WHAT HAPPENED TO THE MONTGOMERIES

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE MONTGOMERIES

Uncle John tragically died in 1967. There was a storm and he had gone out to check the hens. A power cable had come down and he was electrocuted . Sometimes tragedy stalks the farmer .

I was only involved in one crisis in my time. Cattle love clover and it is good for the butter fat content in their milk . They must not be allowed to eat too much as a gas can form in their stomach and they literally blow up . Grazing must therefore be restricted.

Aunt Margaret spotted from the kitchen window that their herd had broken into a field of clover .Uncle John and I grabbed the dogs and raced to the field on the tractor. With the help of the dogs we got the cows out .Uncle John handed me a pen knife and told me to stab any showing signs of blowing up . This was the only way to let the gas out. We lost three cows but it could have been a total disaster.

In the late 1940s they had been threatened with Foot & Mouth disease and a farm just 4 miles away had been ordered to destroy their entire herd.

I went to Uncle John's funeral , at the cemetery over a hundred men came to pay their last  respects.


Aunt Margaret tried to run the farm for a bit with her brother but it got too much for her. As neither Margaret or Wilma wanted to inherit the farm she sold up and retired to Ayr.

After college Margaret went to work at an Agricultural College near Maidenhead in Berkshire. Like me she never returned to Scotland other than on visits .She worked at this same College all her life. She never married : the love of her life was horses .When I was  at Sandhurst Margaret came on a visit and  I showed her round the grounds.After that we lost touch other than at Uncle John's funeral. Many years later I met her at Alans & then Dorothy's funeral. Before she died two years ago ( aged 68 ) Jinty and I took her to the Rundle Cup in Tidworth which is the annual Polo Match between the Army and Navy. Prince Charles , William and Harry were playing. I am sure she enjoyed it . She was quite an accomplished horsewoman having got into long distance riding ( 100 miles ).She was on the selection committefor the British Team.

Wilma did home economics at college in Glasgow & lived with Aunt Margaret for a while in Ayr. She married a farmer and settled in Dumfries & Galloway. I believe they have retired now handing over the farm to their son .

I could be wrong but I suspect Margaret & Wilma wanted to escape a domineering mother. On summer leave from Sandhurst I made a brief visit to the farm. Mararet , Wilma and I went to a Bowling Alley in Irvan . In conversation over coffee I made the remark " Oh you know what Aunt Margaret is like. " They looked at each other , smiled , turned to me and in unison said
 " Alan go  on " I declined I owed her my silence !