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

CHAPTER XVI
AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING 1946-1970
by H L Harrison
The first machinery instruction at Lackham was given by Mr T J Witchell to Ex-
Servicemen pursuing the one year General Agricultural Course, 1946-51.
After detailed discussions with the Institution of Agricultural Engineers, the
Ministry of Education Inspectorate and Chippenham Technical College, the first
course for the National Diploma in Agricultural Engineering examination was
offered at Lackham in the 1951 session. This course ended in 1957 and
transferred to either Writtle or the West of Scotland Agricultural College where
better accommodation and facilities prevailed.
In 1952, a one year Supplementary Course in Farm Machinery was offered
following approval by the Ministry of Education and the South-West Regional
Council for Further Education. In 1954 the syllabus was amended slightly to cover
the City and Guilds Agricultural Mechanics 260 examination requirements. This
has been a very successful course and is still running after 25 years, attracting an
average annual intake of 16 students.
In 1954, the City and Guilds introduced a new examination 'Farm Machinery
Operation and Care' designed for the farm tractor and machine operator. The boys
on the General Agricultural Course were encouraged to take this examination and
about 60 per cent of them did so each year with good results. This course
continued until the early part of the 1970's when it was discontinued in its original
form to be replaced by a new approach for day release candidates.
In 1957 a new examination was introduced by the Institution of Agricultural
Engineers, known as the Graduate Membership examination. Lackham altered the
content of the Supplementary Course to cover this by having (A) and (B) groups.
The (A) group had to satisfy the four '0' level entry requirements of the
Institution, whereas the (B) group continued with the City and Guilds syllabus.
This meant a good deal of extra work by the teachers concerned for the (A) group,
plus more time spent at Chippenham Technical College. This examination continued
until 1966 when it was discontinued by the Institution for economic reasons.
The year 1962 saw the introduction of a further higher level course at Lackham.
The City and Guilds course for Agricultural Engineering Technicians was approved
by H.M. Inspectorate to be run jointly by Lackham and Chippenham Technical
College. With this approval came a new workshop and mechanics laboratory block,