On a hot summer’s day a perfect evening followed for our farm walk and supper, kindly organised by June and Robert Stilgoe at their family farm, Grounds Farm, off the Oxford Road to Deddington.
A glorious view of rolling farm fields and green countryside presented as we gathered together before setting off with Robert to view the crops and scenery, tramping over the pathways and tramlines from one field to another. We inspected the developing linseed plant with its blue flowers just emerging, the stately broad beans with their very distinctive black spot marking and the field of rape seed oil plants with their long narrow pods waving on the warm summer breeze.
Our walk wound over the gurgling river, through that magnificent crop of beans, through a leafy green tunnel to cottages and the ancient paper mill building with a discussion pause by a wheat field to explore the question of wheat production, Canadian wheat, wheat gluten, Spelt flour and the organic question.
As we circled up to the farmhouse, a helicopter buzzed overhead like an enormous wasp and a car slowly traced our journey and, from deep within the crop fields, modernity had seemed a distant entity.
We arrived at the farm’s ancient Banbury brick bullock barn turned-cowshed now present-day agricultural barn to a vision of dressed white-clothed tables, bunting and wheat-swagged walls and June’s delicious supper laid out before our appreciative gaze. Robert’s enjoyable farm-themed quiz got us all thinking and much laughter ensued. Here’s some views of our lovely evening….
Warm thanks to June and Robert Stilgoe for their generous hospitality for a wonderful charitable fund-raising evening for the Frank Wise School from all WI members and family guests who attended their brilliant mid-summer event.
Margaret Halstead