Land Girls have been much in the news recently, after receiving long-overdue badges for their war service.

But when this picture was taken, recognition for their hard work was still years away.

The 44 women above were waiting to board a coach at Witney in 1969 on their way to the Women's Land Army national reunion at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Memories of what they did to help the war effort would still have been fairly fresh in their minds.

And with 4,000 ex-Land Girls from across the country at the event, they were surely reminded of anything they had forgotten.

The Oxford Mail reported: “The great hall throbbed with chatter, which was interspersed with screams of recognition, bear hugs and reminiscences.

“The women, none of whom would mind being called past their first youth, recalled the days in all weathers when they milked cows, ploughed and tilled, struggled through snowbound meadows to feed hungry stock and took over the running of farms from men who went to war.

“In spite of the hardships, many of them said: 'We would do it all over again. Those were good days.'”

A message from the Queen Mother was read by the Lord Mayor of Westminster.

The Lord Mayor of London also paid tribute, saying: “This is not only an occasion when you can meet each other, but one when the country can say a very big thank-you.”

The event ended with the Land Girls linking arms and singing Auld Lang Syne.

Fittingly, the driver of the Back's coach taking them to London and back was Graham Arundell, who drove many of the girls to farms when he worked for the War Agricultural Department.

Myrtle Rogers, who was in charge of arrangements in Oxford, summed up everyone's feelings on the trip home: “This has been an absolutely wonderful day.”

How many of the elegant ladies in the picture can we recognise?