buspurtingtonfarm

In 1916 Tom Corr from Chideock in Dorset bought the farm which then was 500 acres. Lower Purtington Farm was run as a dairy farm by a tenant and the rest was grazed by sheep.
His son, Donald married sixty years ago and still lives in part of the farmhouse with his wife, Rene. His son, Marcus, lives in the other part of the house and now runs the farm with occasional help from father and his wife, Jackie, who does all the paperwork. Sixteen men were employed by his grandfather, how times change.

Donald & Rene Corr

Donald & Rene

There are eighty milking cows and forty followers. Silage is made for winter feed. The price paid to farmers for their milk has dropped to a level, 19 pence per litre, where the costs of production make the herd work involved seem hardly worth the long hours.There is no market for baby bull calves. The ministry has told farmers that they must shoot them.

Jackie & Marcus

The paperwork which has been required to be done just to run the farm has increased to such an extent that most farmers find it impossible to keep up. The working day is long enough without hours of form filling at the end of it.

No glass of home-made cider nowadays to end the day and give a bit cheer. The six or so willing helpers who came to make the cider have now passed on.
The press is still in the cider house, a silent reminder of the good old days of a family farm.

Jackie & Marcus Corr

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Purtington Farm