Opening the gates of history

A little piece of history is on display at Brinsbury College.

A set of 14 replica field gates, made by former student Alan Harrison, have taken pride of place in the college’s library.

Alan, who studied Farm Management at Brinsbury in 1947/48, became fascinated, many years later, by the different designs of traditional five-bar field gates around the country.

Despite his enthusiastic attempts to research the subject, he found little concrete information and so decided to make the models to ensure that some of the various designs were not lost forever.

He also wrote a short history of the gates, titled ‘The Matter of Gates’, which reveals the designs of the gates were specific to their locations as well as the livestock of the field and reported that the ‘models serve to educate and inform us about a rich heritage that we are mostly likely to be unaware’.

His potted history and models were donated to the college by his daughter Barbara Moss, who said Brinsbury had remained close to her father’s heart.

Barbara visited the college on Monday 10 May to see the models in their new location. She said: “I’m delighted that his collection has now found a fitting resting place and if it sparks a bit of interest over the coming years, he would be thrilled.”Sally Challis-Manning, Principal of Brinsbury College, added: “We were so touched and honoured to hear from Barbara and we’re proud to be able to display these beautiful model gates for our students to see.

“Brinsbury has a deep history and it is wonderful to be able to display a little piece of that for all of our students to see, as well as learn about our countryside heritage.

“We are all grateful to Barbara for sharing her father’s work with us, and for sharing a little of what Brinsbury meant to him.

“We are a close community, and I know many of our students have shared – and continue to share – that same fondness and happy memories.”