This week I had a meeting with John Wilson, Archivist at RASE, based in the Arthur Rank building at Stoneleigh. I met John and student Librarian, Heather, in the cloistered environment of the libraryFrom www.windowsonwarwickshire. Farm life as depicted for children in the 1950s.. Central to the room is a grand table with imposing chairs like something out of Hogwarts (apologies to those who have not read Harry Potter). The collection is less-otherworldly though, ranging from Josiah Twamley's "Dairying Exemplified" (2nd edition, published 1784) to "The TV Vet Book for Pig Farmers", How to Recognise and Treat Common Pig Ailments, published 1973).

 We had a useful discussion about the My Farming Life interviews that will be deposited with the RASE archive. Copies will also be held at County Record Office in Warwick, Warwickshire Library service, and the Museum of English Rural Life in Reading.

We talked about the importance of collecting material before it is lost, and how valuable it is when people feel able to deposit records and photographs from their own farms and businesses. We went on to talk about the representation of farming life in the media and about how it has been portrayed in literature over the years; from AG Street ("Harvest by Lamplight" and many others) to Stella Gibbons' "Cold Comfort Farm". One of my recent, gritty favourites is Richard Benson's "The Farm"; a chokingly-honest account of his own family facing change.

We finished with a few memories of childhood books about rural life, including Enid Blyton, and the Ladybird series that so many of us used at primary school. Before I left we'd strayed into the territory of farm toys and wondered whether a Corgi model of a prize-winning Belgian Blue would be allowed..... On my way out, it was touching to see the glass case which houses a model farm, perfectly square within its boundary wall.