Womens work in Somerset
BOOK REVIEW
Womens work in Somerset
A CHAIR bottomer, a butcher and a beef farmer are among the 30 occupations into which you can get a unique insight from Working Women of Somerset*.
Rural women of the county describe their working lives and tell their stories in this book which features beautiful black-and-white photographs by Pauline Rook.
Among them is beef farmer Fran Evens. "1989 Smithfield. Met the Queen Mum. The bullock ate her silk gloves. Said shed bring two pairs next year and she did… Accidents? Once got tossed by a bull, up and over, then against the wall, grabbed him by a nose ring for all I was worth, then scrambled out. Drove nine miles… legs black and blue, doctor said hed never treated a live matador before."
Eel filleter Carolyn Perrin, meanwhile, says: "I also go out and pick up live eels from the eel traps. They only run when there is no moon. Sometimes we pick up 500kg a week. Thats half a tonne of live eel. They havent escaped yet."
Also to be found here is glover Wendy Suckling. "You get your ups and downs, usually we have the radio on… Sometimes one of the girls sings. It helps the day on. I usually make 60-70 pairs a day… I like putting the thumbs in."
This book is the brainchild of local writer James Crowden, who had the idea when involved with performance readings of statements from 19th Century Poor Law Commissioners reports. "These statements from farmworkers wives left a deep impression and I wanted to find out how things were for working women in the countryside today," he says.
Other occupations featured include a lavatory attendant, a bookbinder, a cidermaker, a cornet player and an expenditor – which, if youre wondering, is "the eyes and ears of the drainage board…their person on the ground and on the water". TR
• Working Women of Somerset, £9.99. Published by Agre. For your copy send £9.99 cheque or PO payable to James Crowden Publishing at Forge House, Fore Street, Winsham, Chard, Somerset TA20 4DY.