From 'Land Girl' to 'Cover Girl'

Mobility has always been important to Eleanor. Afterall, she learnt to drive in a 3 ton farm lorry while working as a Land Girl during the Second World War (that’s her sitting in the front row, first from the left).

Eleanor was a proud member of the Gloucester division of the Land Army, serving on a number of farms in the south west. A London girl born-and-bred, Eleanor readily admits that when she first arrived in the countryside, she didn’t know one end of a cow from the other. “I’d been working in a munitions factory in Highgate. It was in the old Britain’s Toy factory where they used to make the lead soldiers."

"I had to wear a big leather apron for protection, but you’d still get splashed by the molten lead. The doctor told me I was only young and if I didn’t find something else to do, I’d end up scarred for life. So I joined the Land Army and the doctor wrote me a letter and got me out of the factory.”

Life as a Land Girl

Eleanor worked on a number of private farms across the South West including ones in Alderton, Cirencester, Weston-Super-Mare and a hostel on Lord Gwynne-Evans' estate. A typical day started at quarter-to-five in the morning with a walk across a couple of fields to milk the cows.

The longer summer evenings meant that Eleanor and the girls could find themselves working up until 10 pm during the busy harvest time. Eleanor laughs, “I’d be standing halfway up a ladder with my back up against it. There would be girl below with a sheaf of hay on the end of her pitchfork. I’d take hold of the string and throw it up and over my head onto the stack on top of the horse and cart. I think that’s why I’ve still got such a tough stomach.”

But come midday on a Saturday, Eleanor and her friends were free to do as they pleased for the rest of  the weekend. “It wasn’t like it is today. You could go to Gloucester, but the buses weren’t very frequent. We used to go to the nearest village once a month. There used to be a little dance on there or other times, there was a pub that we used to go in and play darts.”

Eleanor looks back on her time with the Land Army with pride: “It teaches you what’s important in life: you’ve got your health, you’ve got enough food, a bed to lie on and a roof over your head. That’s always been enough for me.”

How the Community Fund helped Eleanor

You can see a more up-to-date picture of Eleanor on the front cover of the Trust's Community Fund brochure. Sadly, arthritis and osteoporosis in her later life has meant that Eleanor is no longer able to get out unassisted anymore. When Karen Cooper of North Somerset Council contacted us on Eleanor’s behalf, the Community Fund was only too happy to help with a grant for a mobility scooter.

Eleanor has christened her new mobility scooter ‘Nicole’ after her old 1950 Talbot Sunbeam soft-top. “You’ve saved my life. Before I couldn’t even walk to the bus stop across the road.” And how does the mobility scooter compare with driving a farm lorry? “I wish the horn was louder”, she laughs.

For more information, please contact the Community Fund team at 0117 949 4003 or email them at community.fund@stmonicatrust.org.uk.