Island at War - Cregneash

At the folk village of Cregneash, they were having displays featuring the contributions made by the land army girls to the war effort in WWII.

It was quite eerie going down to the village, with the mist swirling around.  Is it really there, or just a ghostly apparition?

Our first visit was to the carpenter’s shop.

Then next door to the blacksmith’s shop, where this chap regaled us with yarns about blacksmiths and how the war affected village life.

We were entertained by these two ladies who performed a short play on how the war affected the ladies of the island.  The characters were the farmer’s wife who had the help of a land army girl and the guest house owner who hosted German internees.  It was really well done, with three scenes depicting various stages of the war.

This was followed by a tea dance, where the visitors were taught how to dance.  Mick and I gave up, as I think Mick has two left feet and I have two right feet.  It was too funny.

We escaped back out into the farmyard.

Next door in the barn We enjoyed watching a bumble catcher being made.  They were traditionally a rattle made from reeds and a bumble bee was put in side.  Now they use shells for the rattle.

It is fascinating see how quickly they come together.

Here are the makings.

NO farm is complete without a resident cat.  I had a lovely smooch with this one. Do you notice something missing?  Yes, this is a Manx cat, which is born with no tail.

We next visited a cottage where the domestic arts were on show. I’m fascinated with the Isle of Man patchwork.  It is quite unique and I really must have a go.  I think I said this back in 2009.  Can’t rush things.

In the lovely, warm kitchen the range was hard at work.

It was really interesting seeing what your food ration looked like on a table.  It is one thing to read a list, but this made it seem much more realistic.

The ladies had to be innovative with the ingredients available to them.  They still made some lovely food.

Out in the laundry butter was being made.  It is rather labour intensive to make by hand.  The buttermilk is used to make soda bread on the peat fire.

Back outside, the local gents were showing off their old farm machinery.

In the garden they were practising “Dig for Victory”.  The more you could grew, the better you ate.

We love the thatched cottages.  See how low the door is behind Mick.  You can always tell when a cottage used to have a thatched roof, if there are stones sticking out of the sides of the walls.

Meanwhile, the mist was getting thicker, however, it wasn’t wet.

It was nice to see the native Loaghtan sheep up close.  Their wool is a lovely caramel colour.  They are also a good meat sheep, with some local butchers offering it in their stores.

It was nice just wandering around admiring everything.

 

 

Of course, all this fresh air worked up an appetite, so we visited the tea rooms for a very late lunch come afternoon tea.  I really enjoy the Bannough they make at Cregneash.  It was on my wish list to have some this visit.

After our visit to Cregneash, we continued on our way to The Sound, which is the most southern point on the island.  Once again, it had a rather surreal feel in the mist.  Previously we have visited in nice, sunny weather.

 

And then we headed back home, as the mist started to lift just a little.

It was a great day out, despite the weather.  Fortunately, for the organisers, the weather was much better on the Sunday, so hopefully lots of people enjoyed the event, which so much work had gone into organising.