The article on the Great Woodland Scramble 1928 in the September issue raised several conversations with informed readers, including members of the Barker family who first occupied Staines Road Farm in 1928. Blended with detail from large scale Ordnance Survey maps and statistics in the Agricultural Census Returns June 1941, these discussions enable us to interpret changes in farming practice on ‘Barker’s Farm’ (between Watersplash Road and the Old Charlton Road).
Prior to the clearance of the orchards, we know that fruit was carefully picked, graded and packed for road transportation to wholesale markets at Covent Garden and Brentford. At that time, the threat from foreign imports was minimal. The whole community buzzed at times of fruit-picking; wages paid to women and children supplemented the incomes of many local families.
Why, then, were the apple and plum orchards grubbed-out in 1928? Was market gardening more profitable than orchards at a time of deepening economic recession? One theory is that the fruit trees planted in the 1880s had reached the end of their productive life. Yields were reducing and costs of pruning and fruit picking impacted profits. The time was ‘ripe’ for change!
What then happened to this tract of fertile and well-drained land? Soon, it supported intensive market gardening. During World War II, The Ministry of Agriculture encouraged further crop specialisation The 1941 Farm Census for Staines Road Farm (159 acres) illustrates the scene. Frank and Alec Barker, the occupiers, grew 100 acres of ‘vegetables for human consumption’ on well-manured land with minimal irrigation. Profitable enterprises included: lettuce (43 acres); cabbage, savoys and kale (21); beetroot (12); spring onions (10); parsnips (6); and carrots (2). Flower production, even in wartime, included 6 acres of daffodils. Production was labour-intensive. In 1941, 18 men and 20 women were employed full-time, augmented by a part-time team of 10 men and 11 women and girls. Whilst the June 4th Agricultural Census omitted farm machinery, it records 8 working horses on the farm.
Immediately after the war, significant changes occurred at Staines Road Farm. Irrigation became widespread. Cropping was further diversified to meet market demands: greenhouse tomatoes, culinary herbs, raspberries, radishes, spinach and new varieties of flowers were grown in rotation. Each weekday, in the early hours, two lorries left the packing sheds for wholesale markets. And, whenever possible, horse manure was brought back from London stables. Success depended on a grower’s reputation for quality of produce and reliability in supply, especially when trading with large retail chains.
Until the 1950s Shepperton was a bustling agricultural community: it was alive 24/7. The agricultural calendar set the pace of life.
Acknowledgements: I am indebted to Audrey Bevington, Guy Gibson, Richard Lawrence and Peter Lock for information reproduced in this article. Evidence from Rosemary Barker of Halliford and John Barker of Dorney was especially valuable in connection with Staines Road Farm. Nick Pollard provided a copy of the !:2500 O.S. base map.