In the novel Absent in the Spring, old Hoddesdon is a farmer at Lower Mead farm. Hoddesdon appeared to be constantly short of money. Earlier on, Rodney Scudamore lent him some of his own money when he couldn't get a bank loan. Joan Scudamore did not approve of this. Rodney counterargued that Hoddesdon was basically a good farmer but had been let down by two bad farming seasons. At the end of the novel, Hoddesdon was yet again trying to raise another mortgage.