The late Hugh Crane
A leading Norfolk farmer,
Hugh Crane, who has died aged 95, was barely 16 when he took over the family’s
tenanted holding.
He went on to farm on a number of estates in
west Norfolk before moving to Upton, near Acle, where he later
specialised in high-value crops including potatoes and onions. In 1999, the
business won a national export award at the first AP Growers’ dinner in Norwich for sending potatoes as far afield as Sri Lanka.
A former chairman of Stalham Farmers’ Club in 1984, he was
a commanding presence at club meetings for decades and built up a major farming
enterprise, now run by his middle son, Nicholas.
A seven-time winner of Stalham’s prized Potato Cup between
1989 and 2007, he was a double winner of the Wheat Trophy in 1994 and 1995. He
excelled at sugar beet, winning the Cantley Cup in 2006 for best overall
performance by a member and was a three-time winner of the whole crop beet
trophy.
He was elected an honorary vice-president by members and
rarely missed a meeting until relatively recently.
With a near-encyclopaedic memory for prices going back to
the 1940s, he could carry out mental arithmetic faster than those relying on a
calculator.
Born at Manor Farm, Litcham, near Fakenham, in October
1924, Hugh Edgar Crane left Dereham High School aged
16 and very soon was running the farm. In 1941, he took on Manor Farm,
Tattersett and then two years later hired Lower Farm, Tattersett, for £1.50
(75p) an acre on the Pynkney estate having taken over from his father Edgar. In
those days barley was making £90 ton (today’s price about £125/tonne) and a
farmworker was paid about £2.50 per week although war-time income tax was 95pc
or 19s in the £.
A shrewd farmer, he even saved weed seed from his arable
crops for sale to cagebird enthusiasts. When it was virtually impossible to
obtain seed for non-food uses during the second world war, his “fat hen” weed
seed sold to bird breeders for more than a ton of barley.
Always willing to invest and innovate, he was an early
convert to mechanisation. His first combine harvester, an International,
imported from the United
States during war-time in three massive
wooden crates, cost £760.
He was of the farming generation, which met the challenge
to feed the nation as rationing endured for 14 long years until July 1954. Running
a mixed farm, he raised sheep, beef cattle, poultry and pigs as well as cereals
although more recently specialised in arable crops.
Later, he farmed at Houghton St Giles on the Walsingham
estate and from 1957 at Upton,
paying £6 8s (£6.40 acre) for his first year’s rent. He moved his young family
to Upton in
1959.
A supporter of co-operative ventures, he was a founder
member and later chairman of Blofield Pea and Bean Growers’ group (later
Blofield Farmers), and also joined the White Cross sugar beet
harvesting syndicate with several local farmers.
In the early 1980s, another business, Hugh Crane Cleaning
Equipment, which is now run by his oldest son Philip and youngest son Robert,
was started at Upton.
It has grown into an almost national company making and supplying specialist
cleaning equipment.
Married in November 1951 to Joan, they almost achieved 60
years together before she predeceased in 2010.
He leaves three sons, and seven grandchildren.
One of the club's oldest members, Hugh Crane, who was
an honorary vice-president, has died peacefully aged 95. A former chairman in
1984, he was a commanding presence at club meetings for decades and built up a
major farming enterprise, now headed by his middle son, Nicholas, at Upton,
near Acle. He will be sadly missed for his near-encyclopaedic knowledge of the
agricultural industry.
A great supporter of the club's farming competitions, Hugh Crane Farms won
the Potato Cup seven times - between 1989 and 2007 including retaining the
trophy in 2002. A double winner of the Wheat Trophy in 1994 and 1995, he also
excelled at sugar beet - winning the Cantley Cup for best overall performance
by a member in 2006. His business also was a three-time winner of the whole
crop beet trophy.
A chance diversification into a new business, which started in 1982, has
grown into a major national operation, Hugh Crane Cleaning Equipment, led by
his oldest son, Philip. After gaining the K.E.W. steam cleaning agency for
Norfolk and part of Suffolk from the Danish manufacturers, the family business,
which also involves his youngest son Robert, started making its own design of
heavy-duty Commando cleaners.
Our thoughts are with his family. Funeral arrangements to be announced.
The late Hugh Crane - One of the club's oldest members, Hugh Crane, who was
an honorary vice-president, has died peacefully aged 95. A former chairman in
1984, he was a commanding presence at club meetings for decades and built up a
major farming enterprise, now headed by his middle son, Nicholas, at Upton,
near Acle. He will be sadly missed for his near-encyclopaedic knowledge of the
agricultural industry.
A great supporter of the club's farming competitions, Hugh Crane Farms won
the Potato Cup seven times - between 1989 and 2007 including retaining the
trophy in 2002. A double winner of the Wheat Trophy in 1994 and 1995, he also
excelled at sugar beet - winning the Cantley Cup for best overall performance
by a member in 2006. His business also was a three-time winner of the whole
crop beet trophy.
A chance diversification into a new business, which started in 1982, has
grown into a major national operation, Hugh Crane Cleaning Equipment, led by
his oldest son, Philip. After gaining the K.E.W. steam cleaning agency for
Norfolk and part of Suffolk from the Danish manufacturers, the family business,
which also involves his youngest son Robert, started making its own design of
heavy-duty Commando cleaners.
Our thoughts are with his family. Funeral arrangements to be announced.