Land Girl - The Happiest Years of My Early Life

A Memoir of Service in the Women's Land Army 1939-46

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Last and Best Assignment as a Land Girl: Marshaw – The Trough of Bowland

February 4, 2014 By LG-Admin 1 Comment

Horseshoeing

One task I was given fairly regularly was to take horses to the blacksmith for shoeing. His forge was through Dolphinholme, and I used to ride one, bare back, and lead the other. This was a very pleasant and an enjoyable ride along the lanes . High up on the horses back I could see over the hedgerows and into the fields and up to the fells. I also got friendly waves from those I knew as I passed. Once at the smithy I used to help him by steadying the horse. While helping, I admired his work over the hot forge and put up with the acrid smell as a red hot shoe was tried for size, quenched and then hammered home. His wife always made me welcome and I think she looked forward to my coming, for I was rather different to those around her.

A picture of a blacksmith at work shoeing a horse. Just like the gentlemen here holding the horse, this was my duty when I took our horses into the blacksmith.

A blacksmith at work shoeing a big shire horse for work ploughing.

When done it was another pleasant ride back with the large horses at a steady pace. But one ride back it was very different, for just as we were half way through a narrow and dark railway bridge an express train came thundering overhead. It not only took me by surprise but the horses as well and both bolted. I hung like a limpet to the one I was riding and after a few hundred yards managed to get them under control. It was very exciting while it lasted and I regard myself as fortunate that I wasn’t thrown or the horses injured. Such experiences were rare but they are part and parcel of working with horses.

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Filed Under: Chapter 6 - Marshaw, The Trough of Bowland Fells, Part Two Tagged With: 21st birthday, Abbeystead, church, clipping time, clogs, daily routine, dances, distractions, Friesian cows, haymaking, horseshoeing, hunting parties, lambing, Liverpool, Lonk, Marshaw, recreation, repairing stone walls, sheep, sheep shearing, sheepdogs, shirehorses, trips to market, Trough of Bowland, Veronica

Comments

  1. David Drinkall says

    April 23, 2020 at 1:52 PM

    I am David Drinkall, born and raised at Marshaw and would love to hear more stories about Marshaw.

    Reply

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About Me

Proud member of the Women's Land Army, Jeanne Flann, nee Harlow, here. Happily retired in Utah after a full and satisfying life that got off to a great start working as a Land Girl in the Trough of Bowland, you can read more about me.

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Book Outline

  • Introduction
  • Part One
    • Chapter 1 – Prologue, the Sullivans, the Harlows and My Childhood
    • Chapter 2 – Joining Up – The Women’s Land Army
    • Chapter 3 – Lancashire College of Agriculture at Hutton
  • Part Two
    • Chapter 4 – Lower Greenbank Farm Over Wyresdale
    • Chapter 5 – Holt Farm Gateacre – Tragedy & Deliverance
    • Chapter 6 – Marshaw, The Trough of Bowland Fells
  • Part Three
    • Chapter 7 – Epilogue
    • Chapter 8 – Recognition at Last
  • Appendix

All Sections

  • Finished for Now – Land Girls.Me a Memoir
  • Welcome to Land Girls
  • Appendix – The Bowland Fells
  • Recognition at Last For Land Girls
  • Epilogue – Life After Being a Land Girl in the WLA
  • Last and Best Assignment as a Land Girl: Marshaw – The Trough of Bowland
  • Second Assignment as a Land Girl: Holt Hall Farm, Liverpool – Tragedy and Deliverance
  • First Assignment as a Land Girl: Lower Greenbank Farm, Over Wyresdale

Land Girls Memoirs and Other Memoirs

In the two step process of creating a paper memoir and now converting it into a web based one, it is my hope that my memoir, Land Girl - The Happiest Years of Early Childhood joins other Land Girl memoirs as a member of that genre, and contributes to it.

My husband has his own memoir through the same process as mine, paper memoir first, then website GunnerFlann.com. He too hopes his memoir contributes to the National Service Memoirs genre.

Please let us know if you agree contact me.

Recent Posts From the Blog

  • Finished for Now – Land Girls.Me a Memoir
  • Welcome to Land Girls
  • Appendix – The Bowland Fells

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