Wife of Denton’s vicar, Mrs Irene Lovelock, founder and president of the British Housewives’ League and three others went to London to burn their ration books and ID cards outside Parliament as a protest against “an outworn and unjust system of food rationing.” Vowing to sweeten her coffee with honey and foregoing her Sunday joint, she indicated that the 38 chicken strutting about in the Vicarage garden may be on borrowed time.