'Why Was Swanwick Station the busiest station in England for a few weeks each year in the 1930’s, and why did this cease to be the case?\r'

'The strawberry mark mark pains was the farming and dissemination of the finest strawberries in Hampshire. In this project I give explain wherefore Swanwick property was the busiest in England in the 1930s. I pull up stakes also explain why the strawberry persistence developed and declined, and how these events changed life near the bea. This ara I will be researching is Swanwick, Locks heathland, Warsash and Ticthfield. I will do this by visiting individually of these sites and taking photographs. I will also be tone for places that have some significance to the industry such as Swanwick direct, or honest-to- right(a)ness pubs etc. I am hoping to arrive out more(prenominal) about the strawberry industry in the 1930s, and I will hope to find out why the industry built up so fast, but declined just as fast.\r\nThe settle now\r\nToday, the site has clues as to how classic the industry was. For example, MOJ Engineering is a twist which used to be a basketball ho op factory, at the top of Duncan Road in Swanwick. At the bottom of Duncan Road is Swanwick Station, a two platform train mail operating into Southampton, Portsmouth and capital of the United Kingdom. The Q8 petrol station and the pub/restaurant The Talisman is in set Gate, off the A27. Opposite Brookfield School in Sarisbury is a thoroughf be called Strawberry knoll. This is a dead end road, but has dent new traffic lights for the main road at the bottom of the hill. The Joseph Paxton pub and the off-licence â€Å"Threshers” in Park Gate are both relevant to this study.\r\nPhotos from the Site Today\r\nThis is a photo of MOJ Engineering. The faded penning on the wall reads â€Å"Swanwick and District basketball hoop factory.”\r\nThis is the outside of Swanwick Station today.\r\nThe Talisman at Park Gate\r\nThe Village inn; used to be the inn for railway commuters.\r\nThe Site As It Was and How The Industry authentic\r\nThe site was completely different to w hat it is today, as it has endured many changes. In 1872, the strawberry industry picked up, and soon there were many growers crossways Swanwick, Warsash and Park Gate. They were mainly situated in the well known strawberry fields. As the industry developed, Swanwick train station was built. It was realised in 1888 and had the job of send outing the strawberries to London and divers(a) other places. Wicker baskets to hold the strawberries were transported in from Winchester Jail made by prisoners. and in 1913 the Swanwick and District Basket Factory was established adjacent to the station. It released light and photogenic plastic punnets. A successful appease was critical for the industry and at advance moments during the growing period, prayers were offered for fair weather and a healthy crop as this was the growers hardly source for income.\r\nDuring the season †usually middle June to mid July -the take started as earliest as 4am for the 10am trains to places suc h as Aberdeen, Glasgow and Dublin. Because picking was hard, thirsty work, the local off-licence would come forth a firkin of beer (about 9 gallons) anyday to each field throughout the season. The workers would receive a glass after 1000 baskets of strawberries had been picked. The output from the area was known in the treat as â€Å"Southamptons” and was soon recognised as been of a superior quality to that of competitors in Cornwall. The first variety of berry pornographic in the area was known as the â€Å"Maud” and was about the size of a thimble.\r\n subsequently came the â€Å"Joey” or â€Å"Paxtons”, short for Sir Joseph Paxton who was the producer of this strain, existence much larger then the â€Å"Maud” and was considered by many experts to be the most dainty berry ever grown. Later servicemen from the long War returned to look for jobs, and found strawberry growing to be the most suitable, as it would earn them sufficient amounts to support a family for the whole of the year. During the season, Swanwick was over-flowing with the horses and carts which transported the strawberries from the fields to the station.\r\nStrawberry Hill was a road in which they traveled by, as you can tell by the name. â€Å"It was recorded by some mean that in the 1928 season 1,287,925 baskets left Swanwick station for London to take advantage of the mercantile markets there.” Much of the crop was grown for London markets, whose salesmen spoke highly of the local harvesting. â€Å"Up to sixty pair-horse wagons were needed to convey the fruit from Waterloo to the markets.)\r\nThe land around the area was finished for growing strawberries, but only strawberries as it didnt have the right nutrients for other crops, which is a reason why the industry developed, as they had no competition. The availability of pickers was immense, as gypsies would use up the area as pickers for the picking range of a penny farthing per 4 shell chip basket or 6 pence per hour. Whole families would work up to 18 hours per day. This was good for the industry as it meant more work could be done prompt meaning more income.\r\nPhotos from The Site As It Was\r\nWhy did the Industry Decline?\r\nThe choppy savage of strawberry growing was a success but it was in 1913 that a new variety of berry was to instal disastrous to the growers. The â€Å"Madame La Fevebre” was favoured and was for several old age known as a good cropper. However it was this variety that brought the deadly affection â€Å"root †rot” to the area. As a consequence, crops were badly hit and this coupled with the clinical depression led to many growers going bankrupt. started to dilapidate in the 1930s. One of the main reasons was that the humans was basically exhausted. Growers had used the land to the goal that it would no longer yield the crops. The Depression, tardy frosts in 1938 and finally the outbreak of strugglefar e hastened the decline of the industry in the 30s.\r\nThe survivors from the war realised that there were better jobs on offer, and didnt return to growing strawberries. There was a lot of competition from foreigners as well, as their crops ripened earlier and were sold cheaper. This was a problem for local growers as with this competition, they werent get the money they needed to support their families. round this time (30s/early 40s) air transport was growth, so England was experiencing foreign strawberries. The growth of supermarkets kinda of small fruit markets meant they needed â€Å" better” strawberries, and with all the problems in the area, the standards declined. Along with the underdeveloped supermarkets, the land originally used for crops was macrocosm increased to build houses on.\r\nBy the 1940s the wind was general produce such as potatoes and tomatoes (for the rationing during the war.) However this growth of produce continued after the war and competed against strawberry growers. 1949 was particularly bad for them as Nurseries were developing all round the district with extensive areas under glass. â€Å"Locks Heath Nurseries” boasted the largest greenhouse in Hampshire given over to the cultivation of tomatoes.\r\nTo fold…\r\nLooking back to the 40 boom years or so from the 1870s Locks Heath has been established all because of their strawberries. Nowadays they are associated with the recent phenomenon of â€Å"pick your own.” There are few memories left from this time, such as the station, and the basket factory etc, but the seasonal worker frenzied activity which included every citizen of Locks Heath, young and old, every year are now long since over.\r\n'