Freda Mills – Recollections of Wincanton

Freda Mills

Freda Mills (Nee Dukes) was born in Penselwood in 1931, where she spent her childhood with her sister and three brothers. She saw many changes in village life throughout the second world war.

Her father survived The Great War at The Somme and was invalided from service after being shot in his hand and being caught in a gas attack, which impaired his health for the rest of his life. After the First World war, he was employed as a groundsman for the Rutter family, (the solicitors firm in Wincanton) and he and his wife raised their family in a small tied cottage on the Rutter estate in Penselwood.

Freda left school aged 14 years, working in and travelling to a variety of places across the country during her teenage years before returning to Penselwood. She worked at the Cow & Gate factory during the early 1950s and eventually settled in Wincanton in 1956, where she married and raised a family. She has worked in a variety of establishments in Wincanton and has seen many changes to the town over the years. Some for the better and others not so much.

She is now 92 years of age and still resides in Wincanton.