The Rural Voice, 2019-09, Page 35the wedding and Matthew has
become a cider maker. The old barn
is used for taste testing and has
become a sort of social hotspot for
the community as the family hosts
movie nights, church events and
family celebrations. It’s also used for
storage and yard sales. A flock of
sheep still resides in the stables
downstairs.
“Technology has changed how we
use old barns. Threshing is long
gone. Square bales are rarely used.
Modern farming does not fit with a
19th century design. So for me
joining the preservation society is
about trying to engage people in the
opportunities these structures have
beyond their original purpose of
housing hay and animals,” says
Somerville.
For Radojkovic, old barns have
been a way to explore the past, make
an income in the present and preserve
stories for the future. He has written
two books about old barns: Barns of
the Queen’s Bush and Barn Building:
The Golden Age of Barn
Construction. As he conducted
research on old barns, he became
very interested in the community
aspect surrounding their construction.
“People nowadays talk about not
knowing their neighbours and I think
there is a real push-back on our lack
of connection,” says Radojkovic.
“We want to create community.
Ontario Barn Preservation is about
preserving barns and preserving
communities.”
As a person who has built his own
timber frame home with the help of
neighbours and friends, Radojkovic
also appreciates the sheer amount of
work that was involved in building
these old barns.
Their basic form was borrowed
from European architecture which
uses posts and beams to create the
structure.
“Those early pioneers would cut
down pine trees for the timbers
which would be squared off with an
axe and adze. And those are 40-to-60
foot timbers,” exclaims Radojkovic.
“Imagine that tree, first of all, then
think how each one was cut down
and how they were all squared off in
the winter.” Winter cold made the
squaring off easier as there was no
pitch and the wood was softer.
September 2019 31
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