In the old days there were
"beer houses" at which home-brewed beer was sold, being advertised by a
bush hanging at the entrance, the name "Beerhouse" at sygate is
misleading, for in tudor times it was "Beerhouse", and nearby was a
Bearyard Green. It is probable that there was a pit for bear-baiting
there, for it was a popular sport at that time
In the1960's some of the buildings were used by Clifford Pye Ltd for the
preparation of carrots which was a large plant for washing removing stones
and grading the carrots, this was excellent for the community of Cawston
employing about 30 men & 70 ladies for topping the carrots, they worked at tables,
box's of carrots were brought to them and put on the tables for the ladies
to top which were pushed through a blade to cut the carrot tops off and
then put on a conveyor belt which would then fill very large box's for
transporting to many places in the country for canning.
A vegetable preparation plant was at the farm also
in the 1960's which was again excellent for the community employing about 20 staff.
The farm is used at this time for general farming and was used for grain
storage and drying, the equipment is still there but has not been used
from the early 2000's,
in 2009 a new grain storage building has been erected at the Sygate Farm.
See link: Farming
Grain Drier
Intake Pit
Service passage &
storage each side
Beerhouse Farm House about 1960
In the 1960's children were given
permission to fish in what became
known as Pyes Pit, many happy hours
were spent here.
