Letters to the Editor - October 2010

A recent issue jogged memories of when in my early teens I would go to work on local farms instead of going to school.

During the war, boys over the age of twelve could get an employment card to help on farms instead of going to school.

One of my favourite jobs was stand­ing up sheaves of corn. Here in South Devon it was known as ‘stitch­ing’. Six sheaves made one stitch (not stook) for oats and barley but eight sheaves for wheat. Does anyone know the reason for this?

To stand the sheaves, the farmer would pick up two sheaves and stand them together. I would pick up another two to the left of him and rest against his, while another lad would do the same from the other side. (So for wheat another helper was needed.) When all the sheaves were stood up, the old farmer would take off his hat, scratch his head and say with a sense of pride: “Well done, lads, to a proper job.”

Farmers would pay helpers in kind rather than cash; for instance they would be allowed to plant potatoes on farm land or take some turnips or catch a rabbit; sometimes paid with a bag of corn for chicken feed, or eggs or firewood, all of which was helpful to a family in wartime.

Henry Harris, Totnes, Devon

I was saddened to read your comments (Diary, September) opposing access to the British coastline.

In 1940, when I was still in my teens, I was posted in the army to the south coast of England to prevent a Nazi invasion. Afterwards I fought my way across Europe for this country, and saw many of my fellow 1940s coastal defenders perish.

No landowner or farmer in 1940 quibbled about my right to be wandering about Britain’s coastline. But for our efforts most of them would probably have lost their precious land for good.

Why is it deemed okay for men and women to die for their country, but not to wander freely along the coast of our island nation?

Denying us that right is surely the ultimate selfishness.

Joe Jones, Hampstead Way, London

I am the honorary archivist of the National Federation of Women’s Institutes (NFWI).

We have in the archives an illustrated map of Sussex published in 1945. From time to time I get asked about this map, and also if any similar maps for other counties were produced.

The only information I have is that they were sold to raise money for the Women’s Land Army Benevolent Fund. The maps were drawn by Ernest Clegg and reproduced by John Waddington Ltd of Leeds in April 1945. The first map of the series was the one of Sussex, and made reference to the work done during the war by the WIs.

The maps were published in a limited edition of 5,000 each to start with and cost 10s 6d a copy. The first three counties chosen were Sussex, Kent and Norfolk. They planned to complete twelve maps a year until the whole country was covered.

I would be interested to know if the other maps of this series were completed. Can anyone help with further information?

Anne Stamper, Hon Qrchivist, NFWI

Regarding the article ‘Secrets of the Horseshoe Saint’ (August), in our young days we were taught that all the luck spilled out if the shoe was hung points down. This was about ninety years ago.

Was it so with others?

Perhaps the pictures in the magazine were to advertise the actual presence of forges within.

Mrs B Barron, Isle of Man

Patricia Wheldon’s article ‘A paradise for bees’ (August) brought to my memory the hay fields upstream from the Trout Inn in north Oxford, which in the 1920s were a paradise not only for bees but for wildflower-picking children.

This reminded me that in all my years of reading The Countryman,
I have never seen the following explanation of the statement ‘Old maids are ruining the red clover seed crops’.

Well here it is: red clover flowers have such long flowers that it takes a very long tongue to gather the nectar. Honey bees can’t make it. Only bumble bees have tongues long enough to get there. Bumble bees usually nest in holes in the ground, often fieldmouse holes. Old maids keep cats, cats eat mice. So the more old maids there are the more cats there are. The more cats there are, the fewer mice there are, and the fewer places there are suitable for bumble bees to nest. So old maids are ruining the red clover seed crops.

Mr Ronald Holcroft, Salt Spring Island, Canada

It was interesting to read the article (July) about rush chair mending.

I have been doing this for over forty years. I needed a craft to earn some pocket money so, through the WI, I learnt caning then went on to rush seating, which I have always found more of an art.

When demonstrating these skills I had to make sure that it was announced as ‘cane and rush seating’ not ‘rush and cane seating’ as people would and ask what it was to do with Russia.

A friend and I would pick our rushes in July in the Avon above Tewkesbury, wading into the river from the field of a farming friend who allowed us to take the car and trailer down to the river.

We would tie the rushes in man­age­able bolts to take home, where we leant them up against the trees in the garden until they were dry. When dried and sorted, they were put away until needed.

All chairs to rush are cleaned and mended. I like to do ones with a history and always keep the old rush until the new is on.

I did have an old water tank in the garden to soften the rushes for a while, and pushed them under when I walked past. Once, a long smooth thing glided over my wrist. I shouted for my son — who then told me he had been given some eels and put them in the tank to keep alive.

I usually sit on a low stool to work – lovely in summer under a tree, or in winter by the fire with the radio on.

It is one of the dying arts,­­ which is a shame because few modern chairs will have a history with them.

Anne Harker, by email

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