Grain dryer designed by Roland Dudley and built by E. R. & F. Turner of Ipswich in 1929

This grain dryer is one of first mechanised grain drying machines in the UK and possibly in Europe, and was designed by pioneering agricultural engineer Roland Dudley in 1930, as part of his quest to fully mechanise British farming practices.

In the 1920s Roland Dudley, a successful civil and army engineer, purchased the 1500-acre Linkenholt Manor estate in Hampshire for his family. In the late 1920s, one of his tenant farmers died in a farming accident, which inspired Roland Dudley to think about how he could reduce the labour intensity and lengthy work of traditional British farming. Borrowing from his experience as an engineer, Dudley realised the potential for mechanising farming practices using cutting edge machinery. In 1928 he purchased one of the first combine harvesters in the UK (shipped from the US) and was the first to put it to commercial use in for-profit farming.

The speed and efficiency of the combine harvester meant Dudley needed to find a way to dry the harvested grain at an equal speed to prevent bottlenecking his operation. He drew up his own designs for this 20-foot-high coke-furnace heated grain dryer which could be operated entirely by a single man, and had the machine built in 1930 by the Ipswich-based milling engineering company Turner Ltd.

The combine harvester matched with the Turner dryer was so successful that it reduced a season’s worth of work on the Linkenholt estate, into a process that only took a few days. In an anecdotal story, Roland Dudley supposedly demonstrated the impact of his innovations by harvesting, drying, milling, baking and eating a loaf of bread all within 24 hours. Dudley’s mechanisation strategy allowed him to endure during the 1930s recession, whilst estates around him struggled and shut down.

Whilst he was generally critiqued by his farming neighbours at the time, within a generation Roland Dudley’s pioneering farming practices were widely adopted across the country. Mechanisation of Britain’s agriculture was especially driven by the onset of WW2, during which Roland Dudley continued to champion his ideas as Vice-Chairman of Hampshire’s War Agricultural Executive Committee. Roland Dudley was awarded the OBE in 1958 for his working championing modern British farming practices.

This grain dryer is one of first mechanised grain drying machines in the UK and possibly in Europe, and was designed by pioneering agricultural engineer Roland Dudley in 1930, as part of his quest to fully mechanise British farming practices.

In the 1920s Roland Dudley, a successful civil and army engineer, purchased the 1500-acre Linkenholt Manor estate in Hampshire for his family. In the late 1920s, one of his tenant farmers died in a farming accident, which inspired Roland Dudley to think about how he could reduce the labour intensity and lengthy work of traditional British farming. Borrowing from his experience as an engineer, Dudley realised the potential for mechanising farming practices using cutting edge machinery. In 1928 he purchased one of the first combine harvesters in the UK (shipped from the US) and was the first to put it to commercial use in for-profit farming.

The speed and efficiency of the combine harvester meant Dudley needed to find a way to dry the harvested grain at an equal speed to prevent bottlenecking his operation. He drew up his own designs for this 20-foot-high coke-furnace heated grain dryer which could be operated entirely by a single man, and had the machine built in 1930 by the Ipswich-based milling engineering company Turner Ltd.

The combine harvester matched with the Turner dryer was so successful that it reduced a season’s worth of work on the Linkenholt estate, into a process that only took a few days. In an anecdotal story, Roland Dudley supposedly demonstrated the impact of his innovations by harvesting, drying, milling, baking and eating a loaf of bread all within 24 hours. Dudley’s mechanisation strategy allowed him to endure during the 1930s recession, whilst estates around him struggled and shut down.

Whilst he was generally critiqued by his farming neighbours at the time, within a generation Roland Dudley’s pioneering farming practices were widely adopted across the country. Mechanisation of Britain’s agriculture was especially driven by the onset of WW2, during which Roland Dudley continued to champion his ideas as Vice-Chairman of Hampshire’s War Agricultural Executive Committee. Roland Dudley was awarded the OBE in 1958 for his working championing modern British farming practices.

This grain dryer is one of first mechanised grain drying machines in the UK and possibly in Europe, and was designed by pioneering agricultural engineer Roland Dudley in 1930, as part of his quest to fully mechanise British farming practices.

In the 1920s Roland Dudley, a successful civil and army engineer, purchased the 1500-acre Linkenholt Manor estate in Hampshire for his family. In the late 1920s, one of his tenant farmers died in a farming accident, which inspired Roland Dudley to think about how he could reduce the labour intensity and lengthy work of traditional British farming. Borrowing from his experience as an engineer, Dudley realised the potential for mechanising farming practices using cutting edge machinery. In 1928 he purchased one of the first combine harvesters in the UK (shipped from the US) and was the first to put it to commercial use in for-profit farming.

The speed and efficiency of the combine harvester meant Dudley needed to find a way to dry the harvested grain at an equal speed to prevent bottlenecking his operation. He drew up his own designs for this 20-foot-high coke-furnace heated grain dryer which could be operated entirely by a single man, and had the machine built in 1930 by the Ipswich-based milling engineering company Turner Ltd.

The combine harvester matched with the Turner dryer was so successful that it reduced a season’s worth of work on the Linkenholt estate, into a process that only took a few days. In an anecdotal story, Roland Dudley supposedly demonstrated the impact of his innovations by harvesting, drying, milling, baking and eating a loaf of bread all within 24 hours. Dudley’s mechanisation strategy allowed him to endure during the 1930s recession, whilst estates around him struggled and shut down.

Whilst he was generally critiqued by his farming neighbours at the time, within a generation Roland Dudley’s pioneering farming practices were widely adopted across the country. Mechanisation of Britain’s agriculture was especially driven by the onset of WW2, during which Roland Dudley continued to champion his ideas as Vice-Chairman of Hampshire’s War Agricultural Executive Committee. Roland Dudley was awarded the OBE in 1958 for his working championing modern British farming practices.

This grain dryer is one of first mechanised grain drying machines in the UK and possibly in Europe, and was designed by pioneering agricultural engineer Roland Dudley in 1930, as part of his quest to fully mechanise British farming practices.

In the 1920s Roland Dudley, a successful civil and army engineer, purchased the 1500-acre Linkenholt Manor estate in Hampshire for his family. In the late 1920s, one of his tenant farmers died in a farming accident, which inspired Roland Dudley to think about how he could reduce the labour intensity and lengthy work of traditional British farming. Borrowing from his experience as an engineer, Dudley realised the potential for mechanising farming practices using cutting edge machinery. In 1928 he purchased one of the first combine harvesters in the UK (shipped from the US) and was the first to put it to commercial use in for-profit farming.

The speed and efficiency of the combine harvester meant Dudley needed to find a way to dry the harvested grain at an equal speed to prevent bottlenecking his operation. He drew up his own designs for this 20-foot-high coke-furnace heated grain dryer which could be operated entirely by a single man, and had the machine built in 1930 by the Ipswich-based milling engineering company Turner Ltd.

The combine harvester matched with the Turner dryer was so successful that it reduced a season’s worth of work on the Linkenholt estate, into a process that only took a few days. In an anecdotal story, Roland Dudley supposedly demonstrated the impact of his innovations by harvesting, drying, milling, baking and eating a loaf of bread all within 24 hours. Dudley’s mechanisation strategy allowed him to endure during the 1930s recession, whilst estates around him struggled and shut down.

Whilst he was generally critiqued by his farming neighbours at the time, within a generation Roland Dudley’s pioneering farming practices were widely adopted across the country. Mechanisation of Britain’s agriculture was especially driven by the onset of WW2, during which Roland Dudley continued to champion his ideas as Vice-Chairman of Hampshire’s War Agricultural Executive Committee. Roland Dudley was awarded the OBE in 1958 for his working championing modern British farming practices.

This grain dryer is one of first mechanised grain drying machines in the UK and possibly in Europe, and was designed by pioneering agricultural engineer Roland Dudley in 1930, as part of his quest to fully mechanise British farming practices.

In the 1920s Roland Dudley, a successful civil and army engineer, purchased the 1500-acre Linkenholt Manor estate in Hampshire for his family. In the late 1920s, one of his tenant farmers died in a farming accident, which inspired Roland Dudley to think about how he could reduce the labour intensity and lengthy work of traditional British farming. Borrowing from his experience as an engineer, Dudley realised the potential for mechanising farming practices using cutting edge machinery. In 1928 he purchased one of the first combine harvesters in the UK (shipped from the US) and was the first to put it to commercial use in for-profit farming.

The speed and efficiency of the combine harvester meant Dudley needed to find a way to dry the harvested grain at an equal speed to prevent bottlenecking his operation. He drew up his own designs for this 20-foot-high coke-furnace heated grain dryer which could be operated entirely by a single man, and had the machine built in 1930 by the Ipswich-based milling engineering company Turner Ltd.

The combine harvester matched with the Turner dryer was so successful that it reduced a season’s worth of work on the Linkenholt estate, into a process that only took a few days. In an anecdotal story, Roland Dudley supposedly demonstrated the impact of his innovations by harvesting, drying, milling, baking and eating a loaf of bread all within 24 hours. Dudley’s mechanisation strategy allowed him to endure during the 1930s recession, whilst estates around him struggled and shut down.

Whilst he was generally critiqued by his farming neighbours at the time, within a generation Roland Dudley’s pioneering farming practices were widely adopted across the country. Mechanisation of Britain’s agriculture was especially driven by the onset of WW2, during which Roland Dudley continued to champion his ideas as Vice-Chairman of Hampshire’s War Agricultural Executive Committee. Roland Dudley was awarded the OBE in 1958 for his working championing modern British farming practices.

This grain dryer is one of first mechanised grain drying machines in the UK and possibly in Europe, and was designed by pioneering agricultural engineer Roland Dudley in 1930, as part of his quest to fully mechanise British farming practices.

In the 1920s Roland Dudley, a successful civil and army engineer, purchased the 1500-acre Linkenholt Manor estate in Hampshire for his family. In the late 1920s, one of his tenant farmers died in a farming accident, which inspired Roland Dudley to think about how he could reduce the labour intensity and lengthy work of traditional British farming. Borrowing from his experience as an engineer, Dudley realised the potential for mechanising farming practices using cutting edge machinery. In 1928 he purchased one of the first combine harvesters in the UK (shipped from the US) and was the first to put it to commercial use in for-profit farming.

The speed and efficiency of the combine harvester meant Dudley needed to find a way to dry the harvested grain at an equal speed to prevent bottlenecking his operation. He drew up his own designs for this 20-foot-high coke-furnace heated grain dryer which could be operated entirely by a single man, and had the machine built in 1930 by the Ipswich-based milling engineering company Turner Ltd.

The combine harvester matched with the Turner dryer was so successful that it reduced a season’s worth of work on the Linkenholt estate, into a process that only took a few days. In an anecdotal story, Roland Dudley supposedly demonstrated the impact of his innovations by harvesting, drying, milling, baking and eating a loaf of bread all within 24 hours. Dudley’s mechanisation strategy allowed him to endure during the 1930s recession, whilst estates around him struggled and shut down.

Whilst he was generally critiqued by his farming neighbours at the time, within a generation Roland Dudley’s pioneering farming practices were widely adopted across the country. Mechanisation of Britain’s agriculture was especially driven by the onset of WW2, during which Roland Dudley continued to champion his ideas as Vice-Chairman of Hampshire’s War Agricultural Executive Committee. Roland Dudley was awarded the OBE in 1958 for his working championing modern British farming practices.

This grain dryer is one of first mechanised grain drying machines in the UK and possibly in Europe, and was designed by pioneering agricultural engineer Roland Dudley in 1930, as part of his quest to fully mechanise British farming practices.

In the 1920s Roland Dudley, a successful civil and army engineer, purchased the 1500-acre Linkenholt Manor estate in Hampshire for his family. In the late 1920s, one of his tenant farmers died in a farming accident, which inspired Roland Dudley to think about how he could reduce the labour intensity and lengthy work of traditional British farming. Borrowing from his experience as an engineer, Dudley realised the potential for mechanising farming practices using cutting edge machinery. In 1928 he purchased one of the first combine harvesters in the UK (shipped from the US) and was the first to put it to commercial use in for-profit farming.

The speed and efficiency of the combine harvester meant Dudley needed to find a way to dry the harvested grain at an equal speed to prevent bottlenecking his operation. He drew up his own designs for this 20-foot-high coke-furnace heated grain dryer which could be operated entirely by a single man, and had the machine built in 1930 by the Ipswich-based milling engineering company Turner Ltd.

The combine harvester matched with the Turner dryer was so successful that it reduced a season’s worth of work on the Linkenholt estate, into a process that only took a few days. In an anecdotal story, Roland Dudley supposedly demonstrated the impact of his innovations by harvesting, drying, milling, baking and eating a loaf of bread all within 24 hours. Dudley’s mechanisation strategy allowed him to endure during the 1930s recession, whilst estates around him struggled and shut down.

Whilst he was generally critiqued by his farming neighbours at the time, within a generation Roland Dudley’s pioneering farming practices were widely adopted across the country. Mechanisation of Britain’s agriculture was especially driven by the onset of WW2, during which Roland Dudley continued to champion his ideas as Vice-Chairman of Hampshire’s War Agricultural Executive Committee. Roland Dudley was awarded the OBE in 1958 for his working championing modern British farming practices.

This grain dryer is one of first mechanised grain drying machines in the UK and possibly in Europe, and was designed by pioneering agricultural engineer Roland Dudley in 1930, as part of his quest to fully mechanise British farming practices.

In the 1920s Roland Dudley, a successful civil and army engineer, purchased the 1500-acre Linkenholt Manor estate in Hampshire for his family. In the late 1920s, one of his tenant farmers died in a farming accident, which inspired Roland Dudley to think about how he could reduce the labour intensity and lengthy work of traditional British farming. Borrowing from his experience as an engineer, Dudley realised the potential for mechanising farming practices using cutting edge machinery. In 1928 he purchased one of the first combine harvesters in the UK (shipped from the US) and was the first to put it to commercial use in for-profit farming.

The speed and efficiency of the combine harvester meant Dudley needed to find a way to dry the harvested grain at an equal speed to prevent bottlenecking his operation. He drew up his own designs for this 20-foot-high coke-furnace heated grain dryer which could be operated entirely by a single man, and had the machine built in 1930 by the Ipswich-based milling engineering company Turner Ltd.

The combine harvester matched with the Turner dryer was so successful that it reduced a season’s worth of work on the Linkenholt estate, into a process that only took a few days. In an anecdotal story, Roland Dudley supposedly demonstrated the impact of his innovations by harvesting, drying, milling, baking and eating a loaf of bread all within 24 hours. Dudley’s mechanisation strategy allowed him to endure during the 1930s recession, whilst estates around him struggled and shut down.

Whilst he was generally critiqued by his farming neighbours at the time, within a generation Roland Dudley’s pioneering farming practices were widely adopted across the country. Mechanisation of Britain’s agriculture was especially driven by the onset of WW2, during which Roland Dudley continued to champion his ideas as Vice-Chairman of Hampshire’s War Agricultural Executive Committee. Roland Dudley was awarded the OBE in 1958 for his working championing modern British farming practices.

This grain dryer is one of first mechanised grain drying machines in the UK and possibly in Europe, and was designed by pioneering agricultural engineer Roland Dudley in 1930, as part of his quest to fully mechanise British farming practices.

In the 1920s Roland Dudley, a successful civil and army engineer, purchased the 1500-acre Linkenholt Manor estate in Hampshire for his family. In the late 1920s, one of his tenant farmers died in a farming accident, which inspired Roland Dudley to think about how he could reduce the labour intensity and lengthy work of traditional British farming. Borrowing from his experience as an engineer, Dudley realised the potential for mechanising farming practices using cutting edge machinery. In 1928 he purchased one of the first combine harvesters in the UK (shipped from the US) and was the first to put it to commercial use in for-profit farming.

The speed and efficiency of the combine harvester meant Dudley needed to find a way to dry the harvested grain at an equal speed to prevent bottlenecking his operation. He drew up his own designs for this 20-foot-high coke-furnace heated grain dryer which could be operated entirely by a single man, and had the machine built in 1930 by the Ipswich-based milling engineering company Turner Ltd.

The combine harvester matched with the Turner dryer was so successful that it reduced a season’s worth of work on the Linkenholt estate, into a process that only took a few days. In an anecdotal story, Roland Dudley supposedly demonstrated the impact of his innovations by harvesting, drying, milling, baking and eating a loaf of bread all within 24 hours. Dudley’s mechanisation strategy allowed him to endure during the 1930s recession, whilst estates around him struggled and shut down.

Whilst he was generally critiqued by his farming neighbours at the time, within a generation Roland Dudley’s pioneering farming practices were widely adopted across the country. Mechanisation of Britain’s agriculture was especially driven by the onset of WW2, during which Roland Dudley continued to champion his ideas as Vice-Chairman of Hampshire’s War Agricultural Executive Committee. Roland Dudley was awarded the OBE in 1958 for his working championing modern British farming practices.

This grain dryer is one of first mechanised grain drying machines in the UK and possibly in Europe, and was designed by pioneering agricultural engineer Roland Dudley in 1930, as part of his quest to fully mechanise British farming practices.

In the 1920s Roland Dudley, a successful civil and army engineer, purchased the 1500-acre Linkenholt Manor estate in Hampshire for his family. In the late 1920s, one of his tenant farmers died in a farming accident, which inspired Roland Dudley to think about how he could reduce the labour intensity and lengthy work of traditional British farming. Borrowing from his experience as an engineer, Dudley realised the potential for mechanising farming practices using cutting edge machinery. In 1928 he purchased one of the first combine harvesters in the UK (shipped from the US) and was the first to put it to commercial use in for-profit farming.

The speed and efficiency of the combine harvester meant Dudley needed to find a way to dry the harvested grain at an equal speed to prevent bottlenecking his operation. He drew up his own designs for this 20-foot-high coke-furnace heated grain dryer which could be operated entirely by a single man, and had the machine built in 1930 by the Ipswich-based milling engineering company Turner Ltd.

The combine harvester matched with the Turner dryer was so successful that it reduced a season’s worth of work on the Linkenholt estate, into a process that only took a few days. In an anecdotal story, Roland Dudley supposedly demonstrated the impact of his innovations by harvesting, drying, milling, baking and eating a loaf of bread all within 24 hours. Dudley’s mechanisation strategy allowed him to endure during the 1930s recession, whilst estates around him struggled and shut down.

Whilst he was generally critiqued by his farming neighbours at the time, within a generation Roland Dudley’s pioneering farming practices were widely adopted across the country. Mechanisation of Britain’s agriculture was especially driven by the onset of WW2, during which Roland Dudley continued to champion his ideas as Vice-Chairman of Hampshire’s War Agricultural Executive Committee. Roland Dudley was awarded the OBE in 1958 for his working championing modern British farming practices.

This grain dryer is one of first mechanised grain drying machines in the UK and possibly in Europe, and was designed by pioneering agricultural engineer Roland Dudley in 1930, as part of his quest to fully mechanise British farming practices.

In the 1920s Roland Dudley, a successful civil and army engineer, purchased the 1500-acre Linkenholt Manor estate in Hampshire for his family. In the late 1920s, one of his tenant farmers died in a farming accident, which inspired Roland Dudley to think about how he could reduce the labour intensity and lengthy work of traditional British farming. Borrowing from his experience as an engineer, Dudley realised the potential for mechanising farming practices using cutting edge machinery. In 1928 he purchased one of the first combine harvesters in the UK (shipped from the US) and was the first to put it to commercial use in for-profit farming.

The speed and efficiency of the combine harvester meant Dudley needed to find a way to dry the harvested grain at an equal speed to prevent bottlenecking his operation. He drew up his own designs for this 20-foot-high coke-furnace heated grain dryer which could be operated entirely by a single man, and had the machine built in 1930 by the Ipswich-based milling engineering company Turner Ltd.

The combine harvester matched with the Turner dryer was so successful that it reduced a season’s worth of work on the Linkenholt estate, into a process that only took a few days. In an anecdotal story, Roland Dudley supposedly demonstrated the impact of his innovations by harvesting, drying, milling, baking and eating a loaf of bread all within 24 hours. Dudley’s mechanisation strategy allowed him to endure during the 1930s recession, whilst estates around him struggled and shut down.

Whilst he was generally critiqued by his farming neighbours at the time, within a generation Roland Dudley’s pioneering farming practices were widely adopted across the country. Mechanisation of Britain’s agriculture was especially driven by the onset of WW2, during which Roland Dudley continued to champion his ideas as Vice-Chairman of Hampshire’s War Agricultural Executive Committee. Roland Dudley was awarded the OBE in 1958 for his working championing modern British farming practices.

This grain dryer is one of first mechanised grain drying machines in the UK and possibly in Europe, and was designed by pioneering agricultural engineer Roland Dudley in 1930, as part of his quest to fully mechanise British farming practices.

In the 1920s Roland Dudley, a successful civil and army engineer, purchased the 1500-acre Linkenholt Manor estate in Hampshire for his family. In the late 1920s, one of his tenant farmers died in a farming accident, which inspired Roland Dudley to think about how he could reduce the labour intensity and lengthy work of traditional British farming. Borrowing from his experience as an engineer, Dudley realised the potential for mechanising farming practices using cutting edge machinery. In 1928 he purchased one of the first combine harvesters in the UK (shipped from the US) and was the first to put it to commercial use in for-profit farming.

The speed and efficiency of the combine harvester meant Dudley needed to find a way to dry the harvested grain at an equal speed to prevent bottlenecking his operation. He drew up his own designs for this 20-foot-high coke-furnace heated grain dryer which could be operated entirely by a single man, and had the machine built in 1930 by the Ipswich-based milling engineering company Turner Ltd.

The combine harvester matched with the Turner dryer was so successful that it reduced a season’s worth of work on the Linkenholt estate, into a process that only took a few days. In an anecdotal story, Roland Dudley supposedly demonstrated the impact of his innovations by harvesting, drying, milling, baking and eating a loaf of bread all within 24 hours. Dudley’s mechanisation strategy allowed him to endure during the 1930s recession, whilst estates around him struggled and shut down.

Whilst he was generally critiqued by his farming neighbours at the time, within a generation Roland Dudley’s pioneering farming practices were widely adopted across the country. Mechanisation of Britain’s agriculture was especially driven by the onset of WW2, during which Roland Dudley continued to champion his ideas as Vice-Chairman of Hampshire’s War Agricultural Executive Committee. Roland Dudley was awarded the OBE in 1958 for his working championing modern British farming practices.

This grain dryer is one of first mechanised grain drying machines in the UK and possibly in Europe, and was designed by pioneering agricultural engineer Roland Dudley in 1930, as part of his quest to fully mechanise British farming practices.

In the 1920s Roland Dudley, a successful civil and army engineer, purchased the 1500-acre Linkenholt Manor estate in Hampshire for his family. In the late 1920s, one of his tenant farmers died in a farming accident, which inspired Roland Dudley to think about how he could reduce the labour intensity and lengthy work of traditional British farming. Borrowing from his experience as an engineer, Dudley realised the potential for mechanising farming practices using cutting edge machinery. In 1928 he purchased one of the first combine harvesters in the UK (shipped from the US) and was the first to put it to commercial use in for-profit farming.

The speed and efficiency of the combine harvester meant Dudley needed to find a way to dry the harvested grain at an equal speed to prevent bottlenecking his operation. He drew up his own designs for this 20-foot-high coke-furnace heated grain dryer which could be operated entirely by a single man, and had the machine built in 1930 by the Ipswich-based milling engineering company Turner Ltd.

The combine harvester matched with the Turner dryer was so successful that it reduced a season’s worth of work on the Linkenholt estate, into a process that only took a few days. In an anecdotal story, Roland Dudley supposedly demonstrated the impact of his innovations by harvesting, drying, milling, baking and eating a loaf of bread all within 24 hours. Dudley’s mechanisation strategy allowed him to endure during the 1930s recession, whilst estates around him struggled and shut down.

Whilst he was generally critiqued by his farming neighbours at the time, within a generation Roland Dudley’s pioneering farming practices were widely adopted across the country. Mechanisation of Britain’s agriculture was especially driven by the onset of WW2, during which Roland Dudley continued to champion his ideas as Vice-Chairman of Hampshire’s War Agricultural Executive Committee. Roland Dudley was awarded the OBE in 1958 for his working championing modern British farming practices.

This grain dryer is one of first mechanised grain drying machines in the UK and possibly in Europe, and was designed by pioneering agricultural engineer Roland Dudley in 1930, as part of his quest to fully mechanise British farming practices.

In the 1920s Roland Dudley, a successful civil and army engineer, purchased the 1500-acre Linkenholt Manor estate in Hampshire for his family. In the late 1920s, one of his tenant farmers died in a farming accident, which inspired Roland Dudley to think about how he could reduce the labour intensity and lengthy work of traditional British farming. Borrowing from his experience as an engineer, Dudley realised the potential for mechanising farming practices using cutting edge machinery. In 1928 he purchased one of the first combine harvesters in the UK (shipped from the US) and was the first to put it to commercial use in for-profit farming.

The speed and efficiency of the combine harvester meant Dudley needed to find a way to dry the harvested grain at an equal speed to prevent bottlenecking his operation. He drew up his own designs for this 20-foot-high coke-furnace heated grain dryer which could be operated entirely by a single man, and had the machine built in 1930 by the Ipswich-based milling engineering company Turner Ltd.

The combine harvester matched with the Turner dryer was so successful that it reduced a season’s worth of work on the Linkenholt estate, into a process that only took a few days. In an anecdotal story, Roland Dudley supposedly demonstrated the impact of his innovations by harvesting, drying, milling, baking and eating a loaf of bread all within 24 hours. Dudley’s mechanisation strategy allowed him to endure during the 1930s recession, whilst estates around him struggled and shut down.

Whilst he was generally critiqued by his farming neighbours at the time, within a generation Roland Dudley’s pioneering farming practices were widely adopted across the country. Mechanisation of Britain’s agriculture was especially driven by the onset of WW2, during which Roland Dudley continued to champion his ideas as Vice-Chairman of Hampshire’s War Agricultural Executive Committee. Roland Dudley was awarded the OBE in 1958 for his working championing modern British farming practices.

This grain dryer is one of first mechanised grain drying machines in the UK and possibly in Europe, and was designed by pioneering agricultural engineer Roland Dudley in 1930, as part of his quest to fully mechanise British farming practices.

In the 1920s Roland Dudley, a successful civil and army engineer, purchased the 1500-acre Linkenholt Manor estate in Hampshire for his family. In the late 1920s, one of his tenant farmers died in a farming accident, which inspired Roland Dudley to think about how he could reduce the labour intensity and lengthy work of traditional British farming. Borrowing from his experience as an engineer, Dudley realised the potential for mechanising farming practices using cutting edge machinery. In 1928 he purchased one of the first combine harvesters in the UK (shipped from the US) and was the first to put it to commercial use in for-profit farming.

The speed and efficiency of the combine harvester meant Dudley needed to find a way to dry the harvested grain at an equal speed to prevent bottlenecking his operation. He drew up his own designs for this 20-foot-high coke-furnace heated grain dryer which could be operated entirely by a single man, and had the machine built in 1930 by the Ipswich-based milling engineering company Turner Ltd.

The combine harvester matched with the Turner dryer was so successful that it reduced a season’s worth of work on the Linkenholt estate, into a process that only took a few days. In an anecdotal story, Roland Dudley supposedly demonstrated the impact of his innovations by harvesting, drying, milling, baking and eating a loaf of bread all within 24 hours. Dudley’s mechanisation strategy allowed him to endure during the 1930s recession, whilst estates around him struggled and shut down.

Whilst he was generally critiqued by his farming neighbours at the time, within a generation Roland Dudley’s pioneering farming practices were widely adopted across the country. Mechanisation of Britain’s agriculture was especially driven by the onset of WW2, during which Roland Dudley continued to champion his ideas as Vice-Chairman of Hampshire’s War Agricultural Executive Committee. Roland Dudley was awarded the OBE in 1958 for his working championing modern British farming practices.

This grain dryer is one of first mechanised grain drying machines in the UK and possibly in Europe, and was designed by pioneering agricultural engineer Roland Dudley in 1930, as part of his quest to fully mechanise British farming practices.

In the 1920s Roland Dudley, a successful civil and army engineer, purchased the 1500-acre Linkenholt Manor estate in Hampshire for his family. In the late 1920s, one of his tenant farmers died in a farming accident, which inspired Roland Dudley to think about how he could reduce the labour intensity and lengthy work of traditional British farming. Borrowing from his experience as an engineer, Dudley realised the potential for mechanising farming practices using cutting edge machinery. In 1928 he purchased one of the first combine harvesters in the UK (shipped from the US) and was the first to put it to commercial use in for-profit farming.

The speed and efficiency of the combine harvester meant Dudley needed to find a way to dry the harvested grain at an equal speed to prevent bottlenecking his operation. He drew up his own designs for this 20-foot-high coke-furnace heated grain dryer which could be operated entirely by a single man, and had the machine built in 1930 by the Ipswich-based milling engineering company Turner Ltd.

The combine harvester matched with the Turner dryer was so successful that it reduced a season’s worth of work on the Linkenholt estate, into a process that only took a few days. In an anecdotal story, Roland Dudley supposedly demonstrated the impact of his innovations by harvesting, drying, milling, baking and eating a loaf of bread all within 24 hours. Dudley’s mechanisation strategy allowed him to endure during the 1930s recession, whilst estates around him struggled and shut down.

Whilst he was generally critiqued by his farming neighbours at the time, within a generation Roland Dudley’s pioneering farming practices were widely adopted across the country. Mechanisation of Britain’s agriculture was especially driven by the onset of WW2, during which Roland Dudley continued to champion his ideas as Vice-Chairman of Hampshire’s War Agricultural Executive Committee. Roland Dudley was awarded the OBE in 1958 for his working championing modern British farming practices.

This grain dryer is one of first mechanised grain drying machines in the UK and possibly in Europe, and was designed by pioneering agricultural engineer Roland Dudley in 1930, as part of his quest to fully mechanise British farming practices.

In the 1920s Roland Dudley, a successful civil and army engineer, purchased the 1500-acre Linkenholt Manor estate in Hampshire for his family. In the late 1920s, one of his tenant farmers died in a farming accident, which inspired Roland Dudley to think about how he could reduce the labour intensity and lengthy work of traditional British farming. Borrowing from his experience as an engineer, Dudley realised the potential for mechanising farming practices using cutting edge machinery. In 1928 he purchased one of the first combine harvesters in the UK (shipped from the US) and was the first to put it to commercial use in for-profit farming.

The speed and efficiency of the combine harvester meant Dudley needed to find a way to dry the harvested grain at an equal speed to prevent bottlenecking his operation. He drew up his own designs for this 20-foot-high coke-furnace heated grain dryer which could be operated entirely by a single man, and had the machine built in 1930 by the Ipswich-based milling engineering company Turner Ltd.

The combine harvester matched with the Turner dryer was so successful that it reduced a season’s worth of work on the Linkenholt estate, into a process that only took a few days. In an anecdotal story, Roland Dudley supposedly demonstrated the impact of his innovations by harvesting, drying, milling, baking and eating a loaf of bread all within 24 hours. Dudley’s mechanisation strategy allowed him to endure during the 1930s recession, whilst estates around him struggled and shut down.

Whilst he was generally critiqued by his farming neighbours at the time, within a generation Roland Dudley’s pioneering farming practices were widely adopted across the country. Mechanisation of Britain’s agriculture was especially driven by the onset of WW2, during which Roland Dudley continued to champion his ideas as Vice-Chairman of Hampshire’s War Agricultural Executive Committee. Roland Dudley was awarded the OBE in 1958 for his working championing modern British farming practices.

This grain dryer is one of first mechanised grain drying machines in the UK and possibly in Europe, and was designed by pioneering agricultural engineer Roland Dudley in 1930, as part of his quest to fully mechanise British farming practices.

In the 1920s Roland Dudley, a successful civil and army engineer, purchased the 1500-acre Linkenholt Manor estate in Hampshire for his family. In the late 1920s, one of his tenant farmers died in a farming accident, which inspired Roland Dudley to think about how he could reduce the labour intensity and lengthy work of traditional British farming. Borrowing from his experience as an engineer, Dudley realised the potential for mechanising farming practices using cutting edge machinery. In 1928 he purchased one of the first combine harvesters in the UK (shipped from the US) and was the first to put it to commercial use in for-profit farming.

The speed and efficiency of the combine harvester meant Dudley needed to find a way to dry the harvested grain at an equal speed to prevent bottlenecking his operation. He drew up his own designs for this 20-foot-high coke-furnace heated grain dryer which could be operated entirely by a single man, and had the machine built in 1930 by the Ipswich-based milling engineering company Turner Ltd.

The combine harvester matched with the Turner dryer was so successful that it reduced a season’s worth of work on the Linkenholt estate, into a process that only took a few days. In an anecdotal story, Roland Dudley supposedly demonstrated the impact of his innovations by harvesting, drying, milling, baking and eating a loaf of bread all within 24 hours. Dudley’s mechanisation strategy allowed him to endure during the 1930s recession, whilst estates around him struggled and shut down.

Whilst he was generally critiqued by his farming neighbours at the time, within a generation Roland Dudley’s pioneering farming practices were widely adopted across the country. Mechanisation of Britain’s agriculture was especially driven by the onset of WW2, during which Roland Dudley continued to champion his ideas as Vice-Chairman of Hampshire’s War Agricultural Executive Committee. Roland Dudley was awarded the OBE in 1958 for his working championing modern British farming practices.

This grain dryer is one of first mechanised grain drying machines in the UK and possibly in Europe, and was designed by pioneering agricultural engineer Roland Dudley in 1930, as part of his quest to fully mechanise British farming practices.

In the 1920s Roland Dudley, a successful civil and army engineer, purchased the 1500-acre Linkenholt Manor estate in Hampshire for his family. In the late 1920s, one of his tenant farmers died in a farming accident, which inspired Roland Dudley to think about how he could reduce the labour intensity and lengthy work of traditional British farming. Borrowing from his experience as an engineer, Dudley realised the potential for mechanising farming practices using cutting edge machinery. In 1928 he purchased one of the first combine harvesters in the UK (shipped from the US) and was the first to put it to commercial use in for-profit farming.

The speed and efficiency of the combine harvester meant Dudley needed to find a way to dry the harvested grain at an equal speed to prevent bottlenecking his operation. He drew up his own designs for this 20-foot-high coke-furnace heated grain dryer which could be operated entirely by a single man, and had the machine built in 1930 by the Ipswich-based milling engineering company Turner Ltd.

The combine harvester matched with the Turner dryer was so successful that it reduced a season’s worth of work on the Linkenholt estate, into a process that only took a few days. In an anecdotal story, Roland Dudley supposedly demonstrated the impact of his innovations by harvesting, drying, milling, baking and eating a loaf of bread all within 24 hours. Dudley’s mechanisation strategy allowed him to endure during the 1930s recession, whilst estates around him struggled and shut down.

Whilst he was generally critiqued by his farming neighbours at the time, within a generation Roland Dudley’s pioneering farming practices were widely adopted across the country. Mechanisation of Britain’s agriculture was especially driven by the onset of WW2, during which Roland Dudley continued to champion his ideas as Vice-Chairman of Hampshire’s War Agricultural Executive Committee. Roland Dudley was awarded the OBE in 1958 for his working championing modern British farming practices.

This grain dryer is one of first mechanised grain drying machines in the UK and possibly in Europe, and was designed by pioneering agricultural engineer Roland Dudley in 1930, as part of his quest to fully mechanise British farming practices.

In the 1920s Roland Dudley, a successful civil and army engineer, purchased the 1500-acre Linkenholt Manor estate in Hampshire for his family. In the late 1920s, one of his tenant farmers died in a farming accident, which inspired Roland Dudley to think about how he could reduce the labour intensity and lengthy work of traditional British farming. Borrowing from his experience as an engineer, Dudley realised the potential for mechanising farming practices using cutting edge machinery. In 1928 he purchased one of the first combine harvesters in the UK (shipped from the US) and was the first to put it to commercial use in for-profit farming.

The speed and efficiency of the combine harvester meant Dudley needed to find a way to dry the harvested grain at an equal speed to prevent bottlenecking his operation. He drew up his own designs for this 20-foot-high coke-furnace heated grain dryer which could be operated entirely by a single man, and had the machine built in 1930 by the Ipswich-based milling engineering company Turner Ltd.

The combine harvester matched with the Turner dryer was so successful that it reduced a season’s worth of work on the Linkenholt estate, into a process that only took a few days. In an anecdotal story, Roland Dudley supposedly demonstrated the impact of his innovations by harvesting, drying, milling, baking and eating a loaf of bread all within 24 hours. Dudley’s mechanisation strategy allowed him to endure during the 1930s recession, whilst estates around him struggled and shut down.

Whilst he was generally critiqued by his farming neighbours at the time, within a generation Roland Dudley’s pioneering farming practices were widely adopted across the country. Mechanisation of Britain’s agriculture was especially driven by the onset of WW2, during which Roland Dudley continued to champion his ideas as Vice-Chairman of Hampshire’s War Agricultural Executive Committee. Roland Dudley was awarded the OBE in 1958 for his working championing modern British farming practices.

This grain dryer is one of first mechanised grain drying machines in the UK and possibly in Europe, and was designed by pioneering agricultural engineer Roland Dudley in 1930, as part of his quest to fully mechanise British farming practices.

In the 1920s Roland Dudley, a successful civil and army engineer, purchased the 1500-acre Linkenholt Manor estate in Hampshire for his family. In the late 1920s, one of his tenant farmers died in a farming accident, which inspired Roland Dudley to think about how he could reduce the labour intensity and lengthy work of traditional British farming. Borrowing from his experience as an engineer, Dudley realised the potential for mechanising farming practices using cutting edge machinery. In 1928 he purchased one of the first combine harvesters in the UK (shipped from the US) and was the first to put it to commercial use in for-profit farming.

The speed and efficiency of the combine harvester meant Dudley needed to find a way to dry the harvested grain at an equal speed to prevent bottlenecking his operation. He drew up his own designs for this 20-foot-high coke-furnace heated grain dryer which could be operated entirely by a single man, and had the machine built in 1930 by the Ipswich-based milling engineering company Turner Ltd.

The combine harvester matched with the Turner dryer was so successful that it reduced a season’s worth of work on the Linkenholt estate, into a process that only took a few days. In an anecdotal story, Roland Dudley supposedly demonstrated the impact of his innovations by harvesting, drying, milling, baking and eating a loaf of bread all within 24 hours. Dudley’s mechanisation strategy allowed him to endure during the 1930s recession, whilst estates around him struggled and shut down.

Whilst he was generally critiqued by his farming neighbours at the time, within a generation Roland Dudley’s pioneering farming practices were widely adopted across the country. Mechanisation of Britain’s agriculture was especially driven by the onset of WW2, during which Roland Dudley continued to champion his ideas as Vice-Chairman of Hampshire’s War Agricultural Executive Committee. Roland Dudley was awarded the OBE in 1958 for his working championing modern British farming practices.

This grain dryer is one of first mechanised grain drying machines in the UK and possibly in Europe, and was designed by pioneering agricultural engineer Roland Dudley in 1930, as part of his quest to fully mechanise British farming practices.

In the 1920s Roland Dudley, a successful civil and army engineer, purchased the 1500-acre Linkenholt Manor estate in Hampshire for his family. In the late 1920s, one of his tenant farmers died in a farming accident, which inspired Roland Dudley to think about how he could reduce the labour intensity and lengthy work of traditional British farming. Borrowing from his experience as an engineer, Dudley realised the potential for mechanising farming practices using cutting edge machinery. In 1928 he purchased one of the first combine harvesters in the UK (shipped from the US) and was the first to put it to commercial use in for-profit farming.

The speed and efficiency of the combine harvester meant Dudley needed to find a way to dry the harvested grain at an equal speed to prevent bottlenecking his operation. He drew up his own designs for this 20-foot-high coke-furnace heated grain dryer which could be operated entirely by a single man, and had the machine built in 1930 by the Ipswich-based milling engineering company Turner Ltd.

The combine harvester matched with the Turner dryer was so successful that it reduced a season’s worth of work on the Linkenholt estate, into a process that only took a few days. In an anecdotal story, Roland Dudley supposedly demonstrated the impact of his innovations by harvesting, drying, milling, baking and eating a loaf of bread all within 24 hours. Dudley’s mechanisation strategy allowed him to endure during the 1930s recession, whilst estates around him struggled and shut down.

Whilst he was generally critiqued by his farming neighbours at the time, within a generation Roland Dudley’s pioneering farming practices were widely adopted across the country. Mechanisation of Britain’s agriculture was especially driven by the onset of WW2, during which Roland Dudley continued to champion his ideas as Vice-Chairman of Hampshire’s War Agricultural Executive Committee. Roland Dudley was awarded the OBE in 1958 for his working championing modern British farming practices.

This grain dryer is one of first mechanised grain drying machines in the UK and possibly in Europe, and was designed by pioneering agricultural engineer Roland Dudley in 1930, as part of his quest to fully mechanise British farming practices.

In the 1920s Roland Dudley, a successful civil and army engineer, purchased the 1500-acre Linkenholt Manor estate in Hampshire for his family. In the late 1920s, one of his tenant farmers died in a farming accident, which inspired Roland Dudley to think about how he could reduce the labour intensity and lengthy work of traditional British farming. Borrowing from his experience as an engineer, Dudley realised the potential for mechanising farming practices using cutting edge machinery. In 1928 he purchased one of the first combine harvesters in the UK (shipped from the US) and was the first to put it to commercial use in for-profit farming.

The speed and efficiency of the combine harvester meant Dudley needed to find a way to dry the harvested grain at an equal speed to prevent bottlenecking his operation. He drew up his own designs for this 20-foot-high coke-furnace heated grain dryer which could be operated entirely by a single man, and had the machine built in 1930 by the Ipswich-based milling engineering company Turner Ltd.

The combine harvester matched with the Turner dryer was so successful that it reduced a season’s worth of work on the Linkenholt estate, into a process that only took a few days. In an anecdotal story, Roland Dudley supposedly demonstrated the impact of his innovations by harvesting, drying, milling, baking and eating a loaf of bread all within 24 hours. Dudley’s mechanisation strategy allowed him to endure during the 1930s recession, whilst estates around him struggled and shut down.

Whilst he was generally critiqued by his farming neighbours at the time, within a generation Roland Dudley’s pioneering farming practices were widely adopted across the country. Mechanisation of Britain’s agriculture was especially driven by the onset of WW2, during which Roland Dudley continued to champion his ideas as Vice-Chairman of Hampshire’s War Agricultural Executive Committee. Roland Dudley was awarded the OBE in 1958 for his working championing modern British farming practices.

This grain dryer is one of first mechanised grain drying machines in the UK and possibly in Europe, and was designed by pioneering agricultural engineer Roland Dudley in 1930, as part of his quest to fully mechanise British farming practices.

In the 1920s Roland Dudley, a successful civil and army engineer, purchased the 1500-acre Linkenholt Manor estate in Hampshire for his family. In the late 1920s, one of his tenant farmers died in a farming accident, which inspired Roland Dudley to think about how he could reduce the labour intensity and lengthy work of traditional British farming. Borrowing from his experience as an engineer, Dudley realised the potential for mechanising farming practices using cutting edge machinery. In 1928 he purchased one of the first combine harvesters in the UK (shipped from the US) and was the first to put it to commercial use in for-profit farming.

The speed and efficiency of the combine harvester meant Dudley needed to find a way to dry the harvested grain at an equal speed to prevent bottlenecking his operation. He drew up his own designs for this 20-foot-high coke-furnace heated grain dryer which could be operated entirely by a single man, and had the machine built in 1930 by the Ipswich-based milling engineering company Turner Ltd.

The combine harvester matched with the Turner dryer was so successful that it reduced a season’s worth of work on the Linkenholt estate, into a process that only took a few days. In an anecdotal story, Roland Dudley supposedly demonstrated the impact of his innovations by harvesting, drying, milling, baking and eating a loaf of bread all within 24 hours. Dudley’s mechanisation strategy allowed him to endure during the 1930s recession, whilst estates around him struggled and shut down.

Whilst he was generally critiqued by his farming neighbours at the time, within a generation Roland Dudley’s pioneering farming practices were widely adopted across the country. Mechanisation of Britain’s agriculture was especially driven by the onset of WW2, during which Roland Dudley continued to champion his ideas as Vice-Chairman of Hampshire’s War Agricultural Executive Committee. Roland Dudley was awarded the OBE in 1958 for his working championing modern British farming practices.

This grain dryer is one of first mechanised grain drying machines in the UK and possibly in Europe, and was designed by pioneering agricultural engineer Roland Dudley in 1930, as part of his quest to fully mechanise British farming practices.

In the 1920s Roland Dudley, a successful civil and army engineer, purchased the 1500-acre Linkenholt Manor estate in Hampshire for his family. In the late 1920s, one of his tenant farmers died in a farming accident, which inspired Roland Dudley to think about how he could reduce the labour intensity and lengthy work of traditional British farming. Borrowing from his experience as an engineer, Dudley realised the potential for mechanising farming practices using cutting edge machinery. In 1928 he purchased one of the first combine harvesters in the UK (shipped from the US) and was the first to put it to commercial use in for-profit farming.

The speed and efficiency of the combine harvester meant Dudley needed to find a way to dry the harvested grain at an equal speed to prevent bottlenecking his operation. He drew up his own designs for this 20-foot-high coke-furnace heated grain dryer which could be operated entirely by a single man, and had the machine built in 1930 by the Ipswich-based milling engineering company Turner Ltd.

The combine harvester matched with the Turner dryer was so successful that it reduced a season’s worth of work on the Linkenholt estate, into a process that only took a few days. In an anecdotal story, Roland Dudley supposedly demonstrated the impact of his innovations by harvesting, drying, milling, baking and eating a loaf of bread all within 24 hours. Dudley’s mechanisation strategy allowed him to endure during the 1930s recession, whilst estates around him struggled and shut down.

Whilst he was generally critiqued by his farming neighbours at the time, within a generation Roland Dudley’s pioneering farming practices were widely adopted across the country. Mechanisation of Britain’s agriculture was especially driven by the onset of WW2, during which Roland Dudley continued to champion his ideas as Vice-Chairman of Hampshire’s War Agricultural Executive Committee. Roland Dudley was awarded the OBE in 1958 for his working championing modern British farming practices.

This grain dryer is one of first mechanised grain drying machines in the UK and possibly in Europe, and was designed by pioneering agricultural engineer Roland Dudley in 1930, as part of his quest to fully mechanise British farming practices.

In the 1920s Roland Dudley, a successful civil and army engineer, purchased the 1500-acre Linkenholt Manor estate in Hampshire for his family. In the late 1920s, one of his tenant farmers died in a farming accident, which inspired Roland Dudley to think about how he could reduce the labour intensity and lengthy work of traditional British farming. Borrowing from his experience as an engineer, Dudley realised the potential for mechanising farming practices using cutting edge machinery. In 1928 he purchased one of the first combine harvesters in the UK (shipped from the US) and was the first to put it to commercial use in for-profit farming.

The speed and efficiency of the combine harvester meant Dudley needed to find a way to dry the harvested grain at an equal speed to prevent bottlenecking his operation. He drew up his own designs for this 20-foot-high coke-furnace heated grain dryer which could be operated entirely by a single man, and had the machine built in 1930 by the Ipswich-based milling engineering company Turner Ltd.

The combine harvester matched with the Turner dryer was so successful that it reduced a season’s worth of work on the Linkenholt estate, into a process that only took a few days. In an anecdotal story, Roland Dudley supposedly demonstrated the impact of his innovations by harvesting, drying, milling, baking and eating a loaf of bread all within 24 hours. Dudley’s mechanisation strategy allowed him to endure during the 1930s recession, whilst estates around him struggled and shut down.

Whilst he was generally critiqued by his farming neighbours at the time, within a generation Roland Dudley’s pioneering farming practices were widely adopted across the country. Mechanisation of Britain’s agriculture was especially driven by the onset of WW2, during which Roland Dudley continued to champion his ideas as Vice-Chairman of Hampshire’s War Agricultural Executive Committee. Roland Dudley was awarded the OBE in 1958 for his working championing modern British farming practices.

This grain dryer is one of first mechanised grain drying machines in the UK and possibly in Europe, and was designed by pioneering agricultural engineer Roland Dudley in 1930, as part of his quest to fully mechanise British farming practices.

In the 1920s Roland Dudley, a successful civil and army engineer, purchased the 1500-acre Linkenholt Manor estate in Hampshire for his family. In the late 1920s, one of his tenant farmers died in a farming accident, which inspired Roland Dudley to think about how he could reduce the labour intensity and lengthy work of traditional British farming. Borrowing from his experience as an engineer, Dudley realised the potential for mechanising farming practices using cutting edge machinery. In 1928 he purchased one of the first combine harvesters in the UK (shipped from the US) and was the first to put it to commercial use in for-profit farming.

The speed and efficiency of the combine harvester meant Dudley needed to find a way to dry the harvested grain at an equal speed to prevent bottlenecking his operation. He drew up his own designs for this 20-foot-high coke-furnace heated grain dryer which could be operated entirely by a single man, and had the machine built in 1930 by the Ipswich-based milling engineering company Turner Ltd.

The combine harvester matched with the Turner dryer was so successful that it reduced a season’s worth of work on the Linkenholt estate, into a process that only took a few days. In an anecdotal story, Roland Dudley supposedly demonstrated the impact of his innovations by harvesting, drying, milling, baking and eating a loaf of bread all within 24 hours. Dudley’s mechanisation strategy allowed him to endure during the 1930s recession, whilst estates around him struggled and shut down.

Whilst he was generally critiqued by his farming neighbours at the time, within a generation Roland Dudley’s pioneering farming practices were widely adopted across the country. Mechanisation of Britain’s agriculture was especially driven by the onset of WW2, during which Roland Dudley continued to champion his ideas as Vice-Chairman of Hampshire’s War Agricultural Executive Committee. Roland Dudley was awarded the OBE in 1958 for his working championing modern British farming practices.

This grain dryer is one of first mechanised grain drying machines in the UK and possibly in Europe, and was designed by pioneering agricultural engineer Roland Dudley in 1930, as part of his quest to fully mechanise British farming practices.

In the 1920s Roland Dudley, a successful civil and army engineer, purchased the 1500-acre Linkenholt Manor estate in Hampshire for his family. In the late 1920s, one of his tenant farmers died in a farming accident, which inspired Roland Dudley to think about how he could reduce the labour intensity and lengthy work of traditional British farming. Borrowing from his experience as an engineer, Dudley realised the potential for mechanising farming practices using cutting edge machinery. In 1928 he purchased one of the first combine harvesters in the UK (shipped from the US) and was the first to put it to commercial use in for-profit farming.

The speed and efficiency of the combine harvester meant Dudley needed to find a way to dry the harvested grain at an equal speed to prevent bottlenecking his operation. He drew up his own designs for this 20-foot-high coke-furnace heated grain dryer which could be operated entirely by a single man, and had the machine built in 1930 by the Ipswich-based milling engineering company Turner Ltd.

The combine harvester matched with the Turner dryer was so successful that it reduced a season’s worth of work on the Linkenholt estate, into a process that only took a few days. In an anecdotal story, Roland Dudley supposedly demonstrated the impact of his innovations by harvesting, drying, milling, baking and eating a loaf of bread all within 24 hours. Dudley’s mechanisation strategy allowed him to endure during the 1930s recession, whilst estates around him struggled and shut down.

Whilst he was generally critiqued by his farming neighbours at the time, within a generation Roland Dudley’s pioneering farming practices were widely adopted across the country. Mechanisation of Britain’s agriculture was especially driven by the onset of WW2, during which Roland Dudley continued to champion his ideas as Vice-Chairman of Hampshire’s War Agricultural Executive Committee. Roland Dudley was awarded the OBE in 1958 for his working championing modern British farming practices.

This grain dryer is one of first mechanised grain drying machines in the UK and possibly in Europe, and was designed by pioneering agricultural engineer Roland Dudley in 1930, as part of his quest to fully mechanise British farming practices.

In the 1920s Roland Dudley, a successful civil and army engineer, purchased the 1500-acre Linkenholt Manor estate in Hampshire for his family. In the late 1920s, one of his tenant farmers died in a farming accident, which inspired Roland Dudley to think about how he could reduce the labour intensity and lengthy work of traditional British farming. Borrowing from his experience as an engineer, Dudley realised the potential for mechanising farming practices using cutting edge machinery. In 1928 he purchased one of the first combine harvesters in the UK (shipped from the US) and was the first to put it to commercial use in for-profit farming.

The speed and efficiency of the combine harvester meant Dudley needed to find a way to dry the harvested grain at an equal speed to prevent bottlenecking his operation. He drew up his own designs for this 20-foot-high coke-furnace heated grain dryer which could be operated entirely by a single man, and had the machine built in 1930 by the Ipswich-based milling engineering company Turner Ltd.

The combine harvester matched with the Turner dryer was so successful that it reduced a season’s worth of work on the Linkenholt estate, into a process that only took a few days. In an anecdotal story, Roland Dudley supposedly demonstrated the impact of his innovations by harvesting, drying, milling, baking and eating a loaf of bread all within 24 hours. Dudley’s mechanisation strategy allowed him to endure during the 1930s recession, whilst estates around him struggled and shut down.

Whilst he was generally critiqued by his farming neighbours at the time, within a generation Roland Dudley’s pioneering farming practices were widely adopted across the country. Mechanisation of Britain’s agriculture was especially driven by the onset of WW2, during which Roland Dudley continued to champion his ideas as Vice-Chairman of Hampshire’s War Agricultural Executive Committee. Roland Dudley was awarded the OBE in 1958 for his working championing modern British farming practices.

This grain dryer is one of first mechanised grain drying machines in the UK and possibly in Europe, and was designed by pioneering agricultural engineer Roland Dudley in 1930, as part of his quest to fully mechanise British farming practices.

In the 1920s Roland Dudley, a successful civil and army engineer, purchased the 1500-acre Linkenholt Manor estate in Hampshire for his family. In the late 1920s, one of his tenant farmers died in a farming accident, which inspired Roland Dudley to think about how he could reduce the labour intensity and lengthy work of traditional British farming. Borrowing from his experience as an engineer, Dudley realised the potential for mechanising farming practices using cutting edge machinery. In 1928 he purchased one of the first combine harvesters in the UK (shipped from the US) and was the first to put it to commercial use in for-profit farming.

The speed and efficiency of the combine harvester meant Dudley needed to find a way to dry the harvested grain at an equal speed to prevent bottlenecking his operation. He drew up his own designs for this 20-foot-high coke-furnace heated grain dryer which could be operated entirely by a single man, and had the machine built in 1930 by the Ipswich-based milling engineering company Turner Ltd.

The combine harvester matched with the Turner dryer was so successful that it reduced a season’s worth of work on the Linkenholt estate, into a process that only took a few days. In an anecdotal story, Roland Dudley supposedly demonstrated the impact of his innovations by harvesting, drying, milling, baking and eating a loaf of bread all within 24 hours. Dudley’s mechanisation strategy allowed him to endure during the 1930s recession, whilst estates around him struggled and shut down.

Whilst he was generally critiqued by his farming neighbours at the time, within a generation Roland Dudley’s pioneering farming practices were widely adopted across the country. Mechanisation of Britain’s agriculture was especially driven by the onset of WW2, during which Roland Dudley continued to champion his ideas as Vice-Chairman of Hampshire’s War Agricultural Executive Committee. Roland Dudley was awarded the OBE in 1958 for his working championing modern British farming practices.