We started at 5:30 am again and Richard and I went up to the furthest away paddock out beside Long Ridge Wood. We loaded up and went back down and after we had unloaded went for breakfast.
The next two loads were small ones which we took to Robin and Richard’s sister Dorothy’s place for her calves to eat during the winter. When we dropped off the last load, I picked out a corn dolly¹, which Dorothy makes, for Helen.
We only bought in one load after lunch then finished up. The boys paid me a handy £450 (£4.30 per hour) for my efforts. Back at Ann’s cottage² I packed up and pottered around until 6 pm when Robin and Richard picked me up and we went to the pub at Upton Lovell for a few beers. After that, they dropped me off at Betty’s³ place in Warminster where I spent the night.
¹Corn dollies are traditional decorations woven from wheat or barley stalks and used in harvest celebrations. Helen still has the corn dolly I bought for her that day.
²Ann’s little cottage, Saracen’s Cottage, at 42A Corton, would become part of our home away from home when we returned to work in Warminster at the end of that summer.
³Ann’s sister Betty Jeans.
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