I recently had the opportunity to drop in on David Saltmarsh’s smallholding on the Devon/Dorset border, Fivepenny Farm. I was impressed (pun entirely intended) and inspired by the work he and his family have been doing there. The 25acre smallholding is a traditional mixed farm with vegetables, fruit and livestock, something of which I thoroughly approve. Inside the cruck framed, thatched barn that they have built is this cider press, rescued from another Dorset barn. I could write an entire post just on the barn and more on the farm but ….let’s start with the Cider Press. It’s big and very tidy, but I couldn’t help thinking I was missing something.
And I was because the top beam of the press is actually on the top floor of the barn! I have never seen such a large top beam on a press before. This lump of elm, is hewn from a single butt and was some hundreds of years old when the cider press was made – by now it’s a few hundred years old at least.
The Iron screwthread is big, but not original and it’s dwarfed by the size of the original wooden thread which you can steel see and feel, at least several inches in width, though I failed to measure it at the time.
I got a bit distracted by the cider press, but it’s not a museum exhibit it’s very much a part of a working small holding. At the moment most of the apples used to make the bottled Cider and Apple Juice are bought in but just behind the barn is the first of the orchards planted on the farm and by the look of it, it won’t be long before more of the fruit being pressed is home grown!
The reason for dropping in was to discuss polelathe and greenwood things (The bodgers ball in 2012 to be more precise) and next to the cider press were a few of the superb (award winning) chairs that David is renowned for making. You might remember some of these chairs from the Mastercrafts chairmaking programme and you can read more about his chairs at his Fivepenny chairs website .
His polelathe is built into a really tight corner of a shed cum workshop. I was surprised that he can’t see the view from it, but then I realised that’s not necessarily helpful – I might be a bit too distracted by the view and no doubt the polelathing hours and normally in darkness anyway.
Here is a sneak preview of a chair that David is finishing at the moment, he reckons about 100 hours have gone into this one and it was inspired by the curved shape in the side pieces of the back which are natural and not steamed.
The workload on a small holding is enormous, it is indeed a way of life and not a job – but if its the way of life that you want then I expect that it’s about as good as it gets. The lambing season is just about 24hours a day. I was inspired, not just by the small holding that David, Joti and their family are running but by the sustainability that underpins all of it.
There is no sign that they will run out of ideas anytime soon. I spotted these iron cogs and wheels hiding in a corner of the barn. An old apple mill (scratter) waiting to be restored. If you live around West Dorset look out for fivepenny farm produce, preserves and juice in your local markets!
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