My Mother’s Diaries – The Hiltonbury Farming Family Story 1948-1976

Andy Vining
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A heartfelt journey into the everyday life of a Hampshire farming family Just after the Second World War 1948 until 1976 Read and shared by Andy Vining, these diary entries capture family, farming, love, loss, weather, and the quiet moments that shape a lifetime—preserving a mother’s voice for generations to come.

  1. 2d ago

    Summer at Hiltonbury: Harvest, Heatwaves & Great Liners | July–August 1952

    Summer 1952 is in full swing at Hiltonbury Farm. July and August bring haymaking and harvest, decorating chaos in the farmhouse, Pony Club camps, sports days, Southampton Carnival and a house full of family and visitors. Mother watches the magnificent United States and Queen Elizabeth on Southampton Water, enjoys picnics and trips to the coast — and even manages the occasional sleep beneath the apple trees. Back on the farm, the weather controls everything. Oats, peas, barley and dredge have to be cut and gathered whenever conditions allow, while the increasingly modern combine begins to show just how quickly farming is changing. At last comes the news everyone has been waiting for: the harvest is finished. There are Jersey calves, ponies, cricket, football at The Dell, a difficult calving, and finally one wonderfully ordinary little event — the first Rhode Island Red pullet lays her first egg. Another wonderfully busy two months in the life of one Hampshire farming family, preserved exactly as Mother saw it in 1952. My Mother’s Diaries – The Hiltonbury Farming Family Story 1948–1976🌐 www.mymothersdiaries.co.uk

  2. 4d ago

    Summer is in full swing at Hiltonbury Farm in a Trailer for July and August 1952.

    There is haymaking and harvest, family arriving from Canada, Pony Club, Southampton Carnival, cricket, football and summer outings. Mother and the family also take to Southampton Water to see the magnificent United States and Queen Elizabeth. But the weather is never far from everyone’s thoughts as the crops are cut, combined and carted — until at last comes the welcome news that the harvest is finished. Another wonderfully busy chapter of family and farming life from My Mother’s Diaries.

  3. Sep 6

    Haymaking, Birthdays and Summer Days — May & June 1952 at Hiltonbury

    Welcome back to My Mother’s Diaries – The HiltonburyFarming Family Story, and to May and June 1952. These two months begin beneath grey skies, with seeminglyendless rain and continuing concern about my father John’s health. Histroublesome back leads to one doctor after another, with very few answers,while life at Hiltonbury carries on regardless. But May also brings an escape from farm life, as Mother andFather head to Bournemouth for a proper seaside holiday. There are hot days onthe beach, walks along the front, trips to the Pavilion, coffee at the SwissCottage, new friends, shopping, bathing and even a little amusement on thepenny machines. Then it is home again — and straight back to reality. By June, the haymaking season is underway and once again theweather dictates everything. Hay must be turned, baled and brought safely inwhenever the sun allows, and Mother herself joins in, threading baling wire atFlexford on one particularly hot and dusty day. There are happier family occasions too: Janet’s birthday,dancing displays, school matches, gooseberries, strawberries and homemade jam. But farm life also brings sadness when one of the Jerseyherd, Wings of War, fails the cattle test and has to go — a reminderthat these animals were far more than simply numbers on a farm. And amid it all, Mother still finds time for ironing,gardening, dressmaking, entertaining visitors — and even manages to get up atfive o’clock one morning entirely by mistake! It is another wonderfully vivid glimpse ofordinary family life at Hiltonbury Farm in 1952

  4. Sep 4

    Bournemouth, Haymaking and Heartache at Hiltonbury_Trailer May & June 1952

    May and June 1952 bring rain, farm work, family life and a welcome holiday in Bournemouth. Back at Hiltonbury, haymaking begins, John continues to struggle with his back, and there is real sadness when the Jersey cow Wings of War fails the cattle test. Alongside it all are birthdays, dancing, strawberries, jam and the everyday rhythm of life on the farm.

  5. Sep 2

    Sloe Gin, Threshing and the First Autumn Fires_September & October 1952

    Autumn is settling over Hiltonbury Farm, and September and October 1952 bring a wonderful mixture of hard work, family life and the small rituals that mark the changing seasons. There are sloes to gather for homemade gin, beans to salt for winter, logs to stack and the first fires to light as the colder weather arrives. On the farm, John is deep into the long business of threshing, while the weather alternates between lovely autumn days and thoroughly rotten ones. Life away from the fields is just as busy. There are football matches at The Dell, Harvest Festival, fireworks, theatre trips, sewing, gardening and a steady stream of visitors through the farmhouse. But beneath all the ordinary bustle, Mother is increasingly worried about John as his back trouble is followed by major dental treatment and then severe headaches — yet somehow he simply carries on. There is anxiety too when the cattle undergo their tuberculosis tests, followed by enormous relief when almost all of them pass. And then, just when life seems to have settled down, the cattle escape, Andrew comes home for half-term, and before long the whole household is Monopoly mad. Join me, Andy Vining, for September and October 1952 — two months of threshing, changing seasons, family worries, laughter and everyday life at Hiltonbury Farm. My Mother’s Diaries – The Hiltonbury Farming Family Story 1948–1976.

  6. Aug 30

    Snow, Spring and 300 Chicks – Life on a British Farm in 1952-My Mothers Diaries

    Spring is trying very hard to arrive — but winter has not finished with the family just yet. March brings rain, mud, thunderstorms and even heavy snow, while Father struggles with poor health and repeated visits to the doctor and clinic. But farm life continues regardless, with oats being drilled, calves being born and preparations beginning for the busy spring planting season. Mother enjoys a very different glimpse of the future when she travels to London for the Ideal Home Exhibition. Surrounded by new kitchens, furniture and modern electrical appliances, she can only look and wonder — because Hiltonbury Farm still has no electricity. There are happier moments too. Mother celebrates her birthday, the children race across the snowy fields behind Smokey and the sledge, and Sapphire produces a welcome heifer calf. Then April brings Easter, warmer weather and Andrew home from school for his birthday — complete with a brand-new bicycle. Soon Hiltonbury seems full of new life. One hundred chicks arrive and are housed in the old railway carriage, Sooty produces five kittens, potatoes are planted by the whole family, peas are drilled and an electric fence appears in the front field. There is also one wonderfully unexplained entry in Mother’s diary: “The pig came back.” Where it had been, she never tells us. By the end of April, the bluebells are flowering, the children are returning to school and spring has finally arrived at Hiltonbury. Join me, Andy Vining, for March and April 1952 — another two months of farming, family and everyday life in My Mother’s Diaries.

  7. Aug 28

    Snow, Spring & 300 Chicks | Hiltonbury Farm, 1952 Trailer-My Mothers Diaries

    Welcome back to My Mother’s Diaries. In this episode, we return to Hiltonbury Farm for March and April 1952 — two months when winter finally begins to give way to spring. March brings rain, mud, thunderstorms and even heavy snow. Father is struggling with his health, yet the farm work carries on. Oats are drilled, calves are born and preparations begin for the busy spring season. Mother travels to London for the Ideal Home Exhibition, where she sees all the latest household appliances and modern ideas — although back at Hiltonbury, we still have no electricity. Then April arrives, bringing Easter, warmer days and Andrew home from school for his birthday — and a brand-new bicycle. Soon the farm is bursting with new life. Hundreds of chicks arrive, Sooty produces five kittens, potatoes are planted, peas are drilled and the whole family joins in with the spring work. And then there is one wonderfully mysterious entry in Mother’s diary: “The pig came back.” Where it had been, she never says. By the end of April, the bluebells are out, the children are returning to school and spring has finally arrived at Hiltonbury Farm. Join me, Andy Vining, for March and April 1952 — Snow, Spring and 300 Chicks, in the next episode of My Mother’s Diaries.

  8. Aug 23

    Life on a British Farm,,Winter 1952 at Hiltonbury Farm – A King Dies, Life Goes On In My Mothers Diaries

    Welcome back to My Mother’s Diaries and to Hiltonbury Farm in January and February 1952. A new year begins with all the familiar rhythms of family and farming life — children returning to school, wet and frosty winter weather, sewing and mending beside the fire, dancing, cinema visits, shooting, farm meetings, calves being born and a constant stream of friends and relatives arriving for tea. Heather starts school, Mother battles with making a green taffeta evening dress, and there is worrying news when five of the dairy cows fail their tuberculosis test. Then, on 6 February, two very different events become forever linked in the family diary. It is Jennifer’s birthday — but also the day Britain learns that King George VI has died. At Hiltonbury, Mother records the sombre atmosphere, Winston Churchill’s broadcast and the King’s funeral alongside the ordinary events of family life. It is a wonderful example of how great moments in history appeared in the middle of otherwise ordinary days. There are happier moments too. Lassie has four puppies, Andrew comes home for half-term, the men thresh the oat rick, and the children pick and tie an extraordinary one hundred bunches of snowdrops to sell in the village for a little pocket money. There is sadness when the family cat, Smudge, is killed on the Hursley Road, but as February ends, the snowdrops are appearing and the first signs of spring are returning to Hiltonbury. Whatever was happening in the wider world, there was always another job waiting on the farm. Join me, Andy Vining, for January and February 1952 — two more months in the remarkable everyday story of Hiltonbury Farm.

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A heartfelt journey into the everyday life of a Hampshire farming family Just after the Second World War 1948 until 1976 Read and shared by Andy Vining, these diary entries capture family, farming, love, loss, weather, and the quiet moments that shape a lifetime—preserving a mother’s voice for generations to come.

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