Day 79. Preston Bushes

This woodland along the Admington Road near the parish boundary was arable land, part of Preston Pastures Farm, until the late 19^th century. It doesn't seem to have been intentionally converted to woodland, and this may be explained by the agricultural crisis of the 1870s.

A converging series of events led to the ruin of many British farmers around this time. Poor weather caused a series of crop failures. Farm labourers had successfully campaigned for higher wages. The vast prairies of the USA and Canada were producing huge quantities of grain, which was now flooding across the Atlantic thanks to the revolution in steam shipping. And new refrigeration techniques were bringing imports of meat from Australia and New Zealand.

British farmers couldn't compete with the plummeting prices. They no longer had the capital to cultivate and tend crops to a good standard. Yields fell, and their downward spiral continued. Farmers were forced to abandon a great deal of land, which reverted to scrub. Preston Bushes, once the most distant fields of Preston Pastures, may well be an example. The name 'Bushes' implies that it was once exactly that – bushes and scrub growing on untended ground.

The farm was rented by the Ashby family during the depression years. They were astute farmers and ultimately pulled through the depression, but this woodland is perhaps a relic of their struggles.

 

Henry Ashby, his wife Hannah and probably their twelve children, c.1887. Henry's father Robert took over Preston Pastures c.1860. Henry continued to lease the farm, followed by his son Fred who eventually purchased it then gave up farming in the 1930s.