1940-1996: Farming at Kilquhanity: A School Farm
According to John, a school farm should form part of a child’s education
In fact, John was convinced that not just cows, but learning how to look after pigs, chickens and sometimes ducks, should also be part of the “school curriculum.”
The Courtyard atKilquhanity by an unknown artist
On their arrival in 1940 John and Morag would have found the Courtyard looking as it does in this painting. The rooms were used for livestock such as ducks, hens, calves, and for equipment. Later some of these buildings were converted into bedrooms but retained their names: The Hen House (my first dormitory), The Duck House, The Strawshed.
Group of farm building on the right
From the photograph you can see. Bottom right the area of the school allocated to farming – the Courtyard buildings, the Byre, the Pig sheds, the Big Shed for storing bails of straw and hay. And in front of these buildings the entrance to two small fields: the Pig field and the Hill field.
Steve Winning and Jody, the dog, bringing the cows in from in front of the Big Shed toward the Byre for milking.
The Kilquhanity estate extended to only seven and half acres so the school rented fields locally for the cows to graze. For many years the school employed a ‘farm hand’ member of staff who would look after the Grounds and the livestock. The children were encouraged to engage in all aspects of the life of the farm.
Collecting the cows from the grazing field for milking and returning them later was a journey of about one mile and became a ‘paid job’ for a kid. This would, of course, happen twice a day to include afternoon milking. Although it paid well - maybe 5 shillings a week - it involved an early start and a commitment to regular timekeeping.
The byre building extended beyond the milking stalls to 4 stalls for pigs or calves. One stall was set up for farrowing and I have fond memories of sitting up through the night to wait for that miraculous time when the pregnant sow would start delivering piglets - not one, two, or three but sometimes up to ten.
A fantastic sight as each one would be wiped and then put onto the mothers teat for that first sup of milk. Your senses were all alerted- smell, noise, touch experiencing wonderful sensations. Other folk would join and stay for a while, sometimes all night – as it was a miracle in the darkness always.
Of course, back in the day, the school milk was unpasteurised and the pigs, who spent their day shovelling snouts in the pig field had their diet supplemented with the food scraps and leftovers from the school kitchen and dining room.
My own last term at Kilquhanity was not as a pupil but as assistant to Nicky Walton, who at that time was the farm hand. One of my daily jobs was milking and cleaning the byre after milking.
Me, after milking the cows
