Deben Farm Club celebrates 70th year with big Ipswich bash

More than 280 people will be joining the platinum anniversary celebration dinner to mark 70 years of the Deben Farm Club.

Farmer and former International Rugby Union referee Nigel Owens MBE will be guest speaker at the event, which will be held at Trinity Park, Ipswich, on February 24.

The club began in Woodbridge in 1952 when a group of forward-thinking farmers got together after the war.

The aim was to capture the war-time "Dig for Victory"  enthusiasm and ensure farmers could produce enough food at a time when rationing was still in force.

The emphasis on education and improvement has remained - and the club still invites expert speakers to its meetings to talk about topics as diverse as inputs, wheat markets, the fishing industry and war-time farming in present-day Ukraine.

Continuity has been key to the club's continuing success, explained current - and only sixth - club secretary Alan Gray.

Members were "delighted" that the celebration had attracted such strong support - with companies including British Sugar, Bidwells and Clarke and Simpson among those due to join members on the night.

It has had eight different presidents and six treasurers in 71 years. There have been 24 chairmen - but that has been down to a decision to restrict their tenures.

By the end of 1952 there were 124 members. Numbers peaked in 1985 at 237 and now stand at a healthy 120 or so.

The organisation can trace its roots back to 1952 when a meeting chaired by AB Johnson was convened and the club formed. 

The first meeting discussed outdoor pig keeping - still a live topic today. In 1960, Lord Gladwin came to speak about the European Common Market - long before the UK's entry. By 2017, members were discussing Brexit - revisiting the same issues from 57 years previously.

"We were set up after the ware to educate farmers into improving production on farms. We needed to feed the country - the Dig for Victory but the next step on. That initially was why it was formed," explained Alan, who has been club secretary for 14 years.

But it became as much a social gathering as educational, he added, although the club had managed to attract some high profile speakers over the years. Members come from throughout Suffolk and beyond - although many are within a radius of around 15 or 20 miles of Woodbridge.

The first annual subscription was set at 10 shillings (50p) for farmers and five shillings (25p) for farm workers. By 1986 that had risen to £10 a year - and today still remains very modest at £25.

In some cases, several generations and branches of the same family have been involved in the club.

The club's first chairman was Sir Peter Greenwell, who went on to become president from 1967 to 1975. His son, Sir Edward Greenwell, also served as president for 10 years from 2005, and the next generation also joined the committee.

William Kerr's son John, joined the committee in 1965 and went on to serve as both its chairman and president. His son, Bruce, also served as chairman.

Derek Scott from Bedingfield served on the committee eight times. His son, David, was elected to the committee in 2000 and David’s brother Richard is currently vice chairman.

Nigel and Dudley Holland from Pettistree and Aldeburgh have served on the committee a total of 13 times during the club’s history - following in their father's footsteps after he served four stints from 1954.

The first club Farm Study Tour took place in 1966 under the leadership of Dick Hollins when members travelled to the West Country. He went on to lead many more - including to continental Europe before his untimely death in the spring of 1987.

In more recent years members have travelled to Latvia, Ukraine, and even Brazil and Chile in 2012 and Australia in 2020.

Annual farm walks have always been hugely popular, taking members to farms including Wantisden Hall Farm, Grove Farm, Clopton, and Cedar Farm, Alderton - run by the Kemball, Taylor and Leggett families respectively.