AT the November meeting Eric Chase stepped in at short notice to replace the scheduled speaker.

Without notes, he kept the room entertained with the story of conditions in the farming industry over his lifetime and the many amusing incidents that had occurred, from the moment he was born ‘upside down and backwards’ in Burley in the 1920s – a midwife travelled from Romsey!

From the age of four, Eric's family lived at Mottisfont where his father farmed on the estate.

In 1928, his father purchased two carthorses for £100, which halved in value the following year due to the countrywide recession.

The carter in the village had 15 surviving children and his wages were 28 shillings a week with a pint of milk a day. On one occasion, the blacksmith was called to shoe one of the horses on a Saturday, but because he didn't usually work on Saturdays, had drunk a large amount of ‘vicious wine’. He went into the stable and lifted the horse's leg, only to be kicked out of the door!

Eric then described his time studying agriculture at Reading University and as it was now wartime, he joined the Officer Training Corps and the Home Guard.

After the war he became involved in a programme for artificially fertilising land which had been worked out during the war years.

Eric's book about his lifetime in farming is available from Whiteparish Post Office.

He was thanked for his spontaneous talk by Janette Munro, and applauded warmly.

The next meeting will be Christmas lunch.