大象传媒

This story was added with the author's permission by Dawn Ely from the Landmark Centre.

When I was twenty years of age I was sent to work on a farm in Mirfield in West Yorkshire as a land army girl. When I arrived in Mirfield, I got off the bus and I had to ask my way to the farm, as I was a stranger from Worksop in Nottinghamshire.

I asked a gentleman nearby where Mr Carbutt鈥檚 farm was and it turned out it was a long way. So I plodded and then I asked another couple of gents for directions, they were busy talking, but one of them directed me to keep on going. I thanked me very much, and as I turned to walk on, he shouted after me, "I'll come and take you take you out on Saturday night". I was a bit put out and I thought what a horrible man!

Feeling Lost!

On I walked with a heavy suitcase and met a young lad changing his bike chain, who pointed across the road and said "Keep on going". At this point I was beginning to feel very confused and didn't know where I was going.

Then a car pulled up, a hand appeared and pointed, while a voice went 鈥淯p there!鈥� It was that same horrible man, who said he would take me out, driving with his father. Up the lane I went and finally found the farm. There was another landarmy girl there and the farmer said 鈥淔lorry, she鈥檒l take you to your digs". These were a good mile away and I didn't even get a cup of tea before I was off again.

The landlady at my digs was called Mrs Hatfield and she told us to come in. The next thing I knew her husband said 鈥淒utha call thee Mary?鈥� and I said 鈥測es鈥�.
He said 鈥淎ye and aye knew they would鈥�. He was so blunt about it, even though he didn鈥檛 know me from Adam or Eve!

Pursued for a Date

I went to the farm to start my job the next day, which was working in the milking shed. While I was working the young lad who had been mending his bike came into the cowshed, and said 鈥淩onnie sent me to ask you to go out with him on Saturday night.鈥�
鈥淐ertainly not" I responded "Clear off!"

He didn't give up however, and on Friday night he appeared again at milking time and this time announced 鈥淩onnie will give me sixpence, if you will say that you'll go out on saturday night and meet him at six o鈥檆lock on the corner.鈥�

I gave him the order to go away again and he nearly cried, but he went eventually. Well, on Saturday evening I was sitting waiting for my tea with the landlady. I repeated the story to her and she said 鈥淓eeeeee, umungo! Get ya tea lass and then go get ready鈥�.

Will he turn up?

Although I resented being told what to do, I reluctantly went to get ready and stood at the corner to wait. Well, I waited and I waited until I was so fed up I decided to go home. I was just on the point of going when Ronnie turned in his car. Well, he was so apologetic and well scrubbed and tidy that I could easily forgive him. He told me a cow had calved, and he couldn鈥檛 leave beforehand. He took me to meet a farmer friend of his in the next village.

Happily ever after

As soon as Ronnie could he moved me to work on his own farm. We were married in 1940 and I went from being a land girl to a farmers wife, Ronald Barrowclough was a lovely man, a real gentlemen and not the horrible man I though when I first met him. God did indeed bless me.

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