Land Girls writer rues high cost of filming a sequel

Angela Huth, novelist, journalist and broadcaster, says while the original film – starring Rachel Weisz and Anna Friel – proved enormously popular, she was stunned by some of the costs.

Speaking at yesterday's Yorkshire Post Literary Lunch in Harrogate, Ms Huth explained: "There's a scene where a bomb drops on a cow and kills it. They wanted to put this in the film and asked if I would like to see the cow – all 6,000- worth of rubber of it. Apparently they're not allowed to use real dead cows."

Her new book, Once a Land Girl focuses on Prue, one of the original trio, who is still single and hankers after the life she loved during the war. It follows her search for meaning in late-1940s' Britain.

Also speaking at the event, attended by around 185 people, was Margaret Dickinson, one of Britain's most successful saga writers. Sons and Daughters is the story of Charlotte, an only child reared by a brutal father who can't forgive her for not being a son.

Born in Lincolnshire, Ms Dickinson said she grew up with the Yorkshire Post – literally.

"My father was an avid reader but, because we lived in Lincolnshire, he had to order it specially," she explained.