Ledyard News

I got a call from our man in the field last night with an exciting update. The American Legion in Ledyard had its annual chicken feed. Every year they have this great feed featuring grilled chicken. This year was the 41st year and it was a smashing success. At 7:30PM the was still a line that stretched for most of the length of the town. Of course our man in the field got his chicken early enough to beat the crowds.

In other news, there was recently an oat fest and pictures are forthcoming. Now for a little tour of Ledyard.

The highest structure in town is the elevator.
I think it is part of a network of elevators called the State Line Cooperative. The downtown is fairly bustling during business hours. Also shown in the photo is the water tower, which effortlessly provides citizens with an uninterrupted flow of potable water.

Ledyard has an excellent country store.
They have a fine selection of fresh produce.
And a large stock of the finest quality non-perishables.
There was also a local public house called the broken arrow.
It has since stopped functioning as a restaurant but is instead serving as a repository for treasures.
I personally think the town undersells itself.
Where else can you sit in the yard and bar-b-que and drink beer in the middle of the day without anyone batting an eye?

Also, at one time, Ledyard was a supplier of the best breed of swine known to man - the Tamworth!
For those of you who don't know, the Tamworth is a variety of pigs that are colored red.
I think they look much tastier with the red color. The Tamworth is one of the oldest breeds of pig, thought to be descended from wild boars. This breed exhibits an elongated head shape and a long narrow body. Tamworths are considered a medium sized porcine breed, with a full grown boar ranging from 250 to 370 kilograms and the mature sow from 200 to 300 kilograms. The adult length ranges from 1.0 to 1.4 metres and heights of about 50 to 65 centimetres are common.

The most salient feature of the Tamworth is its great hardiness with respect to adverse climates. Thus the breed does well in its more northerly settings such as Scotland and Canada, where winters are severe, not only in regard to cold but also high winds.

The animal is not only durable and rugged, but is extremely well suited for forest grazing. The Tamworth graze compatibly with cattle, being able to retrieve forage that cattle leave behind in the open pasture.
The Tamworth displays a good disposition and enjoys the attention of humans.
The Tamworth is considered the best bacon hog in the United States and boasts one of the leanest carcasses of all the pork breeds, perfect if you are watching your cholesterol but can't live without pork! The ham is muscular and firm although it lacks the size and bulk found in most other breeds.


Originating in England, the breed name derives from the town of Tamworth in Staffordshire. Sir Robert Peel of Tamworth brought in some stock from Ireland called Irish Grazers in the year 1809 to begin cross-breeding with his Tamworth stock. This herd, further improved and altered in the English Midlands during the early 19th century is thought to be the origin of Tamworths. From the time of Sir Robert's efforts, the breed has been kept quite separate from others and thus is thought to be one of the purest swine breeds.

There are reportedly less than 1000 Tamworth hogs registered in the US.