In this episode, we return to Hiltonbury Farm in March and April 1951, where the arrival of spring brings little relief from the weather.

Rain falls day after day, leaving the fields sodden and bringing much of the farm work to a standstill. As Mother writes, the situation is becoming serious, with almost nothing able to be done on the land.

But life at Hiltonbury never stops completely.

There are pigs arriving on the farm, Jersey heifers calving during the night and chickens that still need to be fed, whatever the weather. John struggles to finish the threshing and drill the oats whenever the ground is dry enough.

There are worrying days too. Betty is rushed to hospital with appendicitis, while Mother’s own mother undergoes an operation. Amid all the uncertainty, the family wait anxiously for news.

Yet there are happier moments.

Andrew comes home from St Probus for the holidays, a new baby named Timothy arrives, and Jennifer competes at the Ampfield Gymkhana, where she wins second place in Musical Chairs and passes her riding test.

Through it all, Mother washes, irons, sews, teaches dancing and welcomes a constant stream of friends and relations—all without electricity and often with the washing hanging indoors because of the rain.

She never complains. She simply records each day and carries on.

Join me for March and April 1951—a story of difficult weather, new life on the farm, family worries and the first hopeful signs of spring at Hiltonbury.

This is My Mother’s Diaries — The Hiltonbury Farming Family Story.