Thank you very much for both replies. After reading them, I went back to my drawing board and realised that the person I thought had retrained, was in fact his son, and like you've said, probably gave up on agriculture for something more industrial than market gardening, that his father chose to do after his parents (who worked the land for millers :-) had both died in Gayton (by a steam powered mill..!)
Familes with the same name are so often so confusing.. mine were all named William Charles or Charles William. I cheer when I find something else like just plain Joseph ;-)
You've been a great help, so thank you very much!
Cath (means cat in welsh)
(an engineers daughter with roots to dairy farming in Devon, agricultue around windmills in Norfolk and some auctioneers, and relievimg officers/retired military commisioners in London..and of course not to forget, mining...)