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Farming

Family Farm

In 1957, BBC Northern Ireland series Family Farm followed the trials and tribulations of the Forsythes. Here are three short clips that show them at work.

Meet the farming family, 1957
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Meet the farming family, 1957

Meet the Forsythe family, who run a 30-acre farm near Ballynure, County Antrim

Machines on the Family Farm, 1957
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Machines on the Family Farm, 1957

Farmer Forsythe explains how the latest technology allows him to do the work of three men

Life beyond the Family Farm, 1957
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Life beyond the Family Farm, 1957

On winter evenings the Forsythe family let the farm look after itself for a while

1940s

The combine harvester is the hero, 1948
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The combine harvester is the hero, 1948

Newsreel cameras catch a combine harvester in action

Working holiday for Londoners, 1948
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Working holiday for Londoners, 1948

Harvesting hops is hard graft, but for these hardy souls it's a holiday for all the family

Norfolk lavender harvest, 1949
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Norfolk lavender harvest, 1949

Fragrant fields of lavender being harvested and distilled the old-fashioned way

Potato harvest on the Isle of Arran, 1949
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Potato harvest on the Isle of Arran, 1949

Newsreel footage of the potato harvest, from the island situated off the west coast of Scotland

Hop gardeners wanted - circus skills useful, 1949
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Hop gardeners wanted - circus skills useful, 1949

Hops are being prepared the old-fashioned way... on stilts

Sheepdog trials in London, 1949
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Sheepdog trials in London, 1949

Thousands of Londoners visit Hyde Park to see the sheepdog trials

1950s

Make hay while the sun shines, 1951
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Make hay while the sun shines, 1951

Make cattle cubes while it doesn't

The linen harvest, 1951
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The linen harvest, 1951

This clip might just have all the flax facts you need to know

Where the praties grow, 1952
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Where the praties grow, 1952

Backbreaking work never looked so beautiful than in this film about potato farming in Ireland

Rowland Emett's tractor, 1953
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Rowland Emett's tractor, 1953

Every gentleman farmer should have one

1960s

Yorkshire horse breaker, 1960
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Yorkshire horse breaker, 1960

"I never bothered with the ladies much, I thought more about horses. I'd a good pal when I'd a good horse"

Yogi the Bugthorpe badger, 1961
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Yogi the Bugthorpe badger, 1961

Tamer than the average badger

Watercress farm, 1961
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Watercress farm, 1961

A farm where everything grows to the music of running water

Too much beauty, 1962
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Too much beauty, 1962

A Wiltshire farmer is being pestered by sixty stubborn, squatting swans

How well do shepherds know their flock? 1963
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How well do shepherds know their flock? 1963

Tonight conducted a fascinating "sheep recognition" experiment. Play along at home, but try not to fall asleep

1970s

Pig-oletto, 1970
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Pig-oletto, 1970

An operatic pig farmer enjoys sweetly serenading his swine

The hover scarecrow, 1970
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The hover scarecrow, 1970

It's not just a scarecrow, it's a Roy Rothery multipurpose hover scarecrow!

Farming and conservation, 1972
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Farming and conservation, 1972

Henry Williamson discusses the battle between commerce and conservation at the heart of farming

Noddy's stable, 1975
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Noddy's stable, 1975

Noddy's luxury Cornish stable comes with all mod cons, and looks suspiciously like a human house

Smart ass, 1976
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Smart ass, 1976

Fanny the donkey might well be the smartest donkey in the world

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