Some 40 former 'land girls' spoke to countryside management students at Warwickshire College's Moreton Morrell centre last week.

They talked about their time working for the Women's Land Army, which was set up to ensure Britain still produced food while its men were away fighting.

One of the land girls, Edna Malin, nee Cotterill, 82, of Napton, was featured in the Courier this year when the government announced it was recognising their efforts with a special badge.

She said: " I joined in 1944 and was in for three-and-a-half years. I learned to drive an old tractor.

"I wasn't in a hostel, I lived in private billets with a friend of mine.

"We were both from Birmingham and we were as green as grass. It was lovely to share our experiences."

Nancy Cooper, 82, from Stratford, wore her land army shirt, tie and arm band to the event. She trained in Northampton and worked at various farms milking cattle.

She said: "I loved animals and the countryside so I was quite happy when they set the land army up - we all had to join something in the war."

Student Fiona Heritage, 17, said: "You know what they did but when they tell you, you realise it's so much more. They must have started at 5am and worked until 10pm or whenever the work was done.

"It was really good, some of the stories they came out with were amazing."

Photographs taken during the event will be on display at a Moreton Morrell open day on May 17.