大象传媒

Having joined the Women's Land Army in Spring 1942, after working for the Civil Service in Cheltenham, which I found unsatisfactory, I spent some months working in the Bishop of Worcester's garden at Hartlebury Castle, under the Head Gardener and lodging in the village. However as the food shortage became more acute, it was decided that the Bishop did not grow and sell enough vegetables to justify employing- a Land Girl, so I was obliged to move.

Having spent a month on a local farm, where I was not happy, one of many I discovered, I applied for a job on the Overbury Estate as I liked the idea of being with other girls, and knew it was a nice village as my Father, a clergyman, had officiated there. Fortunately I was accepted and remained there for the next three years, until after the end of the War, when I left to work on an Arab stud, known to one of the girls.

At the time the Land Girls, about twelve in number were billeted in the Gardens Cottage, beside the Greenhouses and near to the Estate Office, as it then was, above the Brake Pool. There were three to four employed in the Dairy, a seven day week Job, as there was a Dairy Herd of Guernsey Cattle at the time. Two or three worked in the Greenhouses and Kitchen Garden and the rest, myself among them, worked on the large scale Market Garden, down Crashmore Lane, near Middle Barn. I spent my first few months on this work, hard but satisfying, in company with others which made it bearable. We hoed and singled all sorts of crops, turnips cabbage, carrots etc. Also, later we washed carrots in cold water for American Troops at Ashchurch, for whom they were destined, who did not much like carrots, so we heard later.

We also picked frozen Brussel Sprouts by hand, gloves being useless, but all in a god cause we felt, to help win the war. There being no toilet, we were obliged to go behind the nearest hedge at break times, keeping a wary eye out, as Mr. Thurston Holland-Martin and his brother were fond of jumping a line of hedges, Point to Point fashion, when checking the Estate and had been known to come across Land Girls in embarrassing situations. Walter Ashwin, our Foreman, told us that a Portable Loo was on its way which Mrs. Holland Martin would open with a golden key, but it never materialised. At times we would be joined by Gangs of Jewish Refugees, Italian Prisoners of War, etc, but these did not.-come on a regular basis. We had a chestnut pony to help with the horse hoeing and there was always competition to handle JIMMY, as he was called.

We were very fortunate, as I realise now, reading of other Land Girls experiences, that our employers were very fair and took an interest in our welfare Mrs. Eleanor Holland-Martin visiting us regularly and now and again joining us for a meal, to ensure we were well fed_ We had a house keeper, who cooked our meals, a main one at night and of course we took it in turns to wash-up, and prepare the excellent oatmeal porridge we had every morning. I think the W.I. produced the meat pies we had once or twice a week, which gradually became more and more gristly as the War wore on, with more and more leathery pastry, as food became scarcer. As agricultural workers we were allowed extra rations, especially cheese, so Welsh Rarebit was a popular late night snack in the Hostel, Butter and marg. were in short supply, so you either ate the 2 oz all at once or had bread and scrape all week.

Knowing I was used to horses. having ridden since a child, Jock McWhirter, the Farm Bailiff, who rode around the Estate on a pony, asked me one day to lead a grey mare (half-legged) about 15 hands to the blacksmith at Kemerton, to be shod. which I enjoyed. As the mare seemed very docile I asked the black-smith for a leg-up for the return journey, as the mare had a bridle (mullein) with short reins. All went well until, at the turn to the Catholic Church, a removal van came up behind, frightening the mare, who took the next half mile at full gallop with me bouncing about on her broad back and hanging desperately on to her mane. The girls working in the kitchen hearing the thunder of hooves, dashed to the wall to see, as I swept past, John Gilpin fashion. Most fortunately the mare turned into her stable yard opposite Berkeley House and stopped at the water trough, where I slid off very thankful to be still in one piece as we had not met further traffic, petrol being very scarce.

Fairly soon after this, I was asked to take a horse and dray around the Estate supplying the tractor drivers with T.V.O., oil and any other requirement, also taking animal feed, hay, straw, or whatever was required all over the Estate which I much preferred to Market Gardening, and which I did for the rest of the War. I was joined by another girl, Ruth Hallam , from Leicester, who also had another horse and dray, until she married the Farm Manager, Basil Tadman, in 1944,and went to live in one of the Estate Farms. The dray horses were stabled in Stocktons Yard, beside the former shop. One of the Estate workers, Bill Hussell, very kindly fed my horse at weekends so I could cycle the 14 miles home to Birtsmorton and spend Saturday night there. Other girls lived too far away to do this often.

My first dray horse called Kilkenny, a bay, was inclined to bite when backing the dray, and I got bitten several times, until we got a muzzle for her. I next had a sweet nature red road Merry, in poor condition after a difficult foaling, and it was nice to see her put on weight. I think she lost the foal, as at first she hated me leaving her, and whinnied if I was out of sight, trying to follow with the dray attached, which could be awkward. Out horses were trained to stand when the reins were hitched up. Merry鈥檚 lower lip trembled convulsively if she was agitated. One day I was taking pig potatoes around to the estate workers and admired a fine row of about twelve red chrysanthemums, along the fence of a cottage near Conderton. I delivered the potatoes in a sack and mentioned the fine chrysanthemums. To my horror, on returning to the dray, I found all the flowers were decapitated, and Merry was just munching the last one, having sidled to the wall. I scolded her and then apologized to the owner. This was taken in good part.

One day, Mac, as we called him, asked me to collect a black sheep from Park farm and deliver it to the stables at the Court. The shepherd tied the sheep to the short rack at the back of the dray. However as we turned into the village street below the Park Gates, I heard a noise behind me and turned around to see the sheep disappear over the side of the dray and race up the village with rope attached, a dilemma as my horse was liable to take off in the opposite direction. Most luckily one of the farm, men coming down the hill managed to grab the rope and together we managed to tie the sheep to the dray again and hurry it down to the Stables , before it escaped again.

On another occasion, Mac said to me with a twinkle in his eye, 鈥淧ut on your best make-up, I want you to go to the Monastery to collect a ram for Park Farm". It turned out I had to go to Beckford Farm, where a couple of Lay Brothers tied a very sturdy ram to the back of the dray, and I managed to get it back to Park Farm, without any escapes. One of my jobs during haymaking and harvest was to take a pony and trap around the Estate with urns of tea for the workers, on overtime to get the crops in safely. One of the perks of this job, was a large slice of fruit cake, given to me by the kindly cook, when I collected the urns from the Court.

Later, I was given the grey mare, Venture, mentioned earlier, for my dray, a willing worker, but still nervous. Mac warned me to be careful with her, as the men had said I was likely to end up in Worcester Infirmary, and we nearly did, I have to admit. One day I was asked to collect a Seed drill from Lower Barn, for a Farm Implement Sale at the Estate Yard. However, as I led Venture from the Barn, over some rough ground, something in the seed drill started to rattle, and the mare bolted. I jumped for my life to avoid being run over by, the wheels and watched in horror as the mare dashed through the gate, with bits of seed drill flying in all directions and dashed back to her stable with only the shafts attached, luckily meeting no-one on the way. Not so long after this I think the mare was sent to Hereford Sales, where I hope she found a good home, as I was fond of her.

Mac asked me to take an 鈥楨mma鈥� one day to Beckford, for some schoolchildren who were helping potato picking, at half term. This turned out to be a very large Portable Loo so I needed help at the Estate Yard to get it on to my dray. I was usually lucky to get help with large loads of hay and straw, but I well remember arriving at the Cowsheds ore day with 19 Cwt. bags of cattle feed and having to unload it by myself as all the Dairy Staff were at lunch. I was very tired after but there was a War on. I also remember being asked to take some bales of hay and straw to four Hereford Bulls in a yard down Crashmore Lane. They bellowed alarmingly when I appeared, anxious to get to the hay, but were fairly quiet and ponderous beasts generally. I was very careful not to turn my back on them and also to keep within sprinting distance of the side door.

The Dairy Girls had to rise very early as cows require milking twice a day. Probert the head girl who was very efficient sometimes took the young bull calves for a walk round the village to get them used to being led by a halter. One day one got loose by the Village Hall and Frobert called out to one of the Gardeners coming down the village on his Bicycle -Stop him, but the gardener, not used to cattle, ditched his bicycle and lived behind the nearest garden gate, so Probert a tall strong girl had to recapture it on her own. After the War she became a Woman Police Constable and was very imposing in uniform.. I met her in Malvern and treated her with great respect.

Although we worked hard at Overbury, we also managed some Recreation. Several Land Girls, including myself joined the W I. Choir, which practised regularly , and on I7th April 1943 took part with other local Choirs in a Performance of Haydn鈥檚 鈥楥reation' in Worcester Cathedral, with Sir Ivor Atkins conducting. A memorable experience. Mrs. Holland-Martin also arranged Lectures in the village Hall about every fortnight, by excellent speakers, Dr.Kurt Hahn among them, later headmaster of Gordonstoun, also Lord Portal, and Barbara Ward, an M.P. at the time I think. Cultural life was still possible in Wartime.

We all helped with various Fund raising activities, such as 'Warship Week鈥� in the Village when various displays were organised, as some light relief from the daily grind. I do not think we contributed much financially as we were paid the standard wage of the time, about 拢1.50 per week minus keep, worth more then of course. Out of this we were required to pay income tax, which was later reimbursed after the war. I think I collected about 拢23in Post War Credits as it was called. Local people in the village were very generous about asking us out for meals, when possible, not easy on war time rations, and we much appreciated the change from hostel fare. I well remember a meal with Major Cobb and his wife Pat, of turkey relics after Christmas, and meals with Mrs. Stevens, the Brets and the Bengoughs were also very hospitable. We were also asked to some very good parties at the Court. On one occasion to help entertain the American troops stationed at Ashchurch, all nice lads. The next day the village was full of Americans, and I had two on bicycles hanging on to the back of my dray, but they disappeared when I went to collect some very smelly silage. I think these troops were posted overseas shortly afterwards, so there were no G.I. brides from Overbury.
Dances were held even in wartime, and we attended Home Guard Dances, Pig Club Dances etc. in the local Village Halls, usually with Ken Larners Band. There were Farm Students billeted in what is now the Estate Office, and these were nice partners for us, if usually younger in age. One eighteen year old Land girl, Elisabeth who came for a short time and usually had a boy friend attached, said airily one day 鈥淢y sister is a Dear old Thing of twenty five鈥�. A sobering thought, as we were mostly over twenty years old by then. On one occasion we got a Land Girls Choir to sing at Kemerton Social, performing a 鈥楩armers Boy鈥�, amongst other things. Around 11pm the MC knowing most people rose early said rather unwisely, 鈥淪hall we have another land army song or the national anthem鈥�. The almost unanimous vote for the national anthem was rather deflating, so we decided not to waste our talents on Kemerton again. One of the housekeepers who slept downstairs was very strict about not being disturbed after 10pm. One evening after an evening spent at the cinema in Tewkesbury with a boyfriend, we cycled back around 10:30pm to find all locked up, so I had to climb through the lower toilet window, luckily left ajar, and crept upstairs to avoid waking Miss Evans. We all learnt to be as quiet as mice. We did manage a few late nights, despite early rising.

We did not of course have Television in those days, but followed the progress of the War through the large Wireless set in the sitting room, probably provided by the Court. As the War situation improved we were able to start, a Young Farmers Club in 1945, later merged with Tewkesbury Y.F.C. and I became its first Secretary. This was interesting, as local farmers were very good at inviting us out for Farm Walks and Talks etc. They were also very hospitable and put on large teas, which could be embarrassing if not many members turned up, so those who did had to eat very heartily, to show our appreciation. In May. 1945 Evesham Horse Show was held on a lovely day. Bill Hussell, a skilled horseman helped me plait the mare Venture's mane, and we got a Reserve in a large Class, thanks to his efforts.

One of our members, Margaret Cooper, was married to a Serving soldier in Overbury Church during the War, a very special occasion and the Reception was held in the Gardens Hostel. Margaret, a Dairy Girl, used to help a local lady read the rather illegible letters from her nephew, on active Service, and later introduced him to Margaret. Ruth Tadman, was married in Dorset, at her father-in-law's church, so only Joy and Pam Cubbon from Liverpool attended.

We were all very thrilled when heard of D-Day, but very grieved when we heard earlier that Audrey Large, had lost her only brother when serving with the Fleet Air Arm. We were all very sad for her at this heavy blow. We all tried to do our bit by giving blood, when the Unit was in the area.

It was very exciting when we given the news of VE Day, as we were given the Day off. I drove into Stockton鈥檚 Yard so fast that all the Petrol and T.V.C. cans fell off the dray with a great clatter. Daphne Moore and Georgina, helping with the horses, jumped all the jumps in the Paddock and then very suitably went to the Church to give thanks. I cycled home as wanted to be with my parents on this special occasion, but Overbury very wisely celebrated with a huge bonfire on the Hill I was told.

After the War we all gradually went our separate ways, as the men returned, though some of us are still in touch and can reminisce. We did have one Reunion at the Beckford Hotel in 1946, I think over a weekend and attended Overbury Church, where we were warmly welcomed. Vi. Shiel and Cassie Huxham remembered doing the church boilers one day and discussing hats before they realised that Canon Lee and the Curate Rev. O'Connor were conducting Evensong at the other end. All in all I think we all looked back at our time in Overbury with pleasure, and were glad we were able to play our part in helping to win the War.

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