Earl is a fourth-generation farmer in the Waikerkeri Valley, near Clyde. In this interview he recounts stories of his family in earlier times. The first Attfields were entrepreneurs who arrived in Dunstan during the gold rush and started a business butchering sheep at Mutton Town Gully to sell meat to the miners. They expanded by buying land to produce their own stock for the butchery, an enterprise that operated well into the 1930’s. Another business involved in wagoning, bringing coal from the Cromwell Gorge to supply the dredge in the 1890’s. The land that became the Attfield farm was purchased in 1903. The determination of successive generations and the willingness to try new scientific approaches and inventions led this property to be awarded ‘Century Farm’ status in 2011.
Interviewer: Pip Pedofsky
Interview Dates: November 2024
Earl Attfield on the farm, undated
Earl Attfield at Paulinas Bar in Clyde, undated
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