Interviews of Gordon Gordon

In this interview, Gordon Gordon talks about his time at Kirkdale in the 1960s where he worked alongside Brian Reid who was experimenting with organic farming. Mr Reid, who was a railway designer and editor of a railway magazine, ran the walled garden, grounds and surrounding farm along organic principles for a number of years in the sixties. He was also a great railway enthusiast and had a huge model railway in the upper floor or Kirkdale, where the Reids and Gordon and his family lived. The Munro's also lived in the house, in the east wing. Mrs Munro was an artist and her husband was a model maker at Glasgow university.

Gordon talks about many aspects of life at Kirkdale including: the organic farming techniques, other workers and neighbours, the social life, making money from selling snowdrops (which were sent off to Glasgow or London in shoeboxes and which Mr Gordon says provided the funds for his first car). Mr Reid's farming was very experimental and Gordon notes that it was difficult for the business to be profitable because of this. He also describes a model farm which Mr Munro made for Gordon's daughter and reflects on different animal manures and how these can be used. Mr Reid also had an estate in Cumbria and, speaking three languages and often travelling abroad, Gordon said that people often thought he was a spy.