Fred Faulkner who has enjoyed being ‘involved in farming all his life’ has just celebrated his 90th birthday in the house he was born in

Married to his wife Mary for 64 years, he is possibly better known now for his dulcet tones behind the PA system at Shanes Castle Steam Rally in Antrim.

But there is a lot more to his story than that.

Fred has been involved in farming all his life, either in Northern Ireland or in Kenya, where he managed a large poultry plant.

He also hosted a radio farming show on Radio Star Country for many years and wrote the farming crossword for Farm Week.

And in his later years has been involved with Tullylagan Vintage club.

‘The house I am living in now was bought by my father in 1934 and it’s where I was born and brought up,’ he said.

‘And I am still here.

‘But I went away to work in Africa, managing a big poultry plant in Kenya.

‘I was appointed manager and I didn’t even apply for the job,’ he said.

Fred said after working for a number of years at a hatchery in Donaghmore in the early 1960s and while there and ‘out of the blue I got a letter inviting me to an interview for a poultry plant in Africa.

‘I thought I hadn’t applied for anything, but I flew over and two English guys and two Africans talked to me.

‘They asked me how I would deal with African staff, I said that I would deal with them no different to Chinese, Indian or local staff.

‘So they said they would be in touch.

‘I wasn’t back into the house 2 hours and I got a phone call saying I was successful in my application. Then I found out there was nobody else in for it’.

Fred said all his family were taken out to to ‘start a hatchery from scratch’ – three girls and two boys – and ‘everything was done for us’.

‘When we arrived we were rushed through immigration, no problem, and out to this 40,000acre ranch where they said they were going to have the hatchery, houses, feeding plant and everything.

‘When I left here in January it was -20 degrees but when we got to Nairobi it was 90 degrees in the shade.

‘I was there for a number of years in Nairobi where you are 6000 feet above sea level’.

Fred said he only left Africa ‘because my parents were elderly and needed help’, adding ‘if I had gone out 10 years earlier I would never have been back’.

Fred still remembers getting annoyed by people who said he was ‘a typical Colonial using and abusing the Africans’.

‘That made me cross because it was their country, their wages, their laws and we had no say,’ he said.

‘All the time I was there I saw no animosity towards us at all.

‘I was appointed a houseboy, kitchen boy, driver. But within 3-4 months of being there I had learned the language because noone spoke English.

‘I was advised to do that by a Sikh so that I could hear what people were saying to me and about me...’.

‘I always explained to the Africans that we have two tribes at home – but they have 52 tribes. In Africa I saw nepotism for the first time’.

On returning to Annaghteigue with his family, Fred resumed farming, helping his parents and family grow up.

‘I also did a farming programme on a local station Radio Star Country,’ he added. ‘We covered all aspects of farming.

Only in the last few years, Fred stopped making up the crosswords for Farm Week and doing the radio show.

But he still takes part in vintage shows, Shanes Castle and two years ago was featured on a BBC Show called 'Oul Treasures' where he demonstrated how to thresh corn by hand.

He and his wife also do demonstrations using old techniques to make butter and other food.

Now Fred is saddened by the demise of local vintage clubs, for a number of reasons.

‘We have our own vintage club in Tullylagan, through age many have fallen by the wayside (in Northern Ireland).

‘Many of the vintage clubs really stopped during Covid, just like it stopped a lot of things’.

‘All fallen apart for different reasons.

‘And the day of the wee Ferguson is gone now, only seeing them at vintage days.

‘People don’t realise that any moving machinery can be very dangerous.

‘People may also know my wife and daughter from doing bread making demonstrations at Shanes Castle.

‘The bread making on the open hearth never stops, and all sorts of bread are made’.