D
MICKLEPAGE
 MEMORIES
Home and Husbandry
by Ken and Mary Harding
We first came to Micklepage on a private visit to Godfrey and Gertrude Pain, who were then living, with their two small daughters, in the cottage. We had known them for over ten years, first meeting when Godfrey became Youth Leader at Carrs Lane Congregational Church in Birmingham; he and Gertrude started the `70 Club', of which we were both members. In addition to many practical activities, discussion groups flourished and `Community' was always a live issue.

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After talks with George Gibson and others, we pitched a tent for ourselves and small daughter aged 21/a years, in the field near the Barn Chapel. As the weeks passed we grew to know the `Family' and their pattern of life.

 Micklepage Memories - booklet cover
Ken always wanted to be a farmer. He managed to get a job (at 1 shilling per hour, 5p!) with a neighbour. With the job went a ghastly cottage into which we moved, just in time for the birth of Jeremy.

The following summer, growing numbers at Micklepage and the production of food becoming more important led to our move to the cottage there, Ken working on the land with Joyce Lindsey and Jesse Lindfield.

About this time Ken read and was inspired by Lady Eve Balfour's The Living Soil. At Family Meetings the Christian attitude to the land was thrashed out and a commitment to organic farming was agreed. The Jersey herd grew, and pigs and chicken were housed in buildings near the school.

 

Our memories span 18 years. We learned the art of making a home within the community, which did not depend on where one actually dwelt, we moved from Cottage, to parts of the Hostel and part of the Farmhouse.

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