Librarian of the Shire
What you need to know
Suffolk Archives - Bury St. Edmunds
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Dive into the In the Bury St. Edmunds Record Office Repository!
The Bury St. Edmunds Record Office is a branch of the Suffolk Records Office. The staff are in charge of maps, local Suffolk history and paths to genealogy which are some of the many services the office provides("Bury St Edmunds Branch", 2020).
Are the volunteer presence lacking on one side or the other?
The Bury St. Edmunds Record Office (BRO) is close to the center of Bury St. Edmunds and its Cathedral. In fact, people can take a lovely stroll in the smaller Rose Garden in the Abbey Gardens which is adjacent to the Cathedral. The Rose Garden was commemorated to the Allies who fought in World War One and Two. There are benches that are made from remnants of planes which memorialise the sacrifices that the men and women paid in their service(Wright, 2020). Most importantly, there is a tree dedicated to the Women’s Land Army just outside of the Rose Garden.
The BRO does not appear not huge at first glance. It has two floors in total. Offices for staff and the reading room take up the first floor and the repository is on the ground floor.
However, BRO and Lowestoft have all the pamphlets and information patrons need. I have always found their repository like the TARDIS of Doctor Who. It may seem small on the exterior, yet it contains so much valuable information on the inside!
Coming soon!
Question #11 - What is your definition of "provenance"?
Lumber Jills
Tricks of shouting "TIMBER"
Lumber Jill's were originally called the Women's Timber Core by the British Government, WTC for short. The WTC were a sister branch of the Land Girls and like the Land Girls, the Lumber Jill's filled a need in Britain. Lumberjack's were needed to serve in the military, but with the fall of Norway, with its immense timber export, it was not an option to get Norwegian timber anymore(Tyrer, 2016). The government and Lady Trudie turned to women to fell trees.
Pre STEM!
This is your Skill Description. Use this space to describe your skill, as well as examples when having this skill might be useful.
Land Girl vs Lumber Jill
There was a rivalry amongst the Lumber Jill's and the Land Girls. The Land Girls felt the Lumber Jill's got treated better than the Land Girls did(Tyrer, 2016). One of the issues was wages. Once the Land Girls were at their placements, one of the important issues she fought for was monetary equality between the land girls and male agricultural workers. The men earned 38 shillings a week, 58 pounds nowadays, and the minimum wage for a week of work by a land girl was 28 shillings (Tyrer, 2016).
Lady Trudie Denman: Who is this crazy broad?
Lady Gertrude Denman or Trudie, was a woman ahead of her time. This was a good thing! She was a radical in that time period because Lady Trudie saw a need that couldn't be filled up until the two wars happened. When World War One & Two hit, it took every healthy man in the country, including, those from farms and forests to fill the ranks of fighting men.
Lady Trudie resigned on February 16, 1945 because her efforts to have the WLA receive better pay and benefits after the war were being ignored by Churchill's administration.
WLA and Lumber Jills finally received their well deserved recognition July 2008, when the government stated that they were giving official medals to them for their service. Only recently the govenment cut off the the program("Apply for a Women's Land Army or Women's Timber Corps veterans badge", 2020).
Feature
The first ever training camp was in Culford in Suffolk. It opened March 1942. This is your Skill Description. Use this space to describe your skill, as well as examples when having this skill might be useful.
Girl, I didn't know were a techie!
Media has become a necessary, whether you think a necessary evil or not, devices are here to stay. Computers, iPads, cell phones, laptops, apps, etc., we need to turn off useless app’s and then we can put technology to good use. These below are some of the better of technology and social media to good use.(BBC World Service, 2017)
Colgan, Norah Gwendoline Isabella
(ORAL HISTORY)
Danher, Doris
(ORAL HISTORY)
Reel 1: Aspects of enlistment in Women's Timber Corps in GB, 1940: learning of organisation existence; reasons for joining and interview. Recollections of period as lumberjill with Women's Timber Corps in Suffolk, GB, 1940-1941: journey to Suffolk; accommodation; duties felling trees and preparing timber; daily routine; degree of training received; work party; story of relationship between female personnel.
REEL 2: Continues: social activities; date with Polish airman; supervision of camp and discipline; rations; duties; dangers of forestry work; medical provision; physical demands of the work; relations with local men. Recollections of period as lumberjill with Women's Timber Corps in Lake District, GB, 1941-1943: transport provided; reasons for transfer to Lake District; story of posing for art students from evacuated Royal College of Art; duties in forest; uniform and work clothing; attitude towards work with Women's Land Army.
REEL 3: Continues: rations and billets; extra employment; story of embarrassment at party due to lice. Aspects of period as lumberjill with Women's Timber Corps in Cardiff, GB, 1943-1944: billet; work in sawmill; opinion of work; meeting future husband and marriage, 10/1944; reasons for leaving Women's Timber Corps; attitude towards work and contribution of Women's Timber Corps.
Taylor, Winifred Maud "Pluckie"
(ORAL HISTORY)
REEL 2: The interview and posting to Women's Timber Corps. Aspects of period as civilian with Women's Timber Corps in GB, 4/1943-11/1945. The rigorous pattern of training in Culford; The role as the highly trained measurer. The journey to and details of Timber Corps operation on Bodmin, Cornwall.
