Author JOHN AINLEY recalls his time as one of the first students at York's farming college

IT was a blustery, cold day that January of 1948 when I and 38 other keen students met in the Askham Bryan Common Room for an introductory talk by the principal, Mr J A Lindsay and his deputy, Mr Ballardie. The first training course in general agriculture was about to begin with a year's work crammed into six months. A new intake of students would be made in September for a full academic year.

As I recall it, this welcoming talk contained a fair number of 'do's and don'ts', it being stressed that, because we were the first students to enter the college, we should set a good example for those who would follow us.

We were a very mixed bunch, ranging from those who had served in the Second World War to others in their late teens. Most had an agricultural background, although not all. As can be imagined, rule-setting by the authorities was a little difficult considering the diversity of the students.

The college doors were to be locked at 10.30pm and a ban on visiting the local pub was hardly well received especially by those who had fought in the war. In retrospect, it was a question of authority feeling its way in a new set of circumstances and in accord with the times of 1948.

Rooms were allocated, timetables given - practical and theoretical - and, in effect, we became the first Askham Bryan guinea pigs.

The college, or Yorkshire Institute of Agriculture, as it was then called, consisted of one self-contained block incorporating a lecture hall, dining room, kitchen and bed/study rooms. It was built just before the outbreak of war by the West and East Yorkshire County Councils on a farm a few miles outside York. The original farm buildings were nearby and they contained the refurbished dairy unit and machinery.

It had been the intention to start agricultural courses in 1939 but, with the war intervening, the whole complex was handed over to the National Institute of Agricultural Engineering for the duration.

A great deal of credit must go to the original small staff who, despite difficult circumstances, managed to enthusiastically put across their subjects. Those who come to mind after all these years are Mr Lindsay, principal, and Mr Ballardie, his deputy who also taught animal husbandry. Mr Mattock's subject was crop husbandry. Dairying was Miss Boaz's brief who taught the subject with aplomb and Miss Thompson, a skilful and interesting lecturer specialised in poultry farming.

Mr Cardwell comes to mind as an excellent teacher and demonstrator of farm wood-working. Some lecturers came from outside, a veterinary surgeon and Mr Hamilton, who was a nationally-known beekeeper.

Nor should one forget Miss Hebditch, the matron, who was very approachable and helpful. She must have had a monumental task in feeding us all at a time when food rationing was still in force.

The six-month course was split between theoretical and practical work, with emphasis on the former.

I cannot remember much practical work on general agriculture other than the hoeing of swedes and sugar beet, but we all did a fortnight in the dairy. Up at 5.30am and a hands-on operation milking the Ayrshire herd under the supervision of the head herdsman.

We spent a lot of time on the dairy side, both practical and theoretical. I can still remember the constituents of milk being drilled into one, 'solids not fat' and all that sort of thing.

Poultry was well covered with arks on grassland which had to be moved daily. Sexing chicks and inserting small tablets of stilboestrol into pullets necks to make plumper table birds also comes to mind.

A fortnightly lecture on veterinary science is remembered as a complete disaster with us all trying to keep a straight face. The rather elderly vet used to hang a large chart of a horse's skeleton up and proceed, with a pointer, to identify each bone which we were required to write down; horses have an awful lot of bones!

Beekeeping was for enthusiasts, as indeed was Mr Hamilton, the lecturer. There was a small apiary in the grounds and, while holding frames covered in bees, I can still remember him telling us that whatever we did we must take care of the 'brood', a word he lovingly rolled out with his Scottish accent.

After a couple of stings my enthusiasm, which was lukewarm, rapidly evaporated.

Social activities were few. I remember a billiards table in the common room and also a dart board, but in those days no television. There was a rugby field on which we had the odd game, it being difficult to raise two teams. But generally most of us were determined to learn what we could and our spare time was usually spent writing up lecture notes and studying in our rooms.

The 'bible' at that time was The Science & Practice of British Farming, a large tome by James Watson and James More. It was comprehensive and covered the agriculture of the day very thoroughly.

Even so, the need to relax from time to time with an evening visit to the pub was achieved clandestinely.

The six months, with a short break at Easter, passed all too quickly and soon it was time for exams, oral and written.

Success at last and I became the proud owner of a buff-coloured Certificate Of Agriculture. It was to stand me in good stead.

Three months later I had achieved my ambition of working abroad. I had replied to an advertisement in The Farmer & Stockbreeder magazine placed by the Government Crown Agents.

Agricultural Field Officers were required to work in Tanganyika, now Tanzania.

I was offered the post and in February 1949 sailed for East Africa.

These were the days when Britain still had African colonies and our task was to help improve farming practices in that country while it was working towards eventual self-government.

This was achieved in 1961 when, some three years later, I resigned and returned home to this country.

- You can read more of John Ainley's story in his book Pink Stripes And Obedient Servants - An Agriculturalist in Tanganyika.

The 250-page paperback, illustrated by many black and white photographs, costs £8.50, plus £1.50 postage, and is available from JM Ainley, 4, Station Road, Cranswick, Driffield, E.Yorks, YO25 9QZ or from local bookshops quoting ISBN

0-9540944-0-9.