A writer discusses his project to compile George Ewart Evans' twelve books about pre-war Suffolk farm life. Evans documented shepherd Robert Savage and rural traditions in Ask the Fellows Who Cut the Hay, published in 1956. The speaker received that book at fourteen and is now crowdfunding a hardback edition through Unbound.
In 1948, George Ewart Evans and his wife Florence moved to this house here at Blackshall in Suffolk because Florence had just taken the job of headmistress at the village school. They lived here and raised their children, and George got talking with his neighbour Robert Savage. Robert was one of many shepherds in his family, and Robert told him how life used to be on the farms before the First World War. He spoke to more neighbours And then he wrote their stories in a book called Ask the Fellows Who Cut the Hay, which was published in 1956. For my 14th birthday in 1969, my parents gave me a copy of Ask the Fellows Who Cut the Hay. At the time, I had a weekend job on a farm about 2 miles from here, and I recognised much of what Evans had written about in terms of the traditions and the habits and the ways. I even knew people that had the same surname as those that Evans had interviewed, and so were clearly related. I decided then that one day I wanted to write a book about Georgia Evans, but it took until 2019 when I decided to go to UEA and do an MA in Creative Writing that I actually sat down to write the book. I graduated with a distinction in the MA and the first 3 chapters of the book written. Each chapter takes something we're all familiar with, so milk, wheat, barley, coal, looks at its past through the eyes of Georgia Evans and its present and its future. For example, I met Portia a shepherd who has 800 sheep on the water meadows and parkland around Clare in Suffolk. So my book is now with Unbound, who will publish a hardback first edition and crowdfund it. What that means is you have the opportunity now to pledge your support and be one of the first to get a hardback copy of the book. The book contains material from all 12 of Georgia Evans' books about rural Suffolk. People used to live far more sustainably than they do today. And reading the book will give you clues as to how you can live more sustainably tomorrow. I've had my copy of this book for more than 50 years, and it's got a bit dog-eared over that time. By pledging your support for my book now, you'll have a hardback edition that you can treasure and keep and share that will last forever. Thank you.
