THATCHING

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIX, Issue 233, 31 August 1929, Page 10

THATCHING

AN ANCIENT ART. 132,000 BUNDLES OP REEDS FOR A ROOF. Tho revival of the ancient craft of thatching has seen at Towcester, Northamptonshire, England, a unique extension of the vogue of the reed roof in the thatching of the grand stand and weighing-room at the racecourse. The effect is very striking. The work was carried out by one of the traditional Norfolk thatchers, Mr Robert William Farman, of North Walsham, whose family records date from tho Middle Ages. There is a record of a certain “Slap” Farman wlio was a thatcher in the neighbourhood in the 12 th century. Mr Robert Farman’s biggest recent exploit was the thatching of the dairy at the Node, Welwyn, Hertfordshire, for Mr Carl Holmes. This is believed to be the most extensive thatched roof in England. It took 132,000 bundles of reeds, all cut from the Norfolk Broads. Originally Mr Farman carried his reeds on a bicycle for the centuries-old tasks of mending the roofs of churches, barnes, and cottages. Now lie has to use a motor van, and has plied his craft from Yorkshire to the Isle of Wight. One of the gracious traditions of old England (says the London Daily Mail) is its cottage architecture, very much of whose charm is owed to thatch. Many people who have admired the dignified serenity of the thatched roofs in our older villages must be glad to see, in the recent revival of this feature in new buildings, evidence that thatching is not a mere archaic survival, but a living and practical craft. . Indeed, thatch has certain virtues all its own, which should enable it to maintain its place in competition with (slate however utilitarian the world may become. It is far the most permanent material for covering a house. There is a barn at Paston whose thatch, still in excellent condition, was put on by one of the old masters of the craft in tho reign ot Henry VIII. Then thatch has a unique quality of maintaining an equable temperature in the house through extremes of hot and cold weather. And its one great drawback, the danger of fire, can now bo overcome by chemical methods of fireproofing.