Written By Alice Gibb
In 1944, among the heart-breaking reports from the battlefields of Europe and the Pacific, comes an inspiring tale about an Ilderton-area couple who gave city children a taste of life on the farm. That newsworthy couple was Mr. and Mrs. George Taylor of R.R. #1, Ilderton, parents of Leading Aircraftsman Jim Taylor who was serving overseas.
From 1936, the Taylors had hosted up to 30 children per summer at their farm. The children usually spent two weeks learning about rural life. Mrs. Taylor, a trained nurse, used the visits to not only introduce the children to typical farm chores, but also to provide the kids with nourishing meals of fresh milk, homegrown vegetables and bread-and-butter snacks.
The program was initiated by the Family Services Bureau in London and the Service League of the War Memorial Children’s Hospital. The children’s ages ranged from “little gaffers who have to be accompanied by their mothers,” Mrs. Taylor noted, to teenagers about to enter the working world. Once the children arrived at the Taylor’s 125-acre spread, their “chores” ranged from picking raspberries and thimbleberries to feeding the chickens and collecting eggs or supervising while Mr. Taylor milked the farm’s eight cows.
The children were excused from worrying about indoor chores like washing
dishes since the whole idea of the program was to expose them to fresh air, sunshine and healthy meals.
One of the farm’s attractions was a former chicken house, converted into a playhouse for the young visitors. As Mrs. Taylor explained to the Free Press reporter: “We have lunch there every night. It is much nicer than the cool, clean kitchen, you know,” she joked. “We take out cocoa and buns and eat by candlelight.”
Other treats for the urban visitors included the chance to ride bareback on the farm’s placid horses and the challenge of creating unusual names for the cows.
“One we called Santa Claus,” interrupted a little girl, “because it was red and white. And one that was all red, we called Reddy.” Several of the young visitors returned to the Taylor’s farm year-after-year – one girl had come every year, and was now like a member of the family. The year before, a young boy arrived at the farm looking pale and underweight. By the end of his stay, he had gained weight and his health kept on improving after he returned to his London home. The results in the children’s health had been remarkable noted officials of the Family Service Bureau.
Perhaps the highest commendation of all, however, came from a mother of one of the youngest visitors. “I didn’t know whether I’d like it,” she said, “but Mr. and Mrs. Taylor are grand and it surely was a fine vacation. I was sorry when the two weeks were up.”
