A longer term project for us here at Struan Farm is a map of the property with walking tracks marked out for our farmstay guests. But that involves the naming and re-naming of paddocks around the place, something that is easier said than done.
Over the past few years John has enlarged and re-aligned paddocks and replaced fencing. For example, what we used to call the "Old Orchard" paddock has now been combined with our roadside "Pet Paddock." But we still call that area the "Old Orchard." In fact, we still call a lawn area of the Homestead gardens "the tennis court," although the tennis court hasn't been a tennis court for at least twenty years. Change isn't easy!
During a recent shed clean out one of the old paddock signs re-appeared:
I asked John where "Long Spur" paddock was, and it turns out it was across the road, on land now owned by our neighbours. But this prompted us to make sure we remembered all the original paddock names. We might reuse some. Fortunately John's brother Carrick has written and self-published a great history of the farm that lists the various paddock names, and there were many:
Seven Acre, Near Barn, Far Barn, The Rockies, Old Cowshed, Dam, Long Spur, Road Face One, Road Face Two, Road Face Three, Road Face Four, Woolshed, Pet, The Never Nevers, Bush, Back Paddock Burn, Marshall's Boundary, Poplar Valley, Forty-Acre, Tomo, Swing Bridge, Near Side, Far Side, Very Far Side, Ridge, Crate Lake, Bull, Cowshed, Slip, and David Brown.
The David Brown Paddock was named after a tractor accident, while the "Never Nevers" was on part of the property that was so far away in the days of walking or horses that they rarely went there. John remembers it having a "Taranaki gate," a makeshift wire and batten affair, because they couldn't cart a proper gate that far in the day.
We still have the Pet and Bull Paddocks on what remains of the original farm, while other historical paddock names seem to have gone by the wayside. Perhaps what's old will become new as we progress with this project. Stay tuned!
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