History of Agricultural Education in Wiltshire - Lackham Countryside ...

PREFACE
The establishment and development of agricultural education in Great Britain is a
fascinating chapter in the history of technical education in this country. The very
beginnings of the desire to initiate an improved knowledge of the science and
practice of farming techniques has its roots in the application of principles to the
art and skill of the husbandman.
During the war years, this island‘s food supply was entirely dependent upon the
ability and ingenuity of farmers to adopt production and cultivation techniques
emanating from the government‘s university and commercial and research
establishments. The dissemination of new information and methods was largely the
responsibility of advisory services which sort to establish credibility through close
liaison with the agricultural community by means of lectures and practical
demonstrations. From this grew the early beginnings of formal agricultural
education enhanced by the 1944 Education Act and others which required local
education authorities to organise courses of instruction in agriculture and
horticulture
J 0 Thomas (JO to all his friends and ex-students), was one of those
educationists charged with creating an agricultural educational school in the rural
county of Wiltshire. His farming, advisory and teaching background proved
invaluable qualities for the task which lay ahead. His wisdom and perspicacity
coupled with that tenacious characteristic of all Welshmen provided the county
with a man who both knew what was needed and how best to achieve it. The
suspicions of countryman and councillor had to be overcome during the pioneering
years. Farmers had to be convinced that the School of Agriculture had something
better to offer than what could be gained by learning on the home farm.
Ignorance had to be overcome through the process of demonstrating
improvements achieved by early students. The very cautious optimism of those
controlling the purse strings of technical education needed cultivating. Through
the process of persuasion, negotiation and sheer hard work, JO and his staff
gradually built up relationships throughout the farming population and the
increasing number of students attending Lackham School of Agriculture soon
justified their faith.
Fortunately JO maintained a detailed record throughout his 22 years as principal.
Press cuttings, photographs, building programmes and farm developments relating
to these two decades were collected in an album. On his retirement in 1970 Mr
Thomas devoted himself to collating the historical information and writing this
book which so vividly describes the joys and difficulties experienced.
The contributions by colleagues who shared in the development of the school, later