Stibbington Home Front Memories Project – Part 6 Rationing and Food Production
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RATIONING AND FOOD PRODUCTION
Preparations for rationing certain foodstuffs and other essential supplies were well underway by
October 1939. With over 90,000 ration books required for the Peterborough area the administrative
task was huge, and involved elementary school teachers, members of the WVS and other volunteers
in writing up registration details before books could be despatched to residents.
The papers, and Government advertisements, gave advice and instructions and urged those ‘careless
housewives’ who had not yet registered with retailers to do so without further delay.
The rationing of bacon, ham and butter began on 8th
January 1940. Coal supplies had been restricted
since October 1939. The early part of 1940 suffered from extremes of cold weather. There were
reports of difficulties for some customers who could not get into town to shop because of the
weather, and although some retailers used their commonsense and were flexible in accepting
coupons valid for a previous week, not all did so. Peterborough’s Grocers’ Association were quick to
point out the “injustices of rigid rules for village customers”.
This was not a good time, and red tape threatened to make it worse:
Stibbington Home Front Memories Project – Part 6 Rationing and Food Production
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[PA 9/2/40]
Stibbington Home Front Memories Project – Part 6 Rationing and Food Production
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Rationing of meat began on 11th
March 1940. Despite all the advice and fine detail of the regulations
being published locally, a ‘busy, tiresome weekend for butchers’ was anticipated as they explained
the scheme and its limitations to individual customers. Long queues developed – a situation which
lasted for years and caused the City Education committee to discuss, in June 1941, the problem of
children missing half days at school whilst they held their parent’s place in a shopping queue!
New ration books were issued in the summer of 1940, and the Peterborough Elementary schools
were closed for the week beginning 3rd
June so teachers could undertake clerical work on them – It
took 150 teachers 5 days to write up the books, much of it in their own time.
There was a great deal on advice on how and what to cook in wartime: Stork produced a wartime
cookery book, local demonstrations were held and every week brought suggested recipes in each of
the papers.
Avoiding waste was seen as a “matter of urgent National importance” as waste food would make
“pig food and eggs”. The Grantham Farmers’ Union declared that ‘only 5% of dogs were any use at
all’, and called for a resolution asking for the dog licence fee to be increased in an effort to reduce
the dog population, which was consuming valuable food (“some are being fed rabbits and liver!!”).
Locally, two Caldecott ladies were committed for trial accused of wasting bread by feeding it to their
horses – bread was not rationed, but it was an offence to waste it.
The City council encouraged people to take on allotments, with a disappointing response (but this
was in February 1940 – the coldest winter for some time!); in July 1940 Skegness council announced
its decision to grow vegetables in the municipal beds rather than ornamental flowers– the argument
that they would only be stolen was countered by the fact that even if this happened – somebody
would be getting fed!
There were calls not only to produce but also to preserve more foods; the Autumn of 1940 brought
an appeal to teachers, youth groups and other responsible adults to organise country excursions to
pick blackberries (only 10% of crop used in peacetime). The WI’s role as jam makers came to the
fore. In September 1940, the Thornhaugh-cum-Wansford Jam making Centre was declared open to
the villagers – the ladies had already made 112 pounds of jam! Jam making requires sugar additional
to that allowed by rationing, so requests for extra supplies came thick and fast. Food control at
Spalding reported difficulties with dishonest requests, and there were protests that householders
growing fruit were treated differently to commercial fruit growers and that WI members were
getting preferential treatment.
Lincolnshire’s farmers were issued with restrictions on certain crops to ensure maximum crop for
the nation’s food supply (eg no more asparagus). Apples could only be planted with special
permission and only when the ground in between trees was to be planted with a food or fodder
crop. As far too much corn was being wasted every year due to badly built corn stacks, the War
Agricultural Committee for Hunts and Soke of Peterborough organised a demonstration at Mr J
Bradshaw’s Castle Farm in Stibbington. (The stacking done by Mr Bradshaw himself).
Stibbington Home Front Memories Project – Part 6 Rationing and Food Production
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Inevitably, people tried to bend the rules and rationing offences came before the Courts. It must
have been difficult for suppliers to see long standing, loyal customers going short, but there was no
allowance for any such compassion: one woman from Newborough Fen was fined £4 7s 6d (£4.37½)
for selling 6 ounces of butter when it should have been 2 ounces and the rest margarine. Other cases
were on a larger scale:
[PA 5/7/40]
Stibbington Home Front Memories Project – Part 6 Rationing and Food Production
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Petrol rationing was also open to dishonest practice. In October 1942, three partners of Murkets
Garage in Huntingdon were sentenced to between 9 and 18 months charged with acquiring petrol
without surrendering coupons. Some unlikely participants became embroiled in this scam, whereby
coupons were misused - £610 in fines was paid by twenty defendants, including a teacher from
Alconbury and a number of policemen. Ivan George Woodruffe, Police Constable at Stibbington, was
one of them (4 gallons, fined £20).
One consequence of changes to manufacturing priorities during the war effort was highlighted by
Peterborough Jewellers. They protested against the restriction of the manufacture of good quality
gold rings, and related one bride’s ‘Hopeless Search’ through the East Midlands.
‘now only 9 carat rings are made, but not in sufficient numbers due to a greatly increased
number of war time marriages. “Ladies like to be married with a ring they are going to keep
for life, but now they have to make do with anything, even to borrowing one from a friend”.
The children’s role:
For some time, Peterborough farmers had been urging the release from school of the older boys to
assist with farming duties, given the shortage of labour. Threats were made from Whitehall that if
pupils were allowed to work on the harvest, cuts in grant would follow. But the need to feed the
nation was great, and some other school holidays were adjusted.
In October 1940, the Stamford Mercury reported on a Rutland scheme in which school holidays were
restricted to two weeks, followed by three weeks when ‘special work of value and emergency’ could
be done eg gathering wood for winter/knitting for troops. 300 children were excused school for
approved work on farms/gardens or domestic work.
The following entries are from the Stibbington School log book:
27th
Oct1941 School closed a.m. for children to assist with potato harvest
Nov 1941 The school will be open unofficially for the children not at work in the
harvest field
10th
Nov 1941 School re-opened
In January 1945, a much larger scale operation was reported, when school children in the Soke of
Peterborough area were mobilised to pick 10,000 tons of potatoes in 10 days. Due to a worry that
the crop was in danger of rotting in the wet weather, the Education Authority and local schools
cooperated in a scheme in which 900 children were employed by 93 farmers, being moved by coach
from farm to farm as required. On average each child lifted 10 tons 2 cwt of potatoes and was paid
9d (just under 4p) per hour. The ‘shepherding’ of the children and provision of packed lunches was
the responsibility of the Agricultural Committee’s Pest Officer!
Stibbington Home Front Memories Project – Part 6 Rationing and Food Production
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Children were also very much involved in salvage collections, collecting waste materials for recycling.
Peterborough City Council’s rejection of the suggestion that old bones should be sent to school was
undoubtedly welcomed:
‘We do not think that teachers or parents would relish the idea of children taking fly-blown
bones to school.’
A “Stibbington News” paragraph in November 1940 reports that the school children had collected a
ton and a half of waste paper, and in July 1944, some 2,700 books, more than 50 per pupil. A book
drive earlier in 1943 saw the Soke villages’ target of 10,000 exceeded when 13,600 books in total
were collected. Castor and Aisworth contributed 1,465 and Thornhaugh/Wansford 1,182 (of these,
12 year old Ann Price from Thornhaugh gathered 465 from this small village). Of the Soke total,
approximately 5,000 were forwarded to the Forces, 750 to hospitals and the rest for salvage.
1944 saw a competition amongst some local schools to see who could gather the most fresh
vegetables from villagers for “the little ships”, the mine sweepers on duty in the North Sea. The
winning school was offered the chance to send a few pupils to an East Coast port to see the produce
being unpacked and distributed.
‘It is hoped that if a housewife is visited by a small caller she will give something from her
vegetable garden – a few sprouts a stick of celery, a couple of leeks, it will all help to fill the
“veg for mine sweepers bag”’
Figures were published at the end of each month during the scheme: for January 1944:
Castor 2 st 6 lbs, averaging 12 oz per pupil.
Thornhaugh 1 st 6 lbs averaging 12 oz per pupil.
Barnack 17 st 5 lbs.
(The eventual winner of the competition was Longthorpe School)
Stibbington Home Front Memories Project – Part 6 Rationing and Food Production
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