The Caterpillar Tractor

I have no details of these yet, but the same people are seen again in the Fowler engine photographs.

Photographs from N'Gata Farm 1926: 5 Working with Oxen

The work with oxen that Allan describes in the first letter home. There were no horses there.
Again there are not many written details for the images but Allan wrote on this one,
"Intercultivating between growing maize. Wattle plantation in background Njoro 1926"



Same team here as above.




These next two look like some kind of seed drill






This below was the very best I could get from an old faded print with no accompanying negative. As I was working on it and trying to coax some definition out of the yellowed print I noticed there is also a dog in the picture which may be the same dog as in the photograph of the three people with the car. Again when working with that image a dog revealed itself which was almost indistinguishable in the original photograph. I am therefore thinking that the man with the middle with the glasses may be Mr Coltart. I am sure he is the same man who appears in other photographs, working with the big engines.
It was worth including as on the back is written.

"Ox Ploughing on Mr Coltarts Farm. 3 Furrow Oliver Plough 14 Oxen Njoro 1926"




Two more images but without details.

Photographs from N'Gata Njoro 1926: 4 People

These are the photos of some of the people Allan worked with and their families. Most of these have been developed from old negatives so there are no written records of who they are. It is such a shame, if any more information does come to light I will certainly amend the details here.

Photographs Njoro 1926: Public Buildings

Buildings from round and about Njoro and N'gata.



"Local Church N'Gata"





"A new Store or Duka owned by Indians named Desai being built close to Njoro Ry Station. By far the biggest shop in a 20 mile radius"





"The European Store, Njoro"





"Njoro Station, Uganada Railway"

There are two signs which are visible from the high res scans ..One "Brook Bonds Tea" and the other "Coleman's Blue"




"The Station Menengai, my nearest"

Photographs from N'gata 1926: 3 Domestic Buildings

Some photographs of domestic buildings around N'gata.

It is a shame the first photograh is so faded, there is a figure standing in front of the house, but it is unclear if it is Lord Egerton or not.

"Lord Egerton's House, N'gata Njoro "


"Mr Broatch my nearest neighbour at Njoro and his little boy."
I have just found a reference to a David BROATCH (b.1 Aug 1924-Njoro,Kenya) son of Thomas John BROATCH (b.29 Dec 1896-Dryfesdale and Sarah McIntosh SHARP (b.12 Aug 1896-Linwood,Renfrew . It must be this little boy.

Same house as above from different angle, I think. The steeply pitched roof will have kept the house fairly cool.


"A Desirable Family Residence near the Station. Roof of Flattened Petrol tins"


Village Hut .. there is a chicken in the foreground and a seated figure to the right


Hut construction, wattle posts which are then covered with a mud facing.

Photographs from N'gata 1926: 2 Allan Thackeray's House, Borland's Ford, Ngata, Njoro

Views of Allan's house.
It is not entirely clear if these are all of the same house. As yet I have been unable to find any record of the Borland's Ford location. On the enlargements you can see the wattle and daub construction. The interior details are also interesting.. particularly the teapot and the discarded shoes. There are 3 wine glasses and what looks like a tomato ketchup bottle.













"My Hut N'gata"














No details of this photo.














"Interior. My Hut with kitchen help Muriasi, Njoro"



















No details of this photo.














"My Kitchen, Kitchen help-- Muriasai, Cook-- Juma and General help around kitchen, name unknown"














" My Hut, Borlands Ford "
This is a small part of a badly faded photo, but nice old car.

Photographs from Ngata 1926: 1. General Farm Activities

These next few posts will be photographs, some from negatives and some from prints. They show people, places and work on Lord Egerton's Estate, N'gata, Njoro. The captions in italic are from the wording written by Allan on the back of the photographs.














"Excavating a rain tank near Workshop, N'Gata "














"Working on the Foundations of the N'gata Workshop"














"Felling Wattle at N'gata"

Letter Four: Ngata 29/11/1926

We go forward many months now, to November. There do not seem to be any letters surviving from the intervening five months. Christmas is coming and he sounds a little wistful for the Christmas displays in the shops, carols and the pantomime in Leeds . Interestingly he refers to coal rationing, and bemoans the lack of shops in Njoro and the ubiquitous Patrick is there of course. He mentions going to visit the Woodmores at Keringet now rather than at Molo. I don't think he ever got there.

With this letter I am showing a picture of his "house" and a store. He liked living in this little round house preferring it to the brick built one he would move into later at Kisinget. The houses were built of anything available, wood corrugated iron, grass reeds mud and petrol cans.
In the book "Red Strangers" by C S Nicholls there is a description of a farmer's hut.

" My house is made of mud with holes of various sizes and shapes to represent doors and windows. The floor is nothing more than Mother Earth... everything is continually covered with sand, mud or white ants and consequently any degree of comfort is impossible.... It is remarkable how much the office owes to petrol boxes and tins... The insects at night are most trying and appear in large numbers, in the form of moths and beetles of all descriptions, that it is almost impossible to read or write, and quite futile to consider any supper but bread and cheese. Scorpions, tarantulas and snakes are also numerous.. "














"My Hut, Njoro"













" The inside of my hut. Njoro "


.











House constructed with tubs.


Letter 4
Lord Egerton of Tatton’s Estates
N’gata Farm
Njoro
Kenya
29/11/ 26

My Darling Joyce

Just a line from Daddy to wish you a merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year. I am sorry I have not been able to come Home for the Goose and Plum Pudding but never mind, you and Patrick must eat my share between you.
We will have another special Pudding made when I do arrive. Mummy tells me you are all allowed a small ration of coal every week in Leeds nowadays so it is lucky for you and Mums that ours is only a little House, if they were great big rooms like Temple-Newsham has in it, whatever would you do.
I hear that already you have had Snowstorms, and Dad can hardly remember what Snow looks like it is so long since he saw any. It is hotter and brighter here, with Sunshine at Christmas, than it is in Leeds in July but Dad would much rather live with you and Mums in Leeds than all by himself at Njoro.
I cannot send you a Christmas Present, love, nor a card because we have no rows of nice shops here like you have, to choose them in. There is only one store at Njoro and they keep chiefly foodstuffs. A leg of Mutton or a box of Quaker Oats would be a strange Christmas Gift wouldn’t it.?
I expect you and Mums will have had a grand tour round all the Fairylands and Santa Claus’ shops full of beautiful Toys, and then there will be the Pantomime to see and Carols to sing at Church so even if the weather is cold and dull in old England it is much the best country to spend Christmas in. Daddy is going to visit Mr Woodmore at Keringet for a few days and hear the little children sing “Good King Wenceslaus” and “The First Noel”. They sing in English and do so quite well.

Much Love and Many Kisses from Daddy
I will write a longer letter next time

Letter Three: N'gata Farm 4/6/26. Stars and Stripy Rats

A short letter this time. He is just one of many who will have written home telling of the beauty of Africa, a place, it seems, it was hard to leave even amongst settlers who fell on hard times.
Njoro is situated on the edge of the Great Rift Valley. It lies 18 km west of Nakuru the district town. Lake Nakuru is now a National Park, famous for its great flocks of flamingos who turn the skies and shores pink as they feed on the lake. The travel guides today promise sitings of black and white rhino, herds of waterbuffalo, zebra, buffalo, giraffe and lions with one of the best chances of seeing a leopard in Kenya.
In this letter Allan just describes the stripy "rats" who don't seem to be on list of favourable animals to see! They were probably not rats but a species of the pretty and lively African striped mouse.

Letter Three

Nagata Farm
Njoro
Kenya Colony
4/6/26

My dear little daughter Joyce,

Just a line to say that Daddy is well and happy and spends many many an hour in thinking of his dear little Joyce and Mother and hopes they are both well; and poor old Patrick too even if he has got big feet, he didn’t make them himself, and they are grand firm things to stand on.
Daddy will be coming home soon now but he does not know yet just when that will be but he longs to see Mummy and Joyce again and we must think of some specially fine treat for all the three of us to have when we see each other once more.
I hope that Mummy and you are now away on a little holiday somewhere, you must get a change of air and surroundings; it does everyone good to see new places and new faces every now and then; Daddy has seen a great many, sometimes more than he wanted to. Auntie Nell has written Dad such a nice letter all the way from Montrose in Scotland and now a letter is on its way back in reply.
When we are ploughing the fields we often see Rats running away in terror, but these are Brown Rats and striped on their backs with Black stripes like a Tiger, they are rather pretty. You would like to see the beautiful moonlight at full moon all over the great Plain, one of the most beautiful things in Africa is the bright moonlight and the stars twinkle twinkle, in the clear air.

With heaps of love to you and to Mother and take care of each other wherever you are

Your Loving Daddy XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX



Here is a photograph printed from the negatives of some work in the fields pre the employment of heavy machinery. Here are the oxen and the maize crop he referred to in first letter .

Christmas 1925 and The First Letter 23 January 1926

Christmas 1925.
There are no Christmas letters but these two photographs of Allan and the Woodmores at Molo. I havn't found any information about the Woodmores yet but a little initial reseach turned up records of the grave of a Percy Woodmore in Nairobi. He died in 1933 at the age of only 45. I am sure this must be the same person.



Molo. Kenya 1925. Xmas. Percy Woodmore's Brother, Wife and children. Mrs Percy Woodmore.
Allan is on the left with the dog



The Mule Buggy, Molo, Xmas 1925.
Self , Percy's brother, wee Peter, Percys brothers wife and Percy.


The First Letter

Allan writes here from Engata Farm and later changes the spelling to N'gata and I think he was already at Lord Egerton's Estate from where he will write the next few letters. The details of the land are fascinating and animals are always mentioned. Patrick is the naughty dog at home. We have a photo of Patrick somewhere. Reading these letters makes me realise why we always had a dog.

Engata Farm
Ngoto
Kenya Colony
23/1/26

My Darling Joyce,

I hope you are well and happy my dear little girl, and think sometimes of Father seven thousand miles away in Africa.
The sun shines hot all day long here and great blue dragonflies and moths, nearly as big as sparrows go buzzing up and down, And we have seen Ostriches running wild on the Farm and near the railway, Zebra and Antelopes and there are scores of lizards running as quick as lightening up and down in the bright sun.

The Carts are pulled by Oxen, we have no horses here and a little dog goes in front to guide the team of oxen, sometimes sixteen are harnessed to one Cart and they go slowly along, pulling their load of Maize, which is what you call Pop-Corn, and there are miles and miles of maize all growing to make beautiful Blancmange and Semolina Puddings and Cornflower Moulds for you to eat in Leeds and Oxford.

I hope you have been to the pantomime and taken Mummy too, are not the little children pretty and what a fellow bold Robinson Crusoe is. I am sure you must be getting on finely and you write and draw so well; you must try to draw me a picture of poor old Patrick and then take him for a walk to the lake at Middleton.

Today is Sunday and I think of you in Sunday School and I am well and happy too though far away round on the other side of this great big world.

Many Kisses Dearest Daughter.


I am putting an image of this first letter up here. I may not with others unless there is a nice letter heading or something particularly interesting.