We had the pleasure of working on a project called Rural Roots with a group of girls from Northamptonshire who had faced some challenges in their lives, but never one such as this. They arrived as a disparate group refusing to go anywhere near these “huge” horses (until they discovered that horses are vegetarian). Their accommodation was in tents and they lived on a war time diet. They got involved in doing some work the like of which they’d never imagined and left singing “Wish Me Luck As You Wave Me Goodbye” and wanting to return.
The objective of "Rural Roots" was to learn about how the lives of women were changed forever by their role in World War 2, specifically, in this instance, the Women's Land Army. Women came out of the home to do the work of the men who had gone to war and helped fight that war at home. Many of those changes are continuing to resonate throughout modern society. Instead of reading about life at that time in books or watching videos these girls got the chance to actually experience it for themselves for a few days.
The project organiser tells us that they had a fantastic time!
The Rural Roots project was organised by Connexions-
We were able to gain additional publicity about this event through an article in the Shropshire Star newspaper published the day the "Land Girls" departed.
RURAL ROOTS
Our Contribution To Young Women Experiencing Living History
Video by Paydirt Productions
Requires Windows Media Player