When you belong to a social group, such as a mens’ institutional outfit, there are set programe plans that are almost invariable. Always there will be the opening gambit by the President or Chair, followed by the group singing their clan’s song or hymnal. Then comes the business of the day. In the social group I belong to, we have news of all the outings and activities we can join, both with our local group and also with the many smaller village groups within our County that also belong to the umbrella set up. There are all sorts of things to be enjoyed, from coach holidays to craft ventures, singing and dancing with an entertainer, and even the delightful King Henry VII coming to address us. these days it is important to include ideas that can be taken back to the family with a view to keeping the tradition going by introducing younger members as they grow up. This is what has happened over the centuries with the rotarians and other seriously successful gatherings.
I was out at my own village club the other evening and we enjoyed our speaker talking on the subject of Land Army girls in World War `1. It was not a very amusing tale per say, but the emphasis was on the land and how much food was needed to be grown in a very short period after the heavy over-reliance on bought in foods stuffs really scuppered us. The enormous number of ships that had been sunk coming over from USA and other world wide places, meant that we needed to get a sharp improvement in the food output at home. There were land army girls who signed up for originally a year long task but in reality, were going to be there for the full 5 years. These lasses took on whatever roles were required and these included non arable functions such as mole/rat/vermin catching; caring for horses – that usually meant eeking out rations for seriously old ad wretched animals that had either been returned from ‘the front’ or never got there because of being faulty. There were many opportunities too for learning how to drive and maintain farm vehicles, which were by now regular items on the wealthier farms. However the greatest use of female labour and strength was actual farming – keeping crops coming and helping to run the distribution routes. Many a child learned a great deal about the essential side of farming practices which will have stayed with a whole generation of them.
