Local Farmers Union

 

Bell used to open the cattle market

 

James 'Teapot' Williams at cattle market

 

Fred Badger - with Archibald Ponsonby Smythe, Hereford Bull

 

Brass sign for Campden Farmers Co-operative Association

 

Farmers at cattle market behind the Noel Arms

North Cotswold Farmers Association (NCFA) was formed in 1889, with the participation of the leading farmers in the district, including George Haines, Ulric Stanley, Henry Haydon, Henry Dee and Frank Robbins.  They negotiated with Government about the conditions for keeping livestock, about wages for labourers, and through WWI, about food prices.

The monthly livestock market was managed by Hutchings and Deer, local auctioneers.  But in 1918, The Campden & District Farmers Co-operative Association Ltd. was formed to take over the management of the market. Sheep were sold in the Market Square and cattle behind the Noel Arms Hotel.  It appears that the Co-operative Association was the commercial arm of the NCFA.

In 1920 the NCFA was superseded by the Farmers Union, probably prompted by the National Farmers Union which started in 1908, growing rapidly throughout the country.  The NCFA finally closed in 1926.

The bell was donated to CCHS Archives by the son of Fred Badger’s cattleman, Maurice Howman.  The bell was used to announce the start of the monthly cattle sale which was held at the back of the Noel Arms. Fred Badger’s herd of prizewinning cattle was kept at the farm, now Badgers Field.  Jimmy ‘Teapot’ Williams rang the bell to open the market.

The brass sign, bell and record books for the NCFU and Co-operative are held in the CCHS Archives. We hope to find a volunteer who would like to study the books and local newspapers of the time to uncover the full story.