大象传媒

鈥淭ATER鈥� PICKERS 鈥� 1942/43

The early part of October was 鈥淭ater鈥� picking time during the last war.
We children looked forward to at least a week off school in order that the potatoes could be harvested in good time before the first frosts arrived. I was nine years old in 1942 and like everyone else not in the armed forces, we were expected to 鈥渄o our bit鈥� for the war effort, and effort it was at times. Food was scarce and every crop was precious.
Even basic commodities were hard to come by. Farmers produced as much food as possible to keep the nation fed, as little food from abroad got through due to German submarines sinking the supply convoys.
That鈥檚 were we came into the picture. Most men, except for the elderly or disabled were away in the fighting forces and farmhands were short, although exempted from the forces, as farming was work of national importance and a reserved occupation, many felt it their duty to 鈥渏oin up鈥�.
Come harvest time women and children were encouraged to get the crops in.
It was my first paid job and the hard-earned money in our pockets made us feel very important.
We were friends with a farmer and his wife named Archer (yes, truly they were the Archers) who owned a farm at Lammas Hill, Wolston, a village in Warwickshire, and so it was to their farm together with many other children, both boys and girls that we made our way. We arrived at the farm for 8.30am and waited for the tractor and trailer to transport us up to the potato field.
Often the mornings were misty and chilly gradually warming up as the day progressed.
Everyone took his or her own bucket along. We had no special clothing but everyone wore wellies with knee high woollen socks 鈥� mostly of a dismal dark grey colour I remember. Ordinary coats or macs were worn on chilly days and the girls wore pixie hoods (a woollen hat which tied under the chin) and usually hand knitted. Boys wore school caps but these often ended up in their pockets or were deposited on the muddy ground.
Our job was to pick up the potatoes turned up by the tractor. Each child had a length of field to work in. It was hard work too, bending down and placing the earthy potatoes into our buckets until it was full and then we emptied these full buckets into a nearby trailer and began picking all over again. Fine days when the soil was dry, were not too bad, but sometimes the fields were muddy with overnight rain, potatoes were wet and covered in thick earth, our hands became filthy and our wellies clogged and weighted down with mud. On rainy days of course no work could be done at all. We worked until a field was cleared. The farmer then put the potatoes into 鈥渃lamps鈥�, which were long mounds of potatoes which were covered in straw and then earth was piled on the top to form a frost free storage. They resembled long barrows when completed.
During the following months, potatoes were put into one hundred weight sacks (112lbs) for sale to the shops during the winter months.
Women from the village also joined us in the fields but of course their pay was higher and a useful addition to their household budget.
We had a break for lunch and then resumed work in the afternoon. I seem to remember we worked until about 4.30pm. Some children worked harder than others and the boys often had 鈥渟pud鈥� fights throwing potatoes at each other until reprimanded by the farmer.
At the end of the day we climbed onto the trailer and had a ride back to the farm. This was the best part of the day and if possible I liked to ride on the back of the tractor which was very bumpy on the uneven ground. Health and Safety regulations today would not allow it to happen, but I loved it in spite of getting a bruised lip once when my bucket jolted up into my face.
At the end of the week we were paid our hard won wages. I can鈥檛 remember the exact amount but it was about two shillings a day (10p decimal currency). Ten shillings (50p) for five days work seemed a fortune to me. It was my very first pay packet. What a thrill, I was so proud. I saved a large part of it for buying Christmas presents. It鈥檚 not long from October to December! Also, we were allowed to take as many potatoes home as we could carry in our buckets but as I had to walk a considerable way, my home was about a mile distant, half a bucket was just about as much as I could carry. Although potatoes and bread were not rationed until after the war in 1947, when food was even more scarce, due to the rest of starving Europe having to be fed, our mothers were glad of these extra potatoes. They tasted twice as good to me for I had harvested them myself.
Monica Evans (nee Timmins)
May 2005

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