Z1205/033

Female. Farmer's daughter. b.02.09.1924 SIDE A (00 mins)Childhood on farm in Cranfield. Father owned farm since 1917. 8 children. Small mixed farm. Four horses. People came to farm to buy eggs. Father took basket of their butter, on a bus, to sell at Bedford Market. Cattle wintering in the farm yards. (05 mins)Childhood memories of Bedford Market and the Corn Exchange. Mother made the cotton bags to hold samples of corn to show to corn dealers. Use of barns (10 mins)Cats to control vermin on farm. 3 farm workers before Second World War. November 5th. bonfire. (15 mins)Mother's involvement with Mother's Union at local parish church. Lamps and candles used before electricity came in early 1930s. (20 mins)Washing clothes without a washing machine, using fire-heated cooper on Mondays. Father got up a 5.30 am., lit the kitchen range (fire) and got the cows in for milking. Back for cup of tea at 7 o'clock. Expected rest of family to get up early too. Walking or cycling to school. Left at 8.15am to get to school in Cranfield by 9 am. More about washing clothes, mangling and drying. (25 mins)Tuesday, ironing day. Top-up washing during week, using kettles. Large joint on Sundays, from eldest brother who was a butcher; cold meat on Mondays. Wartime driving for him on rural rounds. Most people knew most people in the village. A lot of men worked at the brickyards at Stewartby or Marston Valley; the rest worked on farms. One brother worked at Marston Valley brick yard. Mother was in charge of finances after father died in 1944. Second sister worked in local Post Office during wartime then was transferred to Bletchley Post Office. (30 mins)Mother came from Tollard Royal,, Dorset. End of Side A Side B (00 mins)Mother's maiden name, Kimber. In childhood interviewee holidayed in West Country visiting mother's relatives, by bus and train to Salisbury. (05 mins)Usually had a day in Bournemouth, by coach from Tollard Royal, but the rest of the time spent in the village. Aunty used to clean the local church and played the organ there on Sundays. In Cranfield, there are now a lot of people she doesn't know. When t school, on wet days they wore Wellington and took shoes to change into. Teachers went home for their dinner and any pupils left, who lived too far away to return home a t midday, were left to look after themselves. (10 mins)School register was called for girls first, then boys. Moved to Stewartby School when 11 years old, when it opened. Taken there by bus. Left school aged 14, but had stayed on until nearly 15. (15 mins)Worked at the small vegetable shop in Cranfield for a year or more. Used to go out with an old van to deliver to surrounding area. Learned to drive van in fields. Applied for licence when 17 - no test - and began delivering meat for brother. Enjoyed driving. Taught her husband to drive and he past his test, first time. Few cars on road, just delivery vans. (20 mins)meat, milk, groceries, fish were all delivered, pre-Second World War. In the early part of the week, she worked at home, on the farm, to earn her keep. Chickens and ducks; haytime and harvest. Used to help and could drive tractor, which had arrived on the farm in mid-Thirties. Father never drove a tractor; he preferred horses. Whenever a horse had to be put down, father would disappear into the house, upset. (25 mins)Thought a great deal of his animals. Similarly sad if a cow died. Never even rode on a tractor. Didn't like mechanical things. Left it to his third son, Ernie. First tractor was a Fordson. Tractor was a" man's job". She was allowed to drive it but not to start it. Similarly, she was allowed to look after all other animals but not to milk cows. End of Side B and first cassette.CONTINUED ON 033C2 Continued from 033C SIDE A (00 mins)Father died in 1944. Mother had always looked after the money side of the farm business. During wartime, most of the ground had been ploughed up as arable. After the war, they were able to get back to more cattle and pigs again: up to 30 cows and calves and 100 sheep, plus 3or 4 pigs. (05 mins)After youngest brother got married, mother retired from farming and moved to the bungalow next to interviewee daughter. Farming son bought out the rest of the family and farmed for about 10 years. Farm land no longer worked by family but a nephew and his family live in the farmhouse. (10 mins)Changes in Cranfield village, from the Government deciding in the 1930s to build an aerodrome there. Some farms cleared to make way. Remembers, as a child, watching bi machinery clearing the area. Led to increased employment in the village for locals. RAF came, and set up training for new pilots. (15 mins)Village dances during war, when both RAF and American air crew were in Bedfordshire. Ritz cinema in Cranfield. Only old enough to go to dances at the end of the war. Local dance band ensembles. Preferred to cycle to other places for dances, to avoid local boys. (20 mins)Husband came from Stagsden. Went old-time dancing. Cycled a lot. Met at North Crawley in 1947. Married in 1950. Establishment of College of Aeronautics in Cranfield. Now a mire diverse university with students from all over the world. Village-university relationship. (25 mins)Expansion of university to embrace a School of Management and large hotel on campus. Flying accidents. Children of foreign students attending local village school. Rundown of brickworks and increased employment at university. (30 mins)Remembers "Cumberland people" moving into area in late Twenties or early Thirties to seek work in brickyards. Second and third generation of families still here. Changing landscape from numerous chimneys and claypits to a few chimneys and landfills. End of Side A SIDE B (00 mins)After marrying, lived at the far for 3 yrs, when mother needed looking after. After her death, helped out family budget with work in village grocer's shop. Husband was a builder, and built their own house, at nights and weekends, over 3 years. Been a councillor on parish council for over 30 years and actively involved in church and other village life. School governor of the Lower School. On many committees, including Village Hall. (05 mins)Planning issues regarding village. Likes involvement and believes in commitment. (10 mins)The local church is the love of her life. Extended church "family" as well as her own family are the most important elements. Was baptised, confirmed and married in Cranfield parish church, as was her daughter. Hopes never to move away from village. Had a very happy married life for 46 years. End of Side B.END OF INTERVIEW Original interview 115 mins.

10 August 2001

From: 1920 To: 2001

item

London Brick Company,
Marston Valley Brickworks

farming practice, horses, poultry, ducks, butter, cattle, vermin destroyer, corn exchanges, cats, Mothers' Union, CHURCH, wash houses, World War Two, tractors, Royal Air Force, DANCE, American Army, cinema, chimneys, landfill, school governors, village halls, Cranfield farms, CRANFIELD, Bedford Market, Bletchley, Dorset, Salisbury, Bournemouth, STAGSDEN