A Maintenance Unit, based behind the LSA stores, was responsible for repairs to houses and glasshouses with specialist plumbers, carpenters, etc. The team was led by Phil Hooper, who later moved to Spain. “The maintenance man in the 1960s and early 70s was Bill Lay Flurrie who apparently fixed most things with a large hammer and some nails!! He needed to mix a small amount of cement at ours once and used the washing up bowl from the kitchen!” (Diane King, nee Chapman No 19)

Foxash Estate photos, maps, books, memories - Francis Frith

I wasn’t too sure what to expect from Foxash by Kate Worsley. It’s set in the not too distant past, in the 1930s. I was not familiar the Land Settlement Association scheme and found it really interesting reading about it. I would only recommend Foxash if you enjoy pain, misery and hopelessness. If you fancy that sort of thing, it’s a compelling novel. The first thing I noticed about Foxash by Kate Worsley is the stunning cover. The book definitely lives up to its promise but in a most unexpected way. She was the first to have achieved four certifications in saddle fitting from three different countries and has quite literally travelled the globe to soak up knowledge on the subject. Foxash is a rather unusual novel, and all the better for it. The setting is interesting, and one I had never heard of - a 1930's British government scheme to get former industrial workers into agricultural work. Very interesting premise and vividly portrayed.It's a story of growing: of growing crops on a smallholding (in the first year of production under the 1930s Land Settlement Association scheme) and the fertility of rural land; it's the story of growing sociality, co-operaton, neighbourliness and belonging; it's the story of a new life for a coalminer and his pitwife, growing seeds and plugs into cash crops of cucumbers and cane fruits. But more than that, 'Foxash' is the story of the female body growing; women's fertility; women's connectedness of spirit within the rural idyll. It's also the story of the growth of rot as collaboration breaks down; as decay grows within relationships; it's the chilling story of the insidious growth of spite, jealousy, and perfidy, and it all plays out in the media of what Lettie smells, tastes, sees, feels, hears. The manager of the LSA, appointed by the government, lived in Good Hall House on Coggeshall Road. The adjoining farmyard was used for storing LSA machinery.

Foxash Social Club Essex, England For Hire - Hallshire Foxash Social Club Essex, England For Hire - Hallshire

Lettie is a miner’s wife. As a woman, she doesn’t ask for much out of life. It’s the Great Depression, her husband has lost his job and they are penniless. Lettie is cautiously optimistic when she and her husband are granted relocation from a “Special Area” to a government-sponsored farming community. She’s grateful when the couple on the adjacent farm go out of their way to help them get established during their first farming season.The allocation of smallholdings to the unemployed was suspended at the outbreak of the Second World War through the necessity of increasing food production; favour was then given to those already with horticultural skills. After the war the Association was incorporated within the 1947 Agricultural Act for statutory provision of smallholdings designed as a first step for those going into agricultural production. Alix Dunmore is a brilliant narrator and she really made the book feel so atmospheric. She really brought the book to life - she was quite simply Lettie . The details of Lettie’s farmer’s wife lifestyle are often tedious, but they speak to her hardships, her determination to thrive amid diversity and her diligence and hard work. So much detail is given about the everyday things, but the unordinary things are left unsaid. Eventually, enough is said that we do guess. The outcome of this quadrangle relationship Lettie/Tommy/Jean/Adam will amaze you.