Reunion party for Land Girls 60 years after leaving graffiti on Exmoor farm

EXMOOR farming couple Roger and Penny Webber (pictured) are to throw a reunion party for a group of women who worked there 60 years ago.
The women were Land Girls who helped to keep the country’s agricultural industry running during and after the Second World War.
All but one of the five Land Girls has been traced by Mr and Mrs Webber after they uncovered graffiti on a white-washed wall in one of their barns at Hindon Organic Farm, Selworthy.
The graffiti was created in 1948 by Land Girls Greta-Merle Williams, Margaret Routley, Audrey Owen, Hilda Coles, and Jacqueline Ferris, who dated their work and gave names and ages.
Mr and Mrs Webber have now been in contact with four of the women - who all still live locally to West Somerset - but have not yet been able to track down Jacqueline Ferris.
For Mr Webber, aged 61, there is a special significance to the occasion, as his father Colin married Enid Burt, who was also in the Women’s Land Army and was one of the first Land Girls to work on the farm, which has been in the Webber family for generations.
The five Land Girls whom he wants to invite to the reunion were in a second batch to work on the farm after the war.
They were part of a Land Army Corps barracked in Old Cleeve, and they worked on several local farms.
Mr Webber said: “Because of my mum, I know what a wonderful job these incredible women did for the country.
“They did every job a man was expected to do and most of them had never lifted so much as a bucket before in their lives.
“We thought it would be nice to get them all back together so they can meet each other again and have a chat about old times.”
Mr Webber said the reunion party would be held in the spring when the weather was warmer.
One of the former Land Girls, Greta-Merle Williams (nee Edge), is now aged 79 and living in Watchet.
She was only 19-years-old when she worked at Hindon Farm, and recalled the day when the women left their writings on the barn wall: “We had been collecting hay and were sat on top of it on a cart.
“It was incredibly hard work but it was a lovely farm, one of the nicest I worked on, and we decided to make our mark on it.
“We never thought it would last, I was amazed to find out it was all still there.”
Anybody with any information about the Land Girls who worked at Hindon Farm can call Roger and Penny Webber on 01643 705244.

Under-fire Conservatives step down in council financial row

THE leader and deputy leader of the minority Conservative group on West Somerset Council are quitting their political positions amid a row over the authority’s financial crisis.
The Conservatives lost control of the council in last May’s elections when Independent candidates backed by the Liberal Democrat-founded pressure group Direct won more seats.
Since then, Conservative leader Councillor Christine Lawrence (pictured, right) and her deputy Councillor Roger Webber (pictured, below) have been accused of allowing council finances to spiral out of control.
It resulted in both the council’s chief executive Tim Howes and deputy chief executive Rod Latham receiving huge pay-offs from the new Independent administration to leave their jobs, which plunged the authority further into the fiscal mire.
Council leader Councillor Keith Ross was forced also to abandon the much-vaunted New Horizons healthplex scheme in Minehead because there was no money in the kitty to fund the district’s share of the costs – even though work had already started.
New Horizons, which was a partnership with Somerset County Council, Somerset Primary Care Trust, and the West Somerset Community College, included a modern replacement for Minehead Hospital – and now the PCT has been unable to guarantee that it will still be delivered.
The council’s deputy leader, Councillor Simon Stokes (Labour) later called on Councillors Lawrence and Webber, who was the finance portfolio holder until May, to accept their share of responsibility for the crisis and to resign.
Now, former headmaster and chief executive Councillor Tim Taylor, who was elected in May to represent Crowcombe and Stogumber, is to succeed as Conservative group on February 1.
Both Councillors Lawrence and Webber will continue as district councillors.
Councillor Lawrence, who is also a Somerset county councillor for Dunster, said: “I have enjoyed serving the community and I am proud of the projects we were able to deliver during my term, especially the groundwork for the new hospital.”
She said she wanted to devote more time to resolving issues in her Minehead north ward and to her responsibilities as a county councillor.
Councillor Lawrence said she originally intended to hand over to somebody else after the council’s annual meeting ion May, but thought it sensible to allow a new team to be put in place beforehand.
Councillor Taylor said: “West Somerset owes them an enormous debt of gratitude and I am sure this will become more obvious over time.”