Main content

Gert Battley

Played by Maggie Steed

Fact title Fact data
Date of birth
26 July 1845
Place of birth
Ashburton
Age at outbreak of WW1
69
Occupation
Farmer
Address
Blackfold Farm, Devon

Firmly entrenched in the Devonshire landscape, Gert guards the Blackfold boundary maintaining the ancient Battley tradition of feuding.

The stuff of local folklore, she even unsettles son Morris, who makes her wear a cow bell around her neck in case she wanders off. This she claims is protection against the devil in case “he comes a-courting”, but even he might have legitimate grounds to be afraid of old Gert.

"Her accent was genuinely frozen there"

Maggie Steed on native Devon dialect and her great grandmother - also called Gert