Meet The Team

It’s a challenge to sum up my fascination for all things WLA in a few paragraphs, but I’ll start by saying my interest in a women’s place in agriculture sprang from my enduring love of horses and inspiration from my high school history teacher who was such a passionate social historian that inspired me to discover and develop my knowledge of the role that women have played in agriculture through the centuries.  Although not from a farming or agricultural background, I’ve always felt a sense of peace taking part in activities that take place in the open air; I enjoy gardening in an amateur haphazard sort of way, and if you believe in the concept of ‘another life’ then I would undoubtedly be someone who worked on the land. 

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My passion for all things land army has come from meeting my husband Nick, who as a WW2 re-enactor has a wealth of military knowhow and knowledge, and it was accompanying him to events in the early days of our marriage that raised the inevitable question of ‘do you want to have a go’ and although I found the whole historical side of wartime life fascinating of course, there was only ever really any one activity that I would take up and that would be portraying Women’s Land Army. 

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I won’t lie.....it’s an obsession.  Decades later, having built up my personal collection of WLA ephemera to the extent where it literally takes over most of my daily life whether its negotiating around the many mannequins dressed in original uniform, trunks, boxes, kit bags and storage containers in the loft and spare room to getting into the shed or garage that is full of tools, miscellaneous farming equipment, several vintage bicycles and a 1943 Fordson Tractor, then you will usually find me preparing to deliver a talk somewhere to anyone who is happy to listen, or designing plans and resources for events and displays that feature the story of some part of land army service. 

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I am incredibly proud and fortunate to work alongside my fellow trustees to create and deliver the Suffolk Women’s Land Army Memorial Trust objectives; I can’t think of anything better to do with my time, energy and passion than to put it into creating a permanent and lasting memorial to the amazing women who as land girls fed this country when it was most hungry. 

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Some might say it is inevitable that I would become interested in the Women's Land Army. Having grown up on a farm, and with a passion for history, as well as a family member who served, I very quickly developed a fascination for the women who kept us fed during the Second World War.

 

Over the years I spent much of my time (and money!) hunting antique shops and fairs, and trawling through Ebay, to find that illusive bit of Land Army ephemera that I hadn't yet managed to track down for my collection. Upon meeting Nicky, we instantly hit it off and realised we could combine forces to turn our passion into a lasting tribute to the Land Girls. Since then, it has been a pleasure to seek out surviving members of the WLA to find out their stories.

 

Along with Sue and Holly, the four of us are dedicated to working towards our goal of keeping the memory of the girls alive, through sharing stories and, hopefully, eventually creating a physical memorial in the form of a statue to share with the country. It is our aim that these women never be forgotten.

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I never imagined that I would have so much fun working on the Soil Sisters project as a volunteer researcher. Much of my time has been spent uncovering anecdotes and images of land girls and adding them to a digital map of Suffolk on Historypin.  I have also been extrapolating service records from Ancestry and creating a permanent Roll of Honour of Suffolk land girls in WW2.

 

The real highlight for me has been participating in events such as HAY 75 VICTORY HARVEST and SUFFOLK RACE DAY WLA DISPLAY in authentic WLA kit and helping with Soil Sisters events to promote the project.  I am looking forward enormously to taking part in SUFFOLK WLA “RALLY HO” at Suffolk Military Show this summer and to raising funds for the project as a trustee.

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It was during Covid when I found out my grandmother was in the Suffolk Women’s Land Army. I never knew her as she died before I was born, but this new knowledge took me down a path of discovery. With a background in videography and a passion for horses, I decided to make a documentary titled ‘The Land Girls and Horses of Suffolk’. It was during this process that I met Nicky and the team. 

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I am thrilled to be part of the creative process in getting the news out there of the fantastic work the WLA did in our beautiful county and I hope the legacy lives on with the next generation – so much so that I have written a children’s book! 

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