I went on a day as a volunteer with the Wiltshire Farmstead Survey Project. You never know what may be lurking in an old shed and in this one was a Second World War jeep in fine condition. The other shot shows the interior of an eighteenth century shed which became a milking parlour in the late nineteenth centrury. The eighteenth century diagonal boards are for sarking - insulation - as is the modern plastic.
I did some more work on the Wiltshire Farmstead Project and visited three farms in the south of the county. The idea is to record the old farm buildings before they are all converted into residences. In my village they all have. The top and bottom photos show an old hay loft still so used and in its rafters some old milking stools no longer used. In another farm the gatehouse of an old priory and leper colony, dating from 1300 onwards, serves as a cowshed and hayloft. The middle photo shows a squint in the metre thick wall of the hayloft, through which one could see potential enemies with minimum exposure.
I spent the day being trained as a volunteer researcher in the Farmstead Project to record old farm buildings in Wiltshire. This took place in a timewarp of a now inactive farm which dates back to the seventeenth century and is little changed since Victorian times. The photos show the stable for the carthorses, the two seater privy and the old brewery where the farm labourers also brewed up their Lipton's tea.
