A 150th Field Day!
Once Every 150 Years West Melton hosts a very special event, The Time After Time Field Day!
This sesquicentennial, we are holding it at Dave and Lyn Robinson’s farm on West Melton Road. It is bound to huge!! At least 150 times bigger than the last one! So what is it all about? We thought it would be a great idea to see what life in West Melton and the Canterbury Plains was like in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.
We have done our research and we have got a pretty good idea of what they got up to. We’re fairly confident there were no iPads or Cell Phone Towers, the BP wasn’t there but the Tavern was! Phew!! There were no Super Markets in Rolleston or Hornby, (much like West Melton today) so they had to be quite self-sufficient. West Melton was a rural community and people had to grow and process their own food and make their own fun.
In association with the Ellesmere Vintage Club, we are converting three paddocks on the Robinson’s Farm and taking them back to the late 1800’s, early 1900’s. There will be a Heritage Village set up with shops, a cottage and demonstrations of activities traditionally carried out in the period. These include Butter and Cheese Making, Pottery, Spinning and Weaving, Pump Organs, a Black Smith and Games from the period.
Our friends from the Ellesmere Vintage Club, the Calders with their Traction Engines and others have kindly agreed to bring their vintage machinery and put on a show! There will be ploughing competitions, a timber mill, and shearing demonstrations all powered by the machines of yesteryear.
There will be working Clydesdale Horses being put through their paces. We will have story tellers and historians educating us about life on the plains 150 years ago. As if this wasn’t enough, there will also be a Farmer’s Market operating on the day. If you would like to have a stall send us an email to register your interest. It could be Walnuts, Eggs, Vegetables, Spring Flowers, Seeds, Soap, Wine, Cheese, Woollen Products, anything produced locally. Otherwise make sure you come along and take the opportunity to stock up your ladder with Spring goodies.
This is going to be a great family day out and it’s all part of our community celebrating 150 years of living in West Melton. One of the reasons it is going to be such a good day is because of the support of our sponsor, Norwood Farm Machinery! The Committee very much appreciate the generosity of Jason Prendergast and the team at Norwood’s for being the sole sponsor of The Time After Time Field Day!
Don’t hesitate to email us if you have something you would like to show on the day or you would like to be part of the Farmers Market.
Put it in your diary!
When: Saturday 20 September 2014 10am to 4pm.
Where: Dave and Lyn Robinson’s Farm, Opposite 454 West Melton Road, West Melton
Contact Details: westmelton150feldday@gmail.com
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