I was really sad

Sorry Hunt I must have missed that post. What "Idle Women" ?

I missed it as well, Hunt.

Sorry, Hunt. If I had any information, you would be welcome to it but I have never heard about these Idle Women, tho' I'm sure I would qualify

I also join the queue, never heard of them but like annodomini I would also qualify having had so many years of experience.

Never heard of them either. had to check to see what they were, before my time and boats are not my thing. Sorry Hunt

Same here!

Ditto

And me. Sorry!

Many members have no memories of the war Hunt - You'd have to be 80+ to remember it at all. And threads get missed all the time I'm afraid. If you want yours to get some more attention you can go back to it, post the word "bump" and it will reappear in the current topics.

hi everyone,i have read some of your sad stories,of missing your grandchildren,i did not realise there was so many sad and heartbroken grandparents like me out there.love marynanny xx.

What is the £1,500 all about?! Is that how much HQ charge for a media request?!

I had never heard of the "idle women". No canals near where I lived.

Guess it's a chance you take?

no it is £30

Sorry Hunt I missed it too. What was the name of the thread? I searched for Idle Women but didn't get far

Hello Marynanny I'm sorry you are having a tough time. you might try posting on one of the threads about not being able to see grandchildren such as 'Cut out of their Lives' I'm sure you will get lots of support on there.

Ignore me....I've just spotted it.

I have too but I don't often read the media thread. It seems an odd place for a gransnet member to have started a discussion.

What scheme though? And what's the one and a half k about?

#probablybeingthickbutstillwanttoknow

I think it should be £150. Five media request fees at £30 a go.

Ah yes! Clever Ana.

Sorry Hunt but with no knowledge of the subject, I had nothing to offer and I don't usually post unless I have something to say. I frequently do not bother with "media requests anyway. Sorry you felt ignored!

I knew about the scheme. In fact I have read something about them somewhere in the last month, complete with photographs of the canal boats and their all-female crews. I have a feeling it was a little booklet by an ex 'Idle' woman who has since died, but where I read it I just cannot remember

I was born towards the end of the war, all my male relatives were in the forces but my far fewer female relatives either had young children, were at school or in reserved occupations like nursing.

I have read that one thing that attracted girls to the canals was the chance of 'running your own show' with a few other women and not being beholden to men. Some girls were worried about the armed forces (officers' ground sheets) and also had no desire to work in munitions or nursing.

The girls had to work very hard, often in cold and insanitary conditions and faced hostility from the families who made their living on the canals and needed all the 'loads' they could get. They soon grew to love the narrowboats though and became experts at handling them.

The price for a media request is £30 and as far as I can gather at least 50 people have posted on this media thread hence £1,500. I felt obliged to do the same because any information gathered may well be included in a book thus making it 'media'. I did not expect any Idle Women to still be alive but hoped that someone might have a treasure in the attic or have an ancestor who was an Idle Woman. Another diary has only recently come to light, and another I W discovered in Tasmania as a result of publicity about this latest diary. It's all rather exciting. The four books written by these brave women are:- Troubled Waters by Margaret Cornish, Maidens' Trip by Emma Smith, Idle Women by Susan Woolfit and The Amateur Boatwomen by Eily Gayford. Merlotgran is quite right, it really was a chance for young women to run their own show and what a splendid job they made of it. Thank you all for your friendly replies, you've quite cheered me up.