No Ordinary Day

by Robert Grindal

This is a series of stories based on the experiences of twin boys being raised on a mixed farm in Warwickshire. Robert and Peter were born in 1943 and their mother died two days later. This was obviously a difficult time for their father who then had not only the farm to run with its war-time pressures and regulations but two boys to cope with. These stories are Robert's reminiscences from those early days on the farm. They start in the closing years of WW II when German POWs arrived in the farm-yard, and bring to life the often unseen life on the farm. These events range from vet visits, a Lancaster bomber rubber dinghy, a runaway tractor and hazards involved in transferring and transporting sheep and cattle. Many are highly amusing as unexpected occurrences are inevitable when working with farm machinery and animals. It is unlikely to be a comfortable read for Health and Safety Inspectors, but such incidents happen and are perhaps rarely appreciated. The episodes describe the seasonal events of ploughing, sheep handling, harvesting, threshing and keeping the farm and livestock functioning even in the severe winter of 1947. The opportunities for adventure and escapades were always a temptation for children who had free range on the farm in those post-war years. Good fortune played its part when the learning curve occasionally proved too steep. The book concludes with the author's experiences working at the National Institute for Research in Dairying and these events go to show that the amusing and unexpected happen when working with animals, whether in a farming situation or a National Research Institute.

128 pages, Paperback

Published December 8, 2016