can leave the Trail and pass under the bridge to cross the A6020. 

Cross the road carefully here because many of the cars hereabouts are hellbent on getting where they're going at least five minutes sooner than they have to be there. Take the private drive [which is also a public footpath] leading towards Churchdale Farm ...



Beyond the hall, which you get a glimpse of to your right, the path descends down one of those banks which is easier to walk up than down ... especially when it's muddy.



Towards the bottom of the bank there used to be an impressive though rather daunting tree looming over all pedestrians ...







Since these photos were taken I believe this old tree has fallen down.

The path rejoins the A6020 and then you're just a few hundred yards along a pavement to reach Ashford in the Water again.

Just the sort of short walk if you're not too sure about how far you feel like walking. 

This walk was followed on the 2nd January 2011

Length of walk ~ 3 miles *

Total mileage walked so far in 2011 ~ 5.2 miles

Total mileage between the 1st September 2009 and the 2nd January 2011 ~ 534.25 miles

2 of 2011

* distance calculated on Ordnance Survey's Getamap