The Land Girls: Cinderellas of the Soil
English Rural Life, University of Reading
Event Details
Start: 3 October 2009
End: 14 March 2010
Categories: Exhibitions
This exhibition has closed.
The forgotten army of the Land Girls tell their story in this new exhibition
During World War II, over 75,000 women joined the
Women’s Land Army. The heroic image of the land girl
standing tall in her corduroy breeches, green jumper and
brown felt hat, fork resting over her shoulder, has become
an iconic symbol of the triumph of wartime agriculture.
The exhibition highlights personal stories, propaganda,
paintings, posters and photographs. It reveals the experiences
of women as they leave their pre-war lives to learn milking,
rat catching, threshing and tractor driving. At the heart of this
story are the surviving items of their distinctive uniform –
where it was made, who wore it, what they did, how women
felt about wearing it and the reactions they encountered.
The Land Girls also focuses on the contribution in Sussex.
Their headquarters were at Balcombe Place; land girls were
trained at Plumpton Agricultural College, and lived and
worked on the Sussex Downs.
