November: Land Girls and Lumber Jills Reading

Some Land Girls and Lumber Jill’s spent some of their free time reading, whether it be books, or the latest edition of The Land Girl magazine. Here, the collage shows how women could read in the comfort of the hostel or rest home, or out in the forests in the case of the Women’s Timber Corps. As with many photos, we need to question whether this really was a true representation of reading, or posed photos for the camera, showing women using their free time in a productive way…

From left to right, top to bottom:

• Reading at a hostel in Doncaster. Source: The Land Girl, May 1943, p.9
• Enjoying a quiet spot on a bench under the trees in the garden of the rest break house in Torquay are Miss Ann Royne (WLA gang work forewoman) and Mrs Joan Hart (timber corps crane driver). Source: IWM, D27011
  
• Land Girls read, sew or write letters in the lounge of the WLA rest break house in Torquay. Source: IWM, D20722
  
• Lumber Jills reading in the forest, c.1940s. Source: Fox Photos
• Land Girls reading at Pawston Hostel in Northumberland. Source: The Land Girl, February 1941, p.13. 
• Lumber Jills reading in the forest, c.1940s. Source: Fox Photos