- Time Traveller – Blast off!!!
- Check out the ARC’s new Geocaching trail
- ARC notelets for sale
- Living in Lockdown 2020 Challenge Update – Badges now available
- Rally Round the Standard, 16 – 19 October, 2020
- Heritage Open Days 2020 : Welcome to Norfolk Girlguiding Archive Resource Centre
- Heritage Open Days 2020 : Camping – how has it changed?
- Heritage Open Days 2020 : Bringing camping history alive 1940s style
- Heritage Open Days 2020 : Camping – making a shelter
- Heritage Open Days 2020 : Camping badges – Kim’s game
- Heritage Open Days 2020 : How are birds linked to Girlguiding?
- Heritage Open Days 2020 : Owls in Girlguiding
- Heritage Open Days 2020 : Birds – Kim’s game
- Heritage Open Days 2020 : The Farmworker badge
- Heritage Open Days 2020 : My experience as a 1940s farmworker
- Heritage Open Days 2020 : Interest Badges with an outdoor theme – Kim’s game
- ARC Heritage Open Days 2020 online here
- History Begins at Home Project
- Kids in Museums Awards
- Virtual work experience at the ARC July 2020
- A message to current and previous members of Girlguiding… from the County Archivist!
- What an amazing weekend!
- V for Virtual closing ceremonies
- Join the campfire
- A game of common sense
- V for Virtual – Your tasks for the weekend
- V for Virtual in the media
- So you think you can be a member of the GIS?
- Prepare for V for Virtual – 1 sleep to go!
- Prepare for V for Virtual – 2 sleeps to go!
- Prepare for V for Virtual – 3 sleeps to go!
- Prepare for V for Virtual – 4 sleeps to go!
- An invitation from Carol Bundock, County President, to the V for Virtual camp 8-10 May 2020
- V for Virtual – an opportunity to find out all about the GIS
- Our ARC Angels Zoom together
- The ARC volunteers stay hard at work
- We had a great ARChive weekend
- New videos added!
- All Events Cancelled
- Is my Grandfather a WW2 hero?
- The ARC Angels at work!
- Heritage Skills Netbag Making
- Join us for our ARChive weekend
- Heritage craft events at the ARC
- Ready for the New Year!
- Log Book Challenge
Heritage Open Days 2020 : My experience as a 1940s farmworker
I have attended the Norfolk Guides 1940s camp three times.
This incredible camp takes place at Gressenhall Farm. The camp is open to Guides and Rangers, who over the course of the camp travel back in time! The camp is styled like an authentic 1940s camp; from the food served to the tents the girls sleep in. Girls take part in 1940s style activities and traditions. Each camp, girls who attend work towards different interest/proficiency badges that were available to Guides at the time.
During my time as a 1940s Guide I have gained my Needlewoman, Cook and First Aid badges as well 2nd Class Guide and 1st Class Guide rank. One of the badges that I enjoyed completing the most was Farmworker. This was the first ever badge that I completed at 1940s Guide camp and it remains special.
Completing this badge at Gressenhall was fantastic! I helped harvest crops and fed some of the farm animals. I learnt new skills and gained a lot of knowledge about farming and the traditional techniques used. For example, I learnt about hay ricks, where hay is constructed into stacks with conical tops. This allows moisture to run off sides of the hay. This is important because it prevents the accumulation of moisture and allows the hay to dry out.
Completing this badge gave me a much greater appreciation for farming. It revealed to me the effort and work that goes into creating the food on our plates. This is especially true in the 1940s when much of the machinery that has greatly speeded up farming today was non-existent. Completing this badge during a 1940s Guide camp was significant.
During the war, some Girl Guide units volunteered on farms as “land girls”. Many farms needed this help as there was a lack of male labour. Some units would help and in return were offered a place to camp on the farm. Exploring the history of this badge therefore helps us to understand one of the important ways in which Guides helped the war effort.
I think the Farmworker is an important badge which still has relevance today because it allows girls to understand the relationship between people and the land. Completing this badge made me more interested in where my food comes from!
In a time of phones, the internet, and social media it’s so important that we continue to connect with nature. So why not check out the syllabuses for the multiple variations of this badge and see how many points you can check off.
Are you a proficient Farmworker? Have a look at this website where you can explore different variations of the Farmworker badge.
https://lesliesguideinterestbadgehistory.webs.com/landworker-farmer-gd