I recently had the opportunity to interview Nicky Reynolds on her long term commitment to the Women’s Land Army (WLA) during World War Two.  Nicky has used that commitment and knowledge to create a project based on the WLA alongside an exhibition as she wanted the information to be more publicly accessible in order to honour the women who were a part of the service. 

Why did you start to research WLA? 

My background of being interested in Women’s Land Army started several years ago. I have been a long-term collector Women’s Land Army items for 30 years. I used to do lots of living history stuff, but I am no longer credible to be a Land Girl due to my age, so as a result I started giving talks on the subject. I have been friends with Vicky Abbot for years and she also collects WLA items.

I attended the Rural Life Museum in Norfolk, which is the site of an old Victorian work house, for a 1940’s event on August bank holiday. Myself and Vicky were originally invited to go with another group, but we were able to put on a WLA display because we were able to get a hold of a spare tent. We put together a display between the two of us of WLA items and uniforms and when we stepped back and looked at what we had in front of us we saw that we had an awful lot between the two of us. A member of the public visited the display and commented that we should make a display or write a book about the Women’s land army. 

I am from Suffolk, and I knew lots about WLA generally, but I did not know a lot about Suffolk specifically so myself and Vicky decided to research it. The Hold in Suffolk, is an archive was built at the same time as we were researching, and they were encouraging people to contact them if they could help tell a Suffolk story that had not been told before. We put a proposal together and it was accepted in 2019 – we had around 6 months where we trained volunteer researchers, planned the project and were planning how we could take around to display. 

How did Covid affect you? 

Covid created issues for us in terms of promoting the project by display. Luckily as we had our volunteer researchers we could carry on. We used Facebook and online to promote the project and collate information that people send to us or we found via our archives searches. 

What were your plans for an exhibition? 

I had always wanted an exhibition to tour Suffolk and feature in places where Land Girls worked. The exhibition launched in February 2022, at The Hold which consisted of original uniform belonging to Suffolk ladies. Holly Brega created a documentary on the land girls and the horses of Suffolk, which we were screening at events and then doing a Q&A alongside putting on a special display. We have Bury coming up at the end of March. Additionally, we are currently considering other venues and dates within the Suffolk County. 

What has the response been? 

We have been lucky enough to find over 100 Land Girls just by people telling us about them

We have found the most incredible response from people in terms of our exhibition. We have been lucky enough to find over 100 Land Girls just by people telling us about them. We have also received lots of information from families, relatives and veterans. I feel really fortunate that we are in a time slot that means that we can still catch up on spoken word. I feel that books get shortened to fit the page and become edited over time, talking to someone about their experience opens it up more. We have conducted half a dozen oral interviews which will go into an archive for people to access in generations to come. In 100 years’ time, people could still be and listening to what those Land Girls said. 

What do you aim to do with the project? 

One project aim is to show WLA women for women’s history month. We have been showing the profile of one woman a day every day for March for women’s history month. I am taking part in a women’s symposium at The Hold on the past and present women’s lives in Suffolk. The WLA Project has a whole part of the day, we will have mannequins on display with uniform as part of it. Every woman we talk about has a mannequin to represent them, sometimes wearing that person’s uniform and sometimes wearing what they would have worn. This is to partially recreate the WLA so that people can see the pictures and touch and see the uniform from those pictures. Feeling the weight of the boots and feeling the corduroy trousers evokes a certain feeling. We aim tell a story behind the purpose of the uniform and to dispel some of some myths around what was and wasn’t issued and change people’s perspectives. 

We aim tell a story behind the purpose of the uniform and to dispel some of some myths around what was and wasn’t issued and change people’s perspectives

The WLA was run very well and was efficient even if it did not seem it at the time. They had a proper uniform issued to them and they had to wear it and had rules to follow. Administration within the WLA was a Vital function to. We want to make sure the women are recognised for the great work they did. It appeals to my inner feminist, when you look at the social and physical conditions and think of what it was like for a young 17 year old from the 1940’s what she would do with her life it was very different to now. No less incredible than now but perhaps simpler for them to achieve something than now. 

We have a group of 15/16 year old girls who are interested in living history, who possibly grew up in it, and are now looking for something to do for themselves. It can be seen as a social experiment where we can compare lives from now and then. Could girls now cope with the pressures that they had then, they were living away from home — working hard. It was seen as a liberating experience, having to grow up quickly, make friends and some girls came from tight, parental-controlled environments. There was often the view that women would work at the corner shop down the road until they got married. 

Can you talk about some of the WLA stories? 

I interviewed a 90 year old who never learnt to drive legally but the farmer’s wife taught her so that she could deliver the milk to schools. When she went to take the test, she was refused by the instructor because of the state of the car she was driving in – the farmer’s vehicle was not road worthy. She was issued with a temporary licence 3 months later and kept getting temporary licences after that. All those wonderful stories that come out, they were so practical at the time. The little snapshots are wonderful. It is the part of social history we need to capture. We would like to keep going on tour with the project. 

I have found that everything links together. We went to a 1940’s event in 2018 where we met someone at an event whose mother was a Land Girl in Suffolk. Afterwards we went to look at Daphne Hedges’ WLA items, she had served in Devon for one year and then came back to Suffolk. She kept all of her things, there was a huge folder of every ticket, certificate, letter, envelope, photos, with writing on, she kept it immaculate. She also kept the uniform with her details on every single piece. Her daughter gave it to us for the project as she thought that her mother would have been proud to know that her items were part of a WLA exhibition; we have since based so much of the project around Daphne’s story.

We created a mannequin that we would take everywhere with Daphne’s WLA items. Her daughter wrote the book because of her mother called The Makings of the Land Girl. Her children were left parts of the farm land when Daphne died, and her daughter has decided to create her piece of land into a healing meadow, which is a community space; there is a pond and walkways around it at the site. 

What is next for the project? 

We are going to create a permanent digital roll of honour, but we are not sure how it will work with Suffolk archives. The relationship with the archives is coming to an end as we have achieved the aim. The project will definitely continue, but we are currently deciding what that might look like. We will also be creating a memorial for women who served in Suffolk, and we have already got the potential site. Due to Daphne’s love of the land, that is where we think the permanent memorial will be because it is perfect and it is also in central Suffolk. We have begun discussions with a sculptor on what we want the memorial to look like, we will be able to work the sculpture into the surroundings due to already having the site. 

The project is bigger than I ever thought it would be

The project is bigger than I ever thought it would be. We have got to consider what to do in terms of funding. I have worked with a journalist who has written an article for Suffolk Magazine on the project, all publication and promotion helps. 

We aim to put Suffolk WLA on the map. The WLA Benevolent Fund maps were created by Ernst Clegg from 1940’s to represent the work of women in that county, 14 counties got a map, but Suffolk was not one, my aim was to put Suffolk on the map on History Pin, which is an ongoing thing, we are updating it when we get information. Our second aim is to create a Suffolk WLA map in the style of Ernst Clegg to raise money for the WLA project. What we are doing is creating a new archive based on a previous archive. To think that the 15th map will be made is special. We are also displaying a complete set of the maps – it is the only time since they were first made that all 14 maps have been on display together. 

Did the project surpass your aims? 

I am thrilled that the exhibition is part of a larger exhibition called Women Don’t Do Such Things. I feel that we are part of something bigger that is a great opportunity. I did not realise how many people would be interested in WLA. It links to bigger themes of feminism throughout history. It is a lovely cross section of women past and present; it feels really special and feels great that WLA are the 1940’s representation. There was Edith Pretty from Sutton Hoo information in the case next to our original WLA items, and opposite a diary written by Mary Tudor, bringing in such a wide audience and number of visitors and I could not have achieved this scale if I did it on my own. This will put Suffolk WLA on to the map; this will put those Land Girls right up there where they should be.

I thoroughly enjoyed interviewing Nicky Reynolds and learning more about her project and exhibition, especially as I have been able to witness the growth of Nicky’s WLA project for myself online. She is clearly very passionate about the Women’s Land Army and I applaud her for sharing this passion with others.

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