The farmers using vintage machines for harvest

A farming family in Cornwall are using traditional machinery from the 1960s to bring in this year's harvest as a way of connecting with the past.

John Hosking, 80, and his 52-year-old son, also called John, want to keep the memories of farming practices from 50 years ago alive.

The Hoskings, from Lamellion, near Liskeard, have kept a McCormick International B64 and a Massey Ferguson 31 combine harvester in full working order.

The pair have been using the vintage harvesters to cut their barley fields, despite it taking much longer than if they had used modern machines.

The younger Mr Hosking said he was pleased the old machinery was still being used.

"These museum pieces, instead of being just being static exhibits that people can come and look at, it's actually good to get them out and use them for the purpose for which they were made," he said.

But he admitted using 60-year-old combine harvesters was not without its troubles.

"Anybody who says you can just hitch it up and start to work is telling naughty fibs," he said.

"They're very old machines and they take a bit of work, and a lot of what is involved is the knowledge of the old guys that actually operated these machines."

For John Hosking senior, the retro machines offer him a bumpy trip down memory lane.

"This [Massey Ferguson 31] is what I was using 60 years ago," he said.

"We have forgotten they are quite as dusty as what they were, but we just enjoy doing it."

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