FARMING has dominated the landscape of North and East Yorkshire for many centuries, whether carried out with the help of horses or tractors.

This week's pictures from the past show an age when farm work was usually done with manual or animal labour instead of machines.

The first picture shows men gathering hay using traditional pitchforks and a horse and cart. In the background other field workers can be made out collecting hay, recalling the days when many farm hands were used to do a job now reserved for one man and a machine.

Next we move on to a slightly more technological age, as a threshing machine is used for the last time in 1970 at Rectory Farm, Low Catton, near Stamford Bridge. Even 30 years ago this newspaper commented on how this was becoming a rare sight in the countryside, saying: "The machine requires nine or ten men to keep it supplied with raw material. A combine harvester requires only one operator, which is a big consideration nowadays, when labour is hard to come by."

Next, another shot of the threshing machine at Rectory Farm shows farmworkers attending to its needs

Lastly, a photograph taken in 1973 shows another relatively late appearance for these traditional farming techniques, with plenty of people and horses on hand to help gather in the hay for the winter.

Updated: 11:03 Friday, August 02, 2002