General Chat

10th Annual Hop Picker's weekend at Kent and East Sussex Railway
On the 11 and 12 September, visitors to Bodiam station can enjoy a whole weekend of “opping nostalgia” as the Kent & East Sussex Railway hosts its tenth annual Hop Pickers Weekend.

THEY EVEN HAVE CHUFF~CHUFF TRAINS

dizzi that brings back old times for me ..

Hops, the ingredient that adds bitterness to beer, have been grown in Kent since the 16th century. In Victorian times it was the biggest industry in the county. Every September the plants were ready to be picked and casual workers from Kent, London, Sussex and East Anglia would come to Kent to work in the hop gardens for 6 weeks. Once the hops were picked, they were dried out in oast houses and sold to the breweries.

Now some say hopping's lousy
I don't believe it's true,
We only go down hopping
To pick a hop or two
With a tee-I-ay, tee-I-ay, tee-I-ee-I-ay.

Now when I went a hopping,
Hopping down in Kent,
I saw old Mrs Riley,
A-sweeping out her tent
With a tee-I-ay, tee-I-ay, tee-I-ee-I-ay.

Now every Monday morning,
Just at six o'clock,
You'll hear old hoppers calling:
Get up and boil your pot.
With a tee-I-ay, tee-I-ay, tee-I-ee-I-ay.

Now Sunday is our washing day,
Don't we wash it clean.
We boil it in our hopping pots
And hang it on the green
With a tee-I-ay, tee-I-ay, tee-I-ee-I-ay.

Now do you want any money?
Yes, sir, if you please
To buy a hock of bacon,
A pound of mouldy cheese
With a tee-I-ay, tee-I-ay, tee-I-ee-I-ay.

Now here comes our old measurer,
With his long nose and chin,
With his ten gallon basket,
And don't he pop 'em in!
With a tee-I-ay, tee-I-ay, tee-I-ee-I-ay.

Now when our old pole-puller,
He does come around,
He says: Come on you dirty ol'hop pickers,
Pick 'em off the ground
With a tee-I-ay, tee-I-ay, tee-I-ee-I-ay.

Now hopping is all over,
All the money spent,
And don't we wish I never,
Went a-hopping down in Kent!
With a tee-I-ay, tee-I-ay, tee-I-ee-I-ay.

Now hopping's just beginning,
We've got our time to spend.
We've only come down hopping,
To earn a quid if we can
With a tee-I-ay, tee-I-ay, tee-I-ee-I-ay.

Now early Monday morning,
The measurer he'll come round.
"Pick your hops all ready,
You'll pick them off the ground.:


Now early Tuesday morning,
The bookie he'll come round
With a bag of money,
He'll flop it on the ground.
Saying, "Do you want some money?"
"Yes sir if you please,
To buy a hock of bacon
And a roll of mouldy cheese".


They say all hopping's lousy,
I believe it's true.
Since I've been down hopping,
I've got a chat or two.


Early Saturday morning,
It is our washing day.
We'll boil 'em in our hopping pot,
And we hang's 'em o'er the ground.


I say one, I say two,
No more hopping shall I do.

Each summer farmers would send letters out to the regular pickers in London to invite them to come down to work. Once they had received the letter, people with jobs had to get time off work (this often involved going to the doctor's for a sick note) and start preparing for the trip.

Families would pack up food, crockery, clothing, bedding and everything possible to make their stay in Kent more comfortable. They would often take curtains to hang over the doors of the huts for privacy.

The farmer's letter would include train tickets. When the day came, families would carry their hopping boxes to London Bridge station so they could catch the special hoppers' trains down to the farms in Kent.

For many children this was their annual holiday and the trip down to Kent was an adventure. They saw cows and fields which were never seen in London.

Families would get themselves to London Bridge station then catch one of the special hoppers' trains. The trains ran at unusual hours so they didn't interrupt the main service. They often had to stop to wait for other passenger trains to pass through the stations. The journey would usually take several hours.
When the pickers arrived at the other end, farmers would send down wagons to collect them and their belongings and bring them to the farms.

The hop season:
March: Stringing is completed
April: Bines usually begin to grow
May: Workers thread the bines up the strings to encourage them to grow in a clockwise direction. This is called 'training'. When 2 - 3 shoots are safely growing up each string, all extra shoots are removed.
June-August: The growing season. The crop has to be protected from diseases and pests.
September: Harvest. The fully-grown cones are ready to be picked. When the cones are picked they are dried in the specially built oast house. After drying and cooling they are put in sacks (called 'pockets') and taken to the breweries.

I recall being in the back of a lorry,complete with the obligatory whining differential, loaded with possessions and a family or two....particularly in negotiating the narrow country lanes.
7 mile lane was one on the way to Yalding

Bob