Out & About ...from previous page
become a regular reader. It’s free to farmers – no catch, no money will be requested. All you have to do is let us have your details – either fill in the enclosed form or give the office a ring and we’ll make sure you receive a regular copy. We do not share your data with any third parties. You can also advertise your unwanted farm machinery and sundries free of charge in the magazine and on the FarmAds website – www.farmads. co.uk. Again, no catch, all you need to qualify is for the machinery to be from the farm and surplus to requirements. There’s a form on page 236 of this issue or the website is easy to navigate. You can use both the magazine pages and the website – it’s not an either/or. Please give us a call if you need help. Our farmer readers in England and Wales can also use this service so please do give it a try. What have you got to lose? Many of you will remember Doug (my dad) who along with his wife Florence (my mother), started the magazine. Both worked tirelessly to make the magazine a success and were passionate about the business. I think Dad would have really liked to be a farmer but he was also passionate about classified advertising. His original business model did not involve editorial but he was persuaded by Thurlow Nunn MD John Thurlow, who also advertised on the first front cover, that editorial content would be welcome and the rest, as they say, is history. Dad took off his advertising hat for part of the week and donned an editorial cap and often developed photographs at the weekend. Black and white 35mm pictures in those days – digital was still a long way off. I remember the excitement when we got our first fax machine – we no longer had to wait for the advertising copy to arrive by post. It really was a different world – one that has advanced at the same speed as the development of farm machinery. In that first issue in September 1979 Fiat advertised its new 80 series range with 58–88hp, Ursus Bizon promoted its tractor and combine ranges with 85-120hp engines and 10–14ft cutting widths respectively and Manns introduced the extended Claas Dominator range of combines. Moving from a small town centre office (see pic on p4) to our current offices on the outskirts of Ipswich in 1995, formalised the changeover in the running of the business from Mom and Dad to my sister Julie and me. I became editor and Julie took on the role of finance director from Mom. Julie, who had previously been
working from home while looking after her young family, took one look at the ‘loft’ office that she would be expected to occupy when her youngest son Gregory started school, and said we “need to move because I’m not working there”. Leave it to me, she said, so we did, and she found our current location, Parkside, where we have been for the past 23 years.
Power in Action We have once again had to make the difficult decision not to go ahead with the Power in Action cultivation event in 2019. We have found it increasingly difficult to source land and although we had a late offer of land near Stowmarket, it’s really too far east to
attract the visitors and exhibitors we need to make the event a success.
And finally... A lonely bachelor decided to buy himself a pet, he went to the pet store and told the owner that he wanted to buy something unusual. After some discussion he bought a centipede, which came complete with a small box to use as its house. He wanted to celebrate with his new pet, and decided they would go to the pub. So he asked the centipede in the box, ‘Would you like to go down the local with me to have a beer?’ There was no answer from his new pet…. He waited a few minutes and then asked the centipede again, “How
about going to the pub and having a drink with me?” Again, there was no answer from his new pet centipede, so he waited a few minutes more, now getting more and more het up. He asked one more time, this time putting his face up against the centipede’s house and shouting, “Hey, in there! Would you like to go to the pub and have a drink with me?” This time, an irritated voice came out of the box: “Alright, I heard you the first time! I’m just putting my shoes on!” ■ *Graham Henderson’s Grain & Fertiliser Gossip is on p137 this month, returning to this page in February’s edition.
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January 2019 www.farmersguide.co.uk
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