How far can restoration be pushed? Mining Photograph

[arthurk]

Or some kind of concert party, gang show etc?

[Prouty99]

Or some kind of concert party, gang show etc?

The more I look at this photo the more confused I get. I'm due to see the person who actually owns the photo tomorrow and he's a genealogy buff so I'm sure he will be able to fill in the blanks on this and hopefully a family name of someone on the photo or at least a location but I'm sure this is in England

[mike175]

Could it just be a collection of workers on a large farm?

That's basically what I'm saying. Probably a reasonable size farm but not a large estate. From my own knowledge all the tools except the shepherd's crook would be used on a dairy farm (of course they may have had sheep as well). Hay rakes were used in making hay for the cows, buckets for milking them. I believe one man would milk around a dozen cows, so a fairly large herd for the times if there were four cowmen. All the herdsmen I've known carry a stick or staff to help in driving the cows, and I can think of plenty of uses for a spade on any type of farm.

Something about the picture suggests the west of England but I wouldn't bet on it.

Mike.

[Prouty99]

Could it just be a collection of workers on a large farm?

That's basically what I'm saying. Probably a reasonable size farm but not a large estate. From my own knowledge all the tools except the shepherd's crook would be used on a dairy farm (of course they may have had sheep as well). Hay rakes were used in making hay for the cows, buckets for milking them. I believe one man would milk around a dozen cows, so a fairly large herd for the times if there were four cowmen. All the herdsmen I've known carry a stick or staff to help in driving the cows, and I can think of plenty of uses for a spade on any type of farm.

Something about the picture suggests the west of England but I wouldn't bet on it.

Mike.

I also just spotted the handle of what looks like a machete between the two bucket people to the left of the person in the centre. The chap who owns the photo comes from Lancashire so I'm betting this photo is from that region somewhere. I'm not 100% that is a crook by the way, It looks like it goes higher and splits into two at the top although not sure about the attachment at the end. If you look at the image of the chap in negative it looks like it does have some arrangement at the top but I just can't make it out

[mike175]

It was the man on the left in the back row that I thought could be holding a crook, but I'm far from sure, I would have expected to see a dog or two if he was a shepherd. There are definitely two hay rakes visible in the original but some of the restorations have lost them. Sorry, I can't see the machete 

So, north-west rather than west    and Lancashire is definitely dairy and sheep country . . .

[Prouty99]

It was the man on the left in the back row that I thought could be holding a crook, but I'm far from sure, I would have expected to see a dog or two if he was a shepherd. There are definitely two hay rakes visible in the original but some of the restorations have lost them. Sorry, I can't see the machete 

So, north-west rather than west    and Lancashire is definitely dairy and sheep country . . .

Yep, Lancashire is looking favourite but I'll know more tomorrow

The Machete is in the photo from the original copy (without restoration), I have cut the area out for you, just zoom in, the handle is quite distinct although the blade is sheathed

I have also attached the original unaltered image where the hay rake(s) are. I can see the one on the left but the one on the right only seems to have half a head so the jury is still out on that for me

[sallyyorks]

So, north-west rather than west    and Lancashire is definitely dairy and sheep country . . .

And flax

[Prouty99]

While we are on the dairy theme I found a photo of an actual working dairy from between 1920 and 1930 as I was curious about the chap wearing what looks like a skill cap on the right next to the chap with the spade. The hat seems out of place compared to the rest and it doesn't seem like a fashion item from the era unless it is a flat cap and we can't see it due to photo damage but the shape isn't right for a flat cap

If you look at the photo below from the working dairy the headgear fits our chap a lot better, although our chap doesn't seem to be dressed in white. I can't imagine what other colour he would be dressed in rather than white if his job is the same as the people in the photo below

Our chap seems to be in a dark colour. Green maybe ?

Any theories anyone?

[mazi]

That last photo has convinced me that the original is a photo of the employees and owner of a fairly large dairy farm.

Metal buckets, white clothing and hats.

If you had ever milked a cow you would know why they are wearing hats.

There are two halves to a dairy farm, the grass, the hay, fences calving etc, and the milking side,
Milkers dress in white and handle the milk from when it leaves the cow until it leaves the farm,
Farm workers muck out wash down and grow the grass, and move the hay into the cowshed.

A modern milking parlour feeds the milk into a bulk tank straight from the cow, with no human contact, but you still need to be sterile to dip your jug into the bulk tank to pour on your cereal.


Just my thoughts, but a close relative still milks 150 cows, as did his father and ggfather

Mike