By the 1870's

The threshing machine would be towed from farm to farm and then connected to a steam engine by a long belt drive. The corn would be passed up to the top of the machine by men using 'pitch' forks. Everyone 'pitched in'.

By the 1940's, some farms had mobile elevators to do this job. The elevator was also used during hay-making.

Image courtesy of Rural History Centre, University of Reading	[Geoffrey Goodson on threshing]
The steam engine is in front of the thresher and the elevator is behind.	[John Gresham on the elevator]

The Second World War changed many things, not least of all; agriculture. Young men left the land in their thousands to fight for 'King and Country'.

Many were killed and of those that survived, most did not want to return to a life of toil on the land.
It had been essential to the war effort that food production was increased to compensate for the lack of imported foodstuffs and so a 'new' workforce had to be found.

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