Tea break in lining out work at Ledmore Nursery
The images are courtesy of Michael Lawrence of Bankfoot whose grandfather, Sandy Rose, was Forester and Head Forester at Ledmore Forest Nursery from 1950 (when land was acquired) until his retirement in 1969. In 1966 the nearby Strathord Forest was brought under his charge. The year of the photograph is estimated to be around 1957.
This stunning image of the four ladies taking their tea break very eloquently portrays the work clothing of the era and perhaps something of their individual characters. The over coat, the bib and brace overalls and trousers are replicas of what the land army ladies wore in World War 2 or even possibly war surplus item sold off in the Army and Navy Stores of the day. These were ideal in protecting the wearers from the dust in dry weather and mud in wet weather. The one lady (Mrs Carrie) has the pinafore cover used by millions of women when they were working whether in house, home or field and helped protect their clothing.
The ladies have been named from the left as:
Mary Paton
Bella Taylor
Mrs Begg
Mrs Carrie
The first names of Mrs Begg and Mrs Carrie would be very welcome
The two varieties of ‘piece bag’ or haversack are very much service surplus or replicas which were used by almost all outside workers. The one variety made of stout heavy weight canvas with brass buckles comfortably held the two ‘Thermos’ flasks and the aluminium or tin sandwich box. Two of the ladies have forsaken the plastic ‘Thermos’ cups and opted for china to savour their tea. Visible are paper bags protecting the cups or some of the food and a cork stopper is in the vacuum flask. One lady has a protective glove on her right hand.
The PDF below is of the same four ladies either at the start of or finishing up their tea break and perhaps going for the last sip of tea.
Download Large Version (730kB)
Groups: Forest Nurseries, Forestry Areas, Groups of people, Tools, equipment and clothing