A few weeks ago we were enjoying some family time in beautiful Devon.
Whilst driving down one of their not so busy roads we noticed that the fields ahead had a strange knobbly texture to them. ‘Adventure time!’ I cried much to the joy of the girls and we veered of course and headed towards the knobbly fields. And what a treasure they revealed …
It turned out that we’d timed our visit perfectly to coincide with the harvesting of the lucrative wheat thatch fields. A local man pulled up along side us whilst I was hanging over the metal gate taking pics and started to tell me a bit about the crops and the area. He even phoned his girlfriend and got her to walk down with a beautiful book of black and white photography by local photographer – James Ravilious.
This is an expensive crop. The farmers cut and tie the wheat with the grain still in the ear. The sheaves, as they are called, have to stand for a couple of weeks whilst the grain ripens. The grain is then threshed out and the stalks re-trussed to produce the bundles of wheat reed. It’s all very weather dependent!
Technical talk aside, for me it was like something out of a period drama. Bundles of combed wheat reed all around us as far as the eye could see. A truly magnificent scene and one that would love to be able to capture again (timing and weather permitting).
I so wanted to let the girls run up and down the neatly arranged bundles of wheat. Now that would have made a gorgeous photo!
Wow, just learned something new, didn’t know this is how they made thatch, great photos as well
Wow, we used to see this a lot when driving through Amish country in the US, but have never seen it in the UK. What a sight!
This is such an amazing sight. It must have been quite a temptation to get closer & explore with the children!
It was truly amazing. I have never seen anything like this in the UK before. The girls and I wanted to go in and have a run a around and explore but I think it would have ended up an expensive playground! Quite fancied going back for a picninc as well :o)
Wow…this is amazing. Loved the photos..Julie
Thanks for posting these photos and information. Not as great as seeing it for real, but I have had the children gathered ’round the computer to learn together. Great discovery.