[Lifting the Latch] [By: Stewart, Sheila] [August, 2002]

by Sheila Stewart

In this extraordinary piece of social history, Sheila Stewart takes us into the life of Mont Abbott, who for nearly eighty years has lived and worked on the land near the parish of Enstone in Oxfordshire. Constructed from a series of taped conversations, Lifting the Latch is a record of the joys of a country life that no longer exists and of the memorable cast of characters who took part in it, as well as a document that paints a grimmer picture of personal tragedy and rural hardship before the existence of the welfare state.

Genres: Biography, Nature, History, Nonfiction

Paperback

First published January 29, 1987

About the author

There is more than one author with this name in the GR database. This is Sheila^^^^^^Stewart, writer on British folk history.

Reviews

[Griselda Heppel · Rating 5 out of 5]

You know how, when a friend presses a book on you ‘because you’ll love it’, you almost don’t want to read it; you already have a stack of unread volumes teetering by your bedside and weren’t looking to borrow another one just now. So you put it aside and, coming across it 3 months later, open it guiltily, intending to skim it before returning it to the poor friend who by now wants it back... and then are absolutely hooked. So hooked that the last thing you want to do is read it quickly; you want to take time to absorb every tiny detail, every ring of Montgomery Abbott’s voice that Sheila Stewart has captured so beautifully.
Born in Oxford in 1902, Old Mont recounts his life growing up in a tiny cottage in Enstone before spending a long, hardworking life bound to the land, as a farm labourer and later on, shepherd. I expected a prosaic read with some interesting historical detail: what I got was a vivid, lovingly-observed memoir from a man whose greatness of soul left me with no words to describe it. Old Mont’s voice bursts from the page with such warmth, freshness and a vision frequently poetic, that I can’t tell where his account ends and Sheila Stewart’s masterful shaping of it begins. Mont’s good humour, kindness, appetite for hard manual labour (and I mean, hard) and sheer stoicism in the face of some really awful luck (minor setbacks and heartbreaking tragedy are met equally with his cheerful ‘Us’ll get over it’) had me often in tears. Of all the books read in 2015, this is the one that has stayed with me most and I can’t stop telling everyone about it.
Which just shows that my friend was spot on.

[David Sutcliffe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book strangely and profoundly moving. The story is told with such a simplicity and clarity that the depth of emotion conveyed by the text and kindled in the reader is not simple to account for. Is it the charming Oxford vernacular of Old Mont's voice? Is it his deep sense of belonging in a place, 'our Enstone'? Is it his contentment, his sense of humour that unmasks the fool, his quiet courage, his dogged self confidence, his love of the land, his unsentimental consideration of an animal's needs, his natural inclination to do work hard...? All these and more combine to make Lifting the Latch a wonderful read...

Some key moments in 20th century history are woven naturally into the narrative: what was Mont doing when the end of the Great War was declared; what did he say to the future Queen? The mundane and the momentous blend quite seamlessly.

Lifting the Latch implies a judgement on all that's modern. We may jet across the globe, converse with friends across the world on-line, drive fast cars and choose food from five continents at our local supermarket, but Old Mont's guileless tale leaves us aware that we have lost something. That something is perhaps a sense of belonging: belonging to the land, belonging to a community. Have we lost our souls because we spent too much time searching for them?

Blessed is the man who stoppeth where he be...

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The growth of social media and podcasting has transformed my reading habits. I’ve discovered books that I would never have looked twice at, let alone picked up and read, if I’d come across them in a (probably secondhand) bookshop. Lifting the Latch was mentioned in passing by John Mitchinson on an early edition of the Backlisted podcast, and I’ve had the book on my shelves ever since I spotted it in a Chester charity shop window soon after.
The book is the remarkable life story of Mont Abbot, an Oxfordshire farm boy, labourer, carter and shepherd, as told to Sheila Stewart in the 1980s, towards the end of his long life. Stewart does a fine job of letting Mont speak for himself and in capturing the rhythms and cadences of his broad ‘Oxfordsheer’ accent. What is most striking about the book is the depth and richness of an ‘ordinary’ life lived in a small community, and the rapidly changing nature of life on the land that began in the Thirties and gathered pace during and after the War. There are twin forces at play in Mont’s working life: the powerful pull of tradition and the accumulated wisdom and experience of generations of countrymen; and the gathering pace of technological change (most strongly felt in improvements in transport and mobility).
Mont is delightful company, and in reading his book, you really do feel that you are sitting with him in front of a roaring fire in his cottage, while he tells you the story of his life with all its joys and tragedies, characters and anecdotes. He has a lovely way with words: he speaks of being in the ‘dwindle of old age’ after a lifetime of activity, and of a bull as a ‘big red-roan fellow, a smartish bovril-looking chap’. A new colleague ‘warn’t no bigger than six penn’orth of ha’pence and his bandy legs ‘ud never stop a pig in a passage’.

[Pauline · Rating 5 out of 5]

A tue story of Mont Abbot who lived in rural Enstone Oxfordshire at the turn of the last century. Life was harsh, but as Mont would say "Us'll get over it" His love and understanding of the land and animal's are of a time gone by. In my mind I trudged over the field's with him, felt the wind on my face,shared in his joy's and sorrows. Loved the land as he loved it, I was filled with admiration of his knowledge of country craft. THe World has moved on since Mont's time but not always for the better.

[Martin Brabazon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lifting the Latch is a beautiful, important, and heartbreaking book.

Sheila Stewart tells the story of one man - Montague Abbott - and his life throughout most of the twentieth century in rural Oxfordshire. Using Mont's own words, it is the authentic voice of a rural working class life told in the language that reflects the attitudes and language of the time. It is a voice that should never be forgotten.

I loved this book.

[Pollymoore3]

One man's memories as told to Sheila Stewart in the 1980s. We grow to love Mont as he describes his life in rich dialect, from poor but happy childhood through World War One (a reserved occupation on the land), the shock of his fiancee's sudden death, his worst nightmare come true (of falling down a well and being severely hurt), and his recovery to become a shepherd working for a harsh and thankless farmer. Through it all Mont is never bitter and celebrates all that's good in his life right to the end.

[Dave Mills · Rating 3 out of 5]

Old Mont. One of the hardest workers in England! And tough work, at that. A slow beginning as you become accustomed to the Oxfordshire dialect and words. But a grand tour of the 20th century in rural England. You'll have tears at the end.

[Jem Wilton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant... I know a lot of the places livibg 15 miles from there.... loved his sayings...!

[Write Gardener · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heart warming story of simpler but harder times...

[Graeme · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fab!

[Pete · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely book on a rural life (old Mont) from early 20th Century till end of subject's life, a lot about the days of pre-tractor farm life with horses.

[Helen Castle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A moving account of Mont Abbott’s life in rural Oxfordshire. Despite the hardships of a life lived on the land, working 7 days a week with few, if any, comforts or holidays, beset by some tragic personal circumstances, he emerges as having great pride and dignity, He derives enormous satisfaction from his work, first as a carter working with horses and then as a shepherd.

Mont’s memories bring home the deep changes that have taken place within a couple of generations, not only to individual lives - in terms of hopes and aspirations - but also entire communities.

From a young age Mont was bringing in any pennies he could for his family, running errands, often walking several miles to Charlbury to fetch a doctor.

This sense of profound change is only heightened by the memoir being set in my local area.

[Dewi Rhys-jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book. 'This delightful memoir of a rural labourer, Mont Abbott of Enstone, deserves to become a classic.' Mont Abbott 1902-1989.

[John Pollard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Old Mont is a clathopper, working the land 7 days a week for most of his life. He has great misfortune in losing his wife to be to flu / pneumonia whilst he is saving another's life in the snow. He later falls 30 feet down a well and miraculously climbs out but then can't have children. Very sad and moving and a good insight into a hard life and the times in rural Oxfordshire

[Fiona Mawson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the most wonderful books I've ever read.

[Chas Bayfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this - tragic and honest. At times I had to put it down, but in a good way. Lovely