Wakerings Farm, Little Waltham. The hedgerow to the rear has long since gone, as have the magnificent tall trees around the (now filled in) pond on the left as well as some of the farm buildings. The house is fundamentally unchanged today (2015) although a glazed conservatory was added behind the original rear garden door and the rooms of the formerly separate cottage on the left-hand side were incorporated into the main house in the 80s. The large white barn had a compressed chalk floor when originally built. In the 1970s, an intentionally laid stubble fire swept uncontrolled through three fields to the right as the straw bales were being collected before the fire brigade pumped the pond dry, mostly spraying the thatched roof of the cottage just out of view to prevent it being ignited by the clouds of flying sparks. A Ford 5000 tractor was burnt out in a valiant but ultimately doomed attempt to plough a break before the advancing flames.
Uploaded by David Jayne on 10 August 2015
Photo ID: 129994
Building ID: 101122110
Report this photo