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This story was submitted to the ´óÏó´«Ã½ People’s War site by Wymondham Learning Centre on behalf of the author who fully understand the site's terms and conditions.

I was married in 1940 to Reggie. Unfortunately as the result of a motor-bike accident, my husband suffered ill health and was unable to join active service.
Shortly after we were married, my brother, Ernest, helped me to take over a farmstead in West Sussex at a yeomans house, with eight bedrooms.

The farmstead was in a most beautiful part of Sussex on a large estate surrounded by woodland. The actual house was in a most terrible condition when I moved in but with my brother’s help we managed to make it habitable and furnish it. We obtained furniture from anywhere we could — it was all second hand and cheap. We had an Eagle range for heating water and cooking. The fitting out of the house took all my savings.

Most of my guests came from overseas, from the British Colonies and, in particular, Canada. I advertised in a magazine in Canada that I think was called ‘The Wayfarer’ or ‘Wanderer’.

As a result of this many English settlers from Canada came to visit their relatives. They had read much about the war in Canada and were fearful for the lives of relatives and so were anxious to see them again before it was too late to travel. The visitors were mainly middle-class people and as a Christian I was very anxious not to overcharge them. Because the air fare was so expensive to travel to Britain they did not have much money left for accommodation.

I charged my visitors three guineas a week and children one pound. The visitors enjoyed staying at the farmstead because it was like the England they had left. Some visitors would then travel to London from Pulborough by train to visit their relatives. During the war the railway service was good from Pulborough to London.

I remember my guests being very kind to my daughter, June. They took her to Arundel and would sometimes take her to the coast to see the sea, even if the coast was barricaded.

Life was very hard. I had my daughter to look after and my sick husband as well as the guest house to run. At first I used to send all my sheets etc. to the laundry, which was eight miles away. However, the time came when the government passed legislation that laundries could no longer undertake private work so I then had to do this myself. I used to wash the laundry on Monday and boiled the water on my Eagle range.

Catering for the guests was very difficult. It was difficult to get food but I did have many friends who helped me. My brother, who was a market gardener was exempt from war service and helped me by supplying some fruit and vegetables. I remember my brother growing lots of lettuces that he was unable to sell.

When overseas visitors arrived in this country they were given ration cards that would last for two or three days. I used back coupons to obtain peanut butter, treacle and marmalade, which all made the table better for my visitors. I got milk from the farm on the estate in which my homestead was situated. With the milk I made egg custard and junkets. I had two Jersey cows that I milked myself. I used to make custard with Birds Custard Powder. I remember an American reporter telling me how much he liked my custard, which I was really pleased about because I felt that the Americans had the best of food in their country.

It was better for me if the guests were out at lunch time since that allowed me to use all the rations for the evening meal. I used to cycle three miles to the village where I could buy turbots, plaice, cod, shrimps and smoked haddock when available. Fish was not on ration. Meat was ten pennyworth a ration. Since I used much of my rations for the guests I became very thin. Often I would work through the night because there was so much to be done, although I did have a girl come from the village to help me for a while.

Coal was rationed during the war so I used to use wood from the nearby orchard to heat the house and for cooking. The kitchen was small and in summer became unbearably hot. At the beginning of the war we lit the house with oil lamps and candles. Later I obtained a Kolinor for lighting.

I remember on one occasion when I was in the house on my own, I heard a very loud bumping on the stairs and there was the biggest rat I had ever seen. I screamed and the Italian prisoners of war appeared with a hatchet and tried to catch it. They very much enjoyed this but I was shaking for hours after. The Italians were so helpful. They helped me grow my potatoes after the government made people with more than three acres of land grow potatoes. They played with my ‘Bambino’ and would never take money for their help. However, I would sometimes be able to obtain macaroni, which they loved. They had a wonderful sense of humour.

There were so many jobs to be done. You had to do all the jobs yourself — young men were in the army and fit girls in the Womens Land Army, so it was difficult to get paid help. My brother lent me a donkey cart to help me repair the track to my house. I bought brick rubble from the bombing of houses in London and filled all the holes along the track so that guests could reach the house without too much inconvenience.

The gentleman who owned the estate was always very kind and caring. However, income tax on his very large estate was crippling and eventually he became bankrupt. This resulted in me having to leave the farmstead. It was heartbreaking, the countryside was so outstandingly beautiful with trees and wild flowers and we had such wonderful views and I had put so much of myself into the house. Nothing has been the same since — war or no war.
I remember the wonderful spirit of those times, how helpful everyone was to one another. People used to say ‘Carry on in war. It will all come out eventually.’ It did work out for the country eventually and many of those guests corresponded with me for many years.

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