Lumberjills head for Dalby Forest

THE Lumberjills is a Common Ground Theatre production about to take place in Dalby Forest which pays tribute to the women who worked in Britain’s forestry trade during the Second World War.

Company co-director, and director of The Lumberjills, Tom Cornford says: "We were contacted by the Forestry Commission at Dalby after our ‘audio walk with installations’, Within This Landscape, told a story of loss and coming-of-age across a walk around the North Yorkshire village of Coxwold. There is a wealth of material about the Women’s Timber Corps at Dalby and it wondered if we were interested in turning it into a performance. We jumped at the chance and are incredibly excited now to be in the process of making a play with songs for a hidden location, deep in the woods, that tells the story of the second world war from the perspective of a small group of young women working in an unfamiliar, dangerous and beautiful environment to produce timber."

Playwright Hannah Davies says: "The Lumberjills tells the story of three young women, Mary, Connie and Ada who are called up to join the Timber Corps. Together the three friends master the art of swinging an axe, staying out late and dancing the foxtrot. Working in the forest is a tough life and the state think that it will take three women to replace every man, but in actual fact these girls are sturdier and stronger than the world gives them credit for. Their time in the forest allows them adventures and memories that they will treasure for the rest of their lives."

The Women’s Timber Corps, was set up in 1942 as an off-shoot of the Land Army. More than 9,000 young women from all over Britain left home, many for the first time, and were posted to forests to carry out felling and cross-cutting trees by hand, measuring and sawmilling, loading and driving.

Performances run from July 20 to 31 with shows at 2pm and 6pm, suitable for children over seven. Book tickets on cgtheatre.co.uk.. The production is supported by the ArtsCouncil England and The Forestry Commision.

The site is at the end of Dalby Forest’s Ellerburn Trail, a fully accessible walk. cgtheatre.co.uk

Viv Hardwick