How things have changed.
We recently visited Hestercombe Gardens in Somerset. In the shop was this photograph of the gardening staff back in 1912. The gardens are reasonably large but by no means massive. There are 17 staff pictured and I would imagine one or two more senior members of staff are not featured. Labour was cheap and machinery scarce but I would imagine these guys got to garden as well as you can with plenty of time to do things right. Sadly in this day and age everything is time constrained and costed. Machinery has made things easier for everyone but part of me would love a week or two on the job with these men. Another sad thought is that The First World War is just around the corner. I would think that some of the guys names appear on the local war memorial.
