Z1205/035

Male driver, brief period at Marston Valley Brick Co. b. 09.03.1936

13 Aug 2001

From: 1930 To: 2001

SIDE A (00 mins) Born in Paddington, London. Father worked on railways. Period in hospital with diptheria. Mother pawning personal belongings to keep family going. (05 mins) Strict father. Live eels displayed in pub windows in London. Maternal grandparent's "moonlight flits". (10 mins) Mother born in Cranfield. Move from London to Millbrook. Evacuee children join family. Subsidised farmhouse rented from London Brick. No mains services. Outside well for water. (15 mins) Three families in area. Well 75 yards from interviewee's house. Weekly bathing in tin bath. Cooking on coal fire range. (20 mins) Life in a large family. Six children. Dangerous childhood illnesses. Steppingley Isolation Hospital. Walking or running to school (25 mins) By rail to Stewartby School. Schoolboy play. Exploring surrounding countryside. Egg collecting. Boys' gangs. END OF SIDE A SIDE B (00 mins) Danger of water-filled quarries - two boys drowned - skating on thin ice in winter - raiding moorhen's nests for eggs to eat - accidentally setting fire to farm buildings (05 mins) Fear of local policeman - left school at 15 - brief period as trainee carpenter at Marston Valley Brick - then Bedford Dye Company (10 mins) Joined Royal Navy - aged 15 - trained at HMS Ganges - harsh discipline - signed on for 12 years but left after 4 years on medical discharge - drove vehicles for British Road Services - then joined London Brick in fitters department - reflections on life without electricity I parent's house - radio run on accumulator battery - charged weekly at Marston garage (20 mins) Mother regarding those years in old farmhouse as best of her life - wasn't happy in prefab, with neighbours all around (25 mins) Wartime London Brick activity in Millbrook - left London Brick after 8 years - joined Vauxhall's Proving Ground in 1970 as driver - testing car and lorries around track and over hills End of interview Original interview 60 mins.

English

item

Marston Valley Brick Company Limited,
London Brick Company,
Bedford Dye Works Limited

lorry driver, health, fish, evacuees, farms, CHILDREN, eggs, FIRE, policeman, quarrier, DEATH, skating, naval ships, medical conditions, fitter, radio, diphtheria, motor vehicles, Paddington, CRANFIELD, MILLBROOK, STEPPINGLEY, Millbrook Proving Ground