Farmer's boys

This group of images gives an idea of the range of traditional agricultural tools that are part of the Old House Museum's collection. Bakewell still has a Monday livestock market, though the pens are now in a purpose built agricultural business centre rather than the town centre. Sheep and dairy farming are still part of the local economy. Crops and cereals were grown for fodder and the museum's plough and hoe have recently been restored thanks to a grant and some expert attention. The seed fiddle was used to broadcast seed in the twentieth century, using a technique recorded in medieval times. The smock harks back to the nineteenth century, practical and hard wearing workwear, with more than a hint of Thomas Hardy's novels.