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Thatching

1960 , Suffolk (County)

Cat no. 114479

An ‘About Anglia’ news item showing the traditional skill and process of thatching a roof.

A straw load arrives by tractor at a farm, it is unloaded, and using a mechanical conveyor is carried to the top of a tall hay rick. Preparations are made to make the material roof-worthy for thatching. A professional thatcher fastens straw into a bundle, and then takes the bundle and pegs it into place on a roof, demonstrating the specialist technique used by a thatcher. At ‘The Willows’ farm, Metfield, Mr Stanley Loane tidies the straw-thatching and Mr Tom Godbold, uses a scythe to trim and neaten the edges of the straw. A roof-top display of the words 'seed', 'time', 'and', 'harvest', 'shall', 'not', and 'cease', created using thatch material, are shown, which read together form part of a biblical quotation.

Keywords

Thatching; Traditional crafts

Background Information

Anglia Television filmed at the farm (The Willows, Metfield, Suffolk) all day, however much of what was recorded is not shown here. Only the final sequence, showing Stanley Loane and Tom Godbold neatening the straw-thatching and the roof-top display of the biblical phrase created from straw, was captured at the farm – The Willows, Metfield. The final words 'seed', 'time', 'and', 'harvest', 'shall' 'not' 'cease' form part of a biblical quotation, taken from Genesis 8:22. The complete version being "While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”

Manifestations

Thatching

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