THE Women’s Land Army was called up during World War II to help fill the void left as millions of young men left to fight.
Around 250,000 Land Girls were stationed at farms across the country labouring in place of the men who’d gone to fight.
Joyce Lewis, originally from Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, was one such volunteer. Now living in Clatter, Joyce remembers fondly her time as a Land Girl.
“I volunteered for the Land Army at 18 as a cloth weaver.
“I was billeted behind Llys Maldwyn, and worked on potatoes on the top of Churchstoke Hill. Coming from outside the area it sometimes took a bit of time before we were accepted, but usually once one family accepted us the rest of the area was fine with us too.”
Joyce (nee Brooke) remembers being allowed to operate machinery normally reserved for the men: “I am quite proud to say I was one of the few girls in the land who had sat on top of a thrashing box!
“It was a dangerous job but at the time you just got on with it. Quite what health and safety would have thought nowadays is anyone’s guess.”
Working together under these exceptional circumstances meant the girls who worked together formed strong bonds. One incident involving a friend has remained with Joyce to this day: “One of my best friends at the time, Myra Brooksbank, had been learning to drive. Someone in authority had been teaching her, and after finding an old car we were all travelling down Pullets Hill.
"We were beginning to pick up some speed by now so Myra thought we should slow down. She tried to footbrake, but nothing happened. The car was going at some pace now, so Myra tried the handbrake.
"Again, nothing. By now the steering had packed in too. Sure enough, the hill ended and we ended up overturned in a ditch. After getting her licence, she never drove again and never told anyone about that incident. Her husband went to the grave never knowing Myra had ever driven a car, let alone held a licence!”
When the war finished, Joyce remained in Montgomeryshire and married a local man, Reg Edmunds. The couple were married for 40 years, and ran a small cafe and greengrocers in Caersws. The shop was later turned into a fish and chip shop, which they ran for 31 years.
The WLA lasted until its official disbandment on October 21, 1950, and has been subject to TV and cinema serialisations, notably the 1998 film The Land Girls, which taught a new generation of the work of this important wartime regiment.