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

Ewes & Tups

When the lambs had grown a little, the young tups, males, were separated out and castrated to get them to put on weight so they could be sold for slaughter and meat, whilst the young ewes were sold to other farmers to produce more lambs so the cycle could continue. We retained the breeding ewes for their wool, and the ability to birth more lambs.

Sheep Care

Next in May-June and on warm days, one job I did was to check the sheep for maggots in any cuts or wounds and under their tails. If found, the area had to be scraped out and covered with Stockholm Tar. If left untreated, the maggots could eventually kill the animal, and when this did occur and I found a dead sheep I had to remove the fleece to bring it back with me, and bury the remains.

A picture showing a few of the sheep at Marshaw along with Mr. John Drinkall and his staff.

Gathering a few of the Marshaw sheep. 1943.
The figures are from left are Tom (Tucker) Atkinson, Tommy Leedham, Mr. John Drinkall and John Atkinson.

Clipping Time

In the early summer came “clipping time”, which we did in the wool barn with farmers and their men coming from neighboring farms to help. Prior to this the sheep to be shorn had been gathered from all over and brought down from the fells to be penned. This was no small task for with such a large farm and the wild terrain and so many ewes with each having at least one lamb the sheep were difficult to locate, round up and pen. Once the clipping began, and it was all done by hand, I initially had the job of catching the sheep and bringing them to the clipping bench, a low bench and with an open top. The clipper sat back to a wall with legs astride it. The sheep was then lifted on the bench and laid on its back with its head toward the clipper. Using small shears, the clipper started at that end. An expert clipper could get the whole fleece off in a matter of minutes. Once the sheep was shorn they jumped about in the pleasure of having rid themselves of such warm apparel.

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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