Some Fell On Stony Ground

Description

Born in 1907, the son of a smallholder, ‘Bob’ Richardson’s boyhood was spent in the Norfolk village of Hethersett in humble circumstances.  This book was written in 1978, by which time he presided over a large and successful family farming business still centred around Hethersett but which included interests in neighbouring parishes.

But the years between had been filled with enormous variety.  Quite apart from his farming achievements which grew from the most unlikely and inauspicious beginnings, his activites ranged from a spell as a solicitor’s clerk to the chair of a magistrates’ bench; from singing with his fine bass voice in church choirs and classical concerts to acting the villain in village pantomimes; and from delivering amusing after dinner speeches full of old time anecdotes to preaching all over East Anglia in his beloved Methodist churches.

Bob Richardson’s was a life that contained sadness and joy, intense disappointment and supreme satisfaction. Throughout it all his keen sense of observation and an ability to see the funny side of things even in the face of adversity made him a popular figure wherever his many interests took him.

This sense of fun is reflected in full measure in this autobiography. As the title implies he was modest enough to admit that some of his efforts in business and other fields fell on stony ground.  But a great deal fell on good ground and yielded fruit.

The story continues in Bob’s son David’s autobiography, In At the Deep End