Z1205/031

Female brickwork employee, wartime driver b. 04.11.1920 SIDE A (00 mins)Family background: upbringing in Monmouthshire, Wales. Mother from Cranfield, Beds (05 mins)Father, Welshman, met mother, met wife in Bedford, whilst stationed at Kempston Barracks, during First World War. Couple moved to Wales after war. Father sand in choirs. 3 children but one died of measles. Paternal grandfather served in British army during Boer War. (10 mins)Grandfather became a Chelsea Pensioner. Daughter attended Catholic School (15 mins)Father injured in mining accident but recovered. Mine closed. Family moved to Cranfield, Bedfordshire. (20 mins)Father got job with London Brick Company at Stewartby. Mother delighted to be back in Beds. (25 mins)Forced to attend local school (Catholic school in Woburn too far away) but chapel-going teacher was prejudiced against her & schoolchildren made fun of her Welsh accent. Father burnt during an explosion at experimental gas kiln, eventually closed. Eventually suffered from miner's silicosis END OF SIDEA SIDE B (00 mins)Attending Cranfield (Elementary) School. Left school at 14 and entered domestic service at a nursing home in Bedford. Very homesick After 2 years, moved to work in canteen at Stewartby. (05 mins)Cycled to work. Cycled home with father. Brother was an electrician. Met future husband, fellow electrician, visited her home and offered to teach her to drive a car (he was one of the few who had one). (10 mins)Fiancee bought a new 1939 Standard 8 budget car for 100. Married but no honeymoon, since war was on. (15 mins)Stillborn son born on 21st. birthday. R.C. priest upset her with his comments. Had to attend wartime tribunal to decide if she had to return to work. Given job in garage, grinding valves but then transferred to driving for rest of war. (20 mins)Navigated by location of pubs, because all road signs had been removed. (25 mins)Driving during air raids. Wartime blackout restrictions. Husband worked on preparing American tanks, at London Brick Company, Stewartby during war. Kempston bomb rattled windows in Cranfield. End of Side B.Interview continues on 031C2 (Interview continued from 031C) SIDE A (00 mins)Wartime experiences; British soldiers collecting American tanks from Stewartby (05 mins)Lorry driving breakdowns (10 mins)Lack of training re. lorry engines (15 mins)Wartime shortages; ration coupons. Large numbers of women operating the brickworks, in the absence of men in the armed forces. (20 mins)Example of anti-women prejudice by male lorry driver. (25 mins)Post-war job driving for Lucas, Bedford. Husband worked as Chief Electrician for London Brick Co. brickworks. End of Side A SIDE B (00 mins)Worked as only woman driving instructor for British School of Motoring, Bedford. After 2 years, set up her own Stewartby School of Motoring (10 mins)Husband's love of following the local Hunt (fox hunting) (15 mins)Move, in retirement, to Sir Malcolm Stewart Trust Home in Stewartby;reminiscence regarding the role of the swimming pool at Stewartby on the social life of families each summer. Reflections on the contraction of the workforce in the brickworks. End of Side BEnd of interview Original interview 115 mins.

8 August 2001

From: 1910 To: 2001

item

lorry driver, brick worker, World War One, World War Two, choirs, British Army, Boer War, general Roman Catholic, mines, injury, FIRE, gas, Cranfield Public Elementary School, domestic servant, cycling, electrician, World War Two, Roman catholic priests, air raids over UK, rationing, fox hunting, Sir Malcolm Stewart Trust, swimming, Monmouthshire, Wales, CRANFIELD, STEWARTBY, WOBURN, KEMPSTON