Christine Smith was a Land Army girl between 1942 and 1945. She worked on a 1000-acre farm in Pilton near Glastonbury that was run by the War Agricultural Committee. Twelve Land Army girls worked there, together with conscientious objectors, Italian prisoners-of-war, and older farm workers. Christine was involved with the cultivating, harvesting, and carting of hay; as well as wheat, mangolds and apples. Christine also drove tractors on the farm and helped to control pests.
Somerset Voices: Christine Smith (b.1925)
July 14, 2009 at 4:00 am (Genealogy)
Tags: Christine Smith, Glastonbury, Pilton, Somerset
Somerset Voices: Meg Paul (b.1923)
May 31, 2009 at 4:00 am (Biography, History)
Tags: Meg Paul, Pilton, Priddy, Somerset
In 1944 Meg Paul came from Burnley to join the Land Army in Somerset. She was sent to Steanbow Farm, Pilton, where girls were trained for a month to milk cows. Meg worked for six months at a farm in Pilton. The War Agriculture Committee then transferred Meg to Priddy to a tractor drivers’ depot, where she was trained to drive and maintain Fordson Major tractors. Meg was sent to different farms to plough and cultivate the land. Meg married in 1948 when she left the Land Army.
Somerset Voices: Edith Hiscox (b.1903)
March 31, 2009 at 4:00 am (Genealogy)
Tags: Eavis, Edith Hiscox, Glastonbury, Pilton, Somerset
Edith Hiscox was born in 1903 in Somerset. She won a scholarship to a dairy college in Lancashire, where she learnt to make Cheddar and Caerphilly cheeses. Edith returned to Somerset and made cheese and butter on two farms in Pilton, a village near Glastonbury. She worked at Worthy Farm, Pilton, for a Mr Eavis. Worthy Farm is now the venue for Glastonbury Festival.
