Wednesday 21 March 2012

My Nan - the Land Girl!

I’ve had a ridiculously pants few days.  Things totally out of my control have got me down, and the post that I had wanted to do on March 15th is being done late and I don’t like it when things don’t go to plan.

However, I’ve finally found time, and energy, to get this together.  No vintage finds, no new makes, just a photo heavy post in remembrance of my brilliant Nan, who would have been 90 last week.

Born at White House farm, Pettistree in 1922, Nan was only 17 when war broke out.  Being a farmer’s daughter, she chose to join the Women’s Land Army.  She worked on the farm for the duration of the war, her older brother serving in the Royal Navy.

I always remember being told how hard work on the farm was, but how she loved it.  White House was a mixed dairy and arable farm and at just 18, Nan was working alongside the older farmhands, the younger ones having gone into the services; she soon learnt to stand up to them!

Being born and raised on the farm, becoming a Land Girl seemed only right, but she was thankful that she didn’t have to relocate miles from home, like many Land Girls had to do. 

Working in the Land Army gave Nan a life long love of the countryside and as children, she taught us a lot about the world around us.  It was in recognition of my Nan’s life during WW2 that my Mum chose to re-enact WLA at 1940’s events.  Nan was proud of her contribution to the war effort, and it was in memory of her and all the other land girls that Mum donned her dungarees and set out to find out as much as she could about the WLA, in order to portray their role as accurately and respectfully as possible.

Goodness knows what my Nan would have said if she could have seen us now! 

My Nan, the Land Girl.

The White House
The first photograph we have, aged 2.

The hot house seems to have been a favourite photo spot :o)

Confirmation day :o)

The hot house again :o)  Nan with her father and brother, home on leave from the Navy.

In uniform :o)



Post war, with some of the other Land |Girls.

My favourite photograph of my Nan, 1949.

A day on the beach with my Mum, c1954 - love the dress!!

My Nan, 1922-2008


3 comments:

  1. Such lovely photos and an amazing life, I'm sorry to hear about your grandma. I know how horrible it is to lose a grandma. I hope you have a better week this week. Take care XxxX http://thesecondhandrose.blogspot.co.uk/

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  2. What a beautiful post! I miss my grandma too!! Hugs! xox

    http://themusingsandadventuresofapinupmama.blogspot.com/

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