The Guarlford Story

Before 1850 threshing was carried out in barns which had huge doors on opposite sides. The wind blew through the barn separating the heavier grain from the chaff. This photograph shows a Traction Engine driving a mechanical threshing machine. By the Second World War threshing machines were being driven by a tractor with a pulley. With the introduction of the self propelled Combine Harvester in the UK in the early 1950s, significantly less manpower was required to gather the crop.

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