Leicester city's thanks to land army girls

They were up at dawn to milk the cows, carried hay bales on their backs ... and still had the energy to go dancing in the evening.

Dozens of Leicestershire land girls have swapped stories of their work on farms during the war at an event to celebrate the important job they did.

They met at the ballroom of Leicester's City Rooms, in Hotel Street, for an afternoon of wartime memories, tales over tea and a 1940s sing-a-long.

One of Nesta Wigginton's abiding memories of her time in the Women's Land Army was sneaking out of her hostel by climbing out of the window and down a ladder to go dancing.

It didn't go down well with the woman in charge of Nesta and the other girls, who sent the police to fetch them back.

Nesta, now 85 and living in Evington, met her husband, Walter, while she was a land girl at the Noseley Estate, near Market Harborough.

She said: "The first job when I got there, I had to climb up this big haystack. The man was holding this big, sharp knife and used it to chop it up.

"Then I had to have a go. I'd never done anything like it. I'd been working at a printing company before that.

"We did everything at the farm. We did the milking, and that was very early. We didn't have any electricity, only lamps. We got the water from a well, then, when that ran out, we moved to other places.

"But we'd always sneak out to dances at Billesdon and Hallaton."

At Monday's event, Doreen Huscroft was reunited with a woman who had worked with her at Quorn Hunt Kennels during the war.

The 83-year-old, of New Parks, said: "I've only met one person who was at the same place as me.

"We used to have to cycle miles to the farms, someone stole the lamp off my bike as well. There was a lot of hard work to do, milking, threshing, carrying hay bales.

"But we were young and fit – and we would still go dancing every night."

About 50 women, and their families, were at the event, hosted by the Lord Mayor of Leicester, Councillor Roger Blackmore, and the Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire, Juliet, Lady Gretton.

Coun Blackmore said: "It was wonderful to meet all these women and hear their stories and be able to thank them for the important job they did."

The Women's Land Army and Timber Corps helped provide Britain with food and energy during the war, by carrying out tough manual work, including looking after animals, harvesting crops and cutting timber.

Joyce Mason, now 84, of Humberstone, worked on a farm near Ashby.

She said: "We did every job there is on a farm – threshing, picking sugar beets in all weather and even some tractor work.

"The weather was a big factor, we'd be out in the fields in all sorts.

"We never really thought how important what we were doing was, we just did it."

And Betty White, now 85, of Thurnby Lodge, joined the Land Army when she turned 18 in 1942.

She was one of 40 women based at Market Bosworth.

"We would ride for miles, and then there would be tough jobs to do. It was hard work – but I think it has made me the woman I am today," she said.