Harvesting in the old-fashioned way no combined harvesters here! Derick Pearson advises: “Jack Collinson standing on top of the hay and Stan Bowman one of the other men in the photograph, taken about 1958; taken in a field at the right hand side of Kilton Bank, overlooking lower Kilton Lane Gardens and in the distance is bank top and Cowscote in Loftus.” When loading this image the editor was unsure as to whether these were sheaves or forkfuls of hay; with closer inspection it appears that it is sheaves of corn being loaded, so our commentary and title have been amended.
Image courtesy of Kath Wardell from a collection compiled by Derick Pearson, thanks to Derick Pearson, G. Baxter and A. Etherington for the updates.
A combined harvester was never used for hay. A cutter went through the field and the grass was allowed to dry. A hay turner was then used to turn the hay so the damper side was on top and further drying took place. A sideways delivery rake was then used to put the hay into rows prior to the baler coming, even in 1958, which would then be used to compact the hay into bales before collecting and stacking the bales.
Today may well be different.
In between the two men on the ground there appears to be a stook of corn. 4 sheaves each side for oats, five a side for wheat or barley.
A binder would have cut the corn and tied it into sheaves.
Looking at the sheaves carried by the loader they would appear to be oats.