THIS week’s picture from the past takes us back to the mid-1950s and captures a method of farming that has long since disappeared, writes Steve Harris.

It features the cutting of a field of wheat around 1955 at Great Lounston Farm, near Bickington and was passed to me by Shirley Sanders whose husband Michael can be seen driving the tractor in the lower field. Behind him with the baler is his brother Gordon, while squeezed between them the keen eye can pick out their father Clifford holding what appears to be a pitchfork or rake.

This method of harvesting using stooks was designed to let the grain dry before it was threshed and brought inside for long-term storage and was once a common site across the Devon countryside.READ THE FULL STORY IN FRIDAY'S PAPER. ORDER YOUR DIGITAL EDITION HERE