Hop Pickers (1957)

[@VerbranntiChaib1]

1957, A third of our class at junior school went hop picking with their family every year. When they come back, they were all sun- tannned, and looked happy and healthy. How I envied them.

[@oscarosullivan4513]

Sad to see the decline of hop growing over there and the old style hops such as fuggles, goldings and challenger. Some breweries here mainly use English style hops.

[@thra5herxb12s]

@@oscarosullivan4513 French imports killed the industry.

[@ianrobert6239]

The days when everyone looked happy.

[@alanjones3631]

I remember whitbreads hop farm in the days gone by the delivery man in the video taking the telfers meat pies into sids cafe best pies on the camp they was great days hop picking at whitbreads and weekends families would come down from London and have a wonderful time enjoying them self's at the pub opposite the farm the blue Bell Inn cherished memories

[@crickcrot]

I went hop picking in Kent in the mid-1950s it was just an adventure for the kids and being chased by the farmer through nicking his apples in the orchard next door.

[@elizabethsheffield6609]

....my family - parents - grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins - all descended on Paddock Wood in the 50's & 60's from London Bridge Station until the picking became mechanised. prickly Straw beds to sleep/rest on,army blankets, candles, cooking outside, playing on the faggot piles i.e.the wood for the fires, weekends at the local pub "THE HOP POLES" singing outside and staggering back in the pitch black night to the hut, blackberry picking, the smell of the fresh hops - everyone happy! everyone dead now.

[@alanjones3631]

The cafe come shed was run by Sid and his wife Elsie on whitbreads hop farm I remember the end of season banquet when micheal holiday sang at the banquet then everbody afterwards when the hop season was over go to the hop farm office with their tally book and redeem their books and collect their money for their season for hops picked my mums two brothers drove the chevrolet Lorrie’s to the fields when it was mechanised to the hop picking machines which was done automatic picking the bines of hops those was the days hard work for the hop season but througly enjoyed it cherished memories i wish they would come back again but the memories still stay on myself never to be forgotten

[@mjrussell414]

So interesting. The kids get right into it too.

[@bianchikat]

thanks for the videos lovely fascinating stuff..a time long gone. not really a holiday was it? a long interminable journey behind an ancient loco in ancient carriages if they were lucky all other traffic had priority over ahop pickers special

[@Takeawayinataxi]

Loved hop picking

[@sg0730]

Now the hop farm is more of an amusement park. It has a park and rides

[@nosmallo]

It was a museum when I was a kid. We had a school trip there most years to go see the drey horses (big grey percherons from memory).

[@donlogan83]

To think people are nostalgic for the 1950s…I don’t think many working-class people today (under 50) would swap with them!

[@turokforever007]

Probably not as they are used to the life now.

[@bobcharlie7982]

Going on holiday and working hahah.