In the society archive, there is an extended audio recording of an interview with Jim Pearse by Trudy Yates, made on December 2nd 2006. Here is a copy:
Towards the end of the interview, Jim recites three of the monologues he and his wife have written over the years dramatising local history and characters.
The first is the poem “Emigration” , his lively piece in local dialect about one man and his family emigrating to New Zealand in the 1870s.
Here is Jim reciting this poem, at separate events 34 years apart.
More Monologues on a Local Theme
The second tale in Jim’s 2006 interview tells the story of the Ascott Martyrs and the third mocks some encounters with a youth unaware of old rural ways!
More from Jim Pearse‘s Audio Recording
The interview also covers the history of Honeydale Farm which was in his family’s possession since 1932. It covers topics like how his grandfather first rented the farm, the family’s decision to purchase the land in 1952
It covers the construction of the main house and other buildings, Jim’s career path and education, meeting his wife Wendy, changes in farming over the years, his focus at the time on arable farming and use of contractors, childhood memories of local speech patterns, and Jim reciting three poem pieces he wrote based on historical local events and characters.
See Also
A written record by Jim Pearse of his time at Honeydale.
Jim records many anecdotes and key events at Honeydale, all of which will be of great interest to visitors of Ian Wilkinson’s FarmED which now occupies the site.
