Remembering the ‘Idle Women’

The Waterways Trust and British Waterways will be unveiling a special plaque on Saturday 4 October at the National Waterways Museum Stoke Bruerne in Northamptonshire to commemorate their involvement in Home Front. The museum is situated alongside the Grand Union Canal, the waterway worked by the majority of the so-called 'Idle Women'.

The canal equivalent to the Land Girls, the young ladies wore a badge with the initials IW to indicate that they were working on the waterways on essential war work and were given the unflattering nickname 'Idle Women' when in reality they were anything but.

Roger Hanbury, chief executive of The Waterways Trust, said: "The Land Girls have already been recognised and we are delighted now to be able to commemorate the role of the Idle Women. Though small in numbers they played an important and little-known role that should not be forgotten.

"This plaque will provide permanent and lasting public recognition of the contribution made by this special group of volunteers. They worked tirelessly for the benefit of the nation and deserve to be honoured in this way."

Olga Kevelos, originally from Birmingham and now living in Kings Sutton, was working in the Royal Observatory when she saw the advertisement for volunteers to work on the waterways in place of men who were away fighting.

"I had always loved watching boats on the canal and was looking to do something more exciting than admin work; little did I know what I was letting myself in for! Life on the waterways was very hard and the days unpredictable. We worked 18 hours a day, were usually cold, wet and hungry but it was immense fun and full of the unexpected."

Trained by a group of three enterprising ladies – Daphne March, Molly Trail and Kit Gayford, Olga spent two years from 1943-1945 transporting pre-fab houses, steel strip, aluminium ingots and coal along the Grand Union Canal.

Author Emma Smith (nee Elspeth Hallsmith) had spent her youth living in beside the sea in Newquay and Dawlish and in 1943 the claustrophobia of working at the War Office was beginning to get to her: "I hated being boxed up, it was stuffy and the work was boring."

Seeing the advertisement for a Boat Women Training Scheme, supported by the Ministry of War Transport, she leapt at the chance to join the waterway volunteers. Echoing Olga's comments, Emma described the days as being "Long, exhausting but very, very enjoyable. I just loved being outdoors, whatever the weather. My fondest memories are of the sense of freedom, independence from family and a totally new experience from conventional middle-class upbringing."

Emma, now based in Putney, later wrote about her experiences in her award winning novel 'Maiden's Trip', which launched her writing career.

Sonia Rolt is perhaps the most well-known of the ‘Idle Women’. At the end of the war Sonia, a former actress, decided to remain on the waterways and married a boater. Over the following decades Sonia became a waterways champion before settling in Gloucestershire.

These volunteers, mostly from middle class backgrounds had no experience of manual labour worked hard and effectively, quickly transforming themselves into first rate boaters and earning the respect of traditional boating families.

In addition to living in very cramped conditions, the girls had to load and unload the cargo, repair the motor, navigate locks and tunnels, empty the bilges, scrub hatches, chop firewood, prepare meals...

Tony Hales, British Waterways’ chairman, said: "Keeping cargo moving along the waterways during the war was no easy task. The young ladies had to contend with limited rations, difficult living conditions and sometimes appalling weather including being ice-bound. Their selfless service to the country deserves recognition and we are delighted to be able to unveil this plaque in their honour."

The National Waterways Museum has exhibitions on the work of the Idle Women at two of its sites, Gloucester Docks and Stoke Bruerne. The Waterways Archives at Gloucester Docks also holds original documentation and images from this period. For further information visit www.nwm.org.uk.