The Ridge and Furrow Experiment

 devised by George Freeston, Sept 1990

In a field at Blisworth Arm, near the canal and the bypass, there is some ridge and furrow
bands left since medieval times from the strip-wise cultivation of arable land, as was the
custom. George aimed to demonstrate how hundreds of years of such cultivation could
render the field surface in deep furrows between ridges and persuaded 22 Scout Cubs
to lie down in a furrow and with the blowing of a whistle stand and be seen.

Oxen used to crudely plough the strips were customarily arranged to turn the
soil towards the centre and go around the strip in a clockwise expanding path.
The furrows were usually arranged to run up/down the slope of the field, as here,
in order to enhance the drainage.