Mr. Willie Baumgartner

Mr Baumgartner visited Broomfield in 1954.

For all this time he has kept a copy of the 1954 Prospectus, the 1953 BOSA Magazine and a Christmas card sent to him in 1955.

He has now retired from farming but in 2013 at the age of 83 he is described as being as fit as a fiddle!

Mr Baumgartner lives in Switzerland in the Canton of Zurich.

If you remember him or have any memories that you would like to share with him, use the  'Contact Us' button on the website home page.

LINK TO FURTHER INFORMATION:

Christmas Card Broomfield Hall to Willie Baumgartner 1955.pdf

Broomfield Old Students Association Magazine 1953

Derbyshire Farm Institute Prospectus 1954

 

Recollections from Margaret Platts

Part1

It is good news that interest in the history etc of Broomfield is being taken seriously. Of course I have very fond memories as it had a huge effect on my life. Although I was only there for about 6 years it certainly shaped my future and I was very happy there.   Naturally I have many stories in my memory, far too many to recount and if Eric was alive now he would be in his element, recounting all sorts of escapades as a student and also during his time as pig man after we married and lived in one of the cottages. 

Just as a bit of background; I started work there in 1951 as a shorthand typist and our office was the Nissan hut at the back of the Hall.  It was divided into 3, ours being the largest and the other 2 were for the horticultural and agricultural lecturers. It was cold in winter and hot in summer of course.  Being the newest arrival one of my jobs was to make the tea for the staff in the hut and we always had our lunch in the dining room, along with the students.  

Mrs. Orme was Matron and I still remember her wonderful black currant pie to this day.  In our lunch hour we played table tennis in the students' common room when they had left it to go back to lectures, or we played tennis outside in the summer, or just sat on the lawn enjoying the lovely gardens.

When eventually electricity was installed in the cottages and farmhouses one of my jobs was to read all the meters each month, a job I enjoyed, getting outside and walking round the estate.

Part 2

I have just been looking again at the website and interested to see the bit about Willi Baumgartner.  I remember him as we had just got married and I think we might have invited him to our home at the weekend.  Unfortunately he had to cut his stay short, if I am remembering correctly, as his Father was taken very ill and the family wanted him home in Germany.

During the period we were there Broomfield had several overseas students in the summer holidays, mostly young men working on the farm. Eric would come home and comment that he had had to sort out some of the language they had picked up because the farm workers took great delight in teaching them some words that their mothers would not like to hear! Also we did befriend one or two who were at a loose end over the weekends - one of them was a Dutch boy called Peter van der Duys and we took him out into Derbyshire once or twice in our car. I still have a photo of him with our little Cairn terrier. We got to know his family, too as the next year they came over and several years later his Mother stayed with us for a fortnight. We stayed in touch for many years after that when he moved to Australia and he came to see us here in Devon, becoming friendly with our eldest son who was then studying horticulture. As Peter then worked for the forestry people in Australia he promised to send some seeds to Roger when he got home. Some of these were grown successfully and indeed four of those plants remained in our garden for many years. Another student was Grethe Christensen (her married surname now) from Denmark who worked in the hall during her stay then came to stay with us at our farm some years later, for a month.  We still keep in touch, have spent a week’s holiday with her and she has been over here again on a visit. So apart from the farming, student life, etc. we made other contacts that would not have been possible without Broomfield!

When we eventually left Broomfield we still kept in touch with some of the staff. Jim Stockley was an assistant lecturer in agriculture and left, with his wife, Hettie, and young family and moved down to Cornwall.  It so happened that Jim's birthday and mine were on the same date so we always exchanged cards and I received a pot of .Cornish clotted cream every year!  When we moved to Devon we visited them on several occasions and were invited to their Golden Wedding party. The other ex member of staff with whom I have kept in touch is Mary Hobbs, who started work there on the same day as I did, as an assistant horticultural lecturer. She eventually moved down to Aylesbury but we have met on several occasions, talked on the phone, etc. and exchanged cards and letters.

Other members of staff who were in our Nissan hut were Ken Bassett and Alf Botham (chief clerk and wages clerk respectively), Mr. Nickalls (vice principal), Mr. Tuck in charge of horticulture  and, Bob Straughan, his second in command.  The rest of the staff were in the Hall but when the new buildings went up we all moved into the Hall and our Nissan hut eventually disappeared.