1939 - WOODHOUSE FARM LEDBURY a place for evacuees?

[Yvie Tree]

Hello,

I came across my Manchester family in the 1939 Register living at WOODHOUSE FARM BUILDINGS, LEDBURY which does not apparently have any connection to my family.

My grandfather is listed there at 13yrs of age, and a ruck of lines of information are blocked out because the records are closed. So it appears that they are all children, which may be a classic case of dormitories, or a school for evacuees.

What's a little peculiar is that also residing at Woodhouse Farm Buildings was:
- my grandfather's parents—George RICHARDSON (from Manchester) and Sarah PARRY
- Dilly PARRY, his older sister, 26yrs of age
- Susannah LONG, his married cousin from Tredegar

Can anyone give me any more information on the Woodhouse Farm Buildings in the 1939 era used as a place for evacuees, or was it something else?

Many thanks!
Yvie

[Spidermonkey]

There is a newspaper advert for the 2nd September 1939 (Birmingham Daily Gazette) where Mrs Stackhouse of Woodhouse, Ledbury is wanting temporary help to assist with house and hop picking.  I wonder whether your grandfather and his family are there to pick the hops?

[Yvie Tree]

There is a newspaper advert for the 2nd September 1939 (Birmingham Daily Gazette) where Mrs Stackhouse of Woodhouse, Ledbury is wanting temporary help to assist with house and hop picking.  I wonder whether your grandfather and his family are there to pick the hops?

Thanks, that could explain the whole family heading over from Manchester, especially if they were having to consider evacuating the children from Salford. I'd love to find out more about that...

Thanks
Yvie 

[BumbleB]

This side-by-side map shows Wood House, plus nearby hop kilns!!!

http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/sidebyside.cfm#zoom=16&lat=52.0683&lon=-2.4561&layers=6&right=BingHyb

I suspect that all the "striped" fields are hopfields.

[ScouseBoy]

I associate Herefordshire with Apples

[Spidermonkey]

I associate Herefordshire with Apples

We also do a good line in cows too!

More info about hops (and other agriculture in Herefordshire) can be found here http://htt.herefordshire.gov.uk/herefordshires-past/the-post-medieval-period/agriculture-and-industry/herefordshire-agriculture/hops/hops-in-herefordshire/  Of interest to Yvie Tree might be the section on accommodation for hop pickers

[BumbleB]

Certainly some of those fields are apple orchards - see Google Street View.  But obviously hops are grown in the area - why else would there be hop kilns? 

[josey]

Looks like the all the footpaths around have disappeared under crops & into someone's boundaries...

[Mike in Cumbria]

I associate Herefordshire with Apples

Hops have been a major part of the Herefordshire economy since the C17th, particularly in the Hereford/Ledbury area.