1922 Diary of Elliot Woolford of Hook Farm, Lydiard Tregoze

1922

The early part of 1922 was dominated by an outbreak of foot and mouth, which restricted the movement of livestock and affected the price of milk. NFU members decided to withhold milk deliveries to everyone except hospitals unless United Dairies increased their price by 4d a gallon. Elliot advertised his milk in a London newspaper and found a buyer. Unfortunately the experiment proved disastrous as the new buyer defaulted on paymentIn a meticulously kept and unbroken series of diaries, Elliot Woolford provides the reader with a no-nonsense view of farming life at Lydiard Tregoze spanning more than 45 years. His livelihood was forever at the mercy of the vagaries of the weather and fluctuating market prices.

Background

Elliot and his brother Rowland acquired the tenancy of Hook Farm in 1899 from the 5th Viscount Bolingbroke. In 1930 Elliot was able to purchase the farm when part of the Bolingbroke estate was sold by the Viscount's widow, Mary in 1930. The Woolford family remain there to this day.