1998 Sheaf to Loaf record challenge
From Lacey Green History
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FAST FOOD Printed in ‘Tractor and Machinery’. Reporter Ann D. Priest
If it had been a bar of gold the smile on the face of the holder could not have been broader. In fact it was a small brown loaf which brought the look of sheer happiness to its owner. It was one of ten such loaves produced in the ‘Sheaf to Loaf’ by the Historic Farm Machinery event, which took place at Windmill Farm, Lacey Green in Buckinghamshire on Saturday August 22nd 1998.
The original idea was suggested by club member Evan Williams some months before at a meeting of the Risborough & District Historic Farm Machinery Club. Plans had evolved over the following months with the support of the Lacey Green and Loosley Row Village Committee and Lacey Green Windmill Restoration Society (part of the Chiltern Society). As it was intended that the Sheaf to Loaf attempt would be submitted for an entry into the Guinness Book of Records, a local councillor, Mrs Jean Gabbittas, and retired BBC weatherman Bert Ford were enlisted to adjudicate on the day.
A few days before the event the wheat was cut at College Farm, Loosley Row, using a Massey Harris binder, which had been shipped over in the 1940s to assist in the campaign to produce more home-grown food. It had last been used three years before and was dragged out of a shed for the occasion. It was missing its wooden drawpole, but by good fortune a completely unused pole was found hibernating at the back a member’s shed. The binder was pulled by a 1940 Fordson N tractor, which club member John Barker had discovered on a farm in Oving in 1978.
After maturing in the field the sheaves were transported up the hill to Windmill Farm, ready for the big day. It was an event obviously meant to happen. The weather was kind and the sun shone on the record-breakers as they went into action. At the click of a stopwatch, the sheaves were thrown onto the 1949 Marshall threshing machine, powered by a 1949 Field-Marshall. The sacks filled with wheat were manhandled on the 1950s Grier Mill which was driven by a 1937 Allis Chalmers Model U tractor.
The resultant wholemeal flour was carried to the tent operating as a bakery department, where it was turned into dough. Expert hands sliced and weighed the dough, which was then placed in the bread tins. After a spell in the proving oven they were transferred to a 1952/3 ex-army wood-burning field oven to bake.
A television crew from Carlton Country were there to record the event when the tray of delicious bread was removed from the oven. The whole process from sheaf to loaf was timed at 1 hour, 52 minutes and 37 seconds.
The bakery team, who had also produced loaves from brought-in flour, were close to exhaustion as the smell of fresh bread wafting over the showground ensured a never-ending queue of people eager to give a donation for a freshly baked loaf.
From start to finish the whole team had worked as one and the whole event was an outstanding success, with over 2,000 visitors and their children attending during the day. In the words of one villager it was “the biggest event there since the war!”
| 1998 Sheaf to Loaf record challenge | |
|---|---|
| Year | 1998 |
| Village | Lacey Green |
| Author | |
| Copywrite | |
| Theme | Guiness Book of Records challenge |
| Social Period | Category:1990's |