Bedfordshire Archives Service Catalogue
  • Reference
    Z1205/081
  • Title
    Male. Fitter at brickworks. b. 15.07.1931 Side A only (00 mins)Early childhood in Newcastle upon Tyne during 1930s. Severe economic depression. Father was miner, often unemployed. Six children. Real hardship. Didn't know grandparents. (05 mins)Family moved down to Bedfordshire, before just before the war, to take up an offer of a smallholding under the government's Land Settlement Scheme. Father was keen gardener. House and a small amount of land for vegetable production, plus greenhouses, pig and hens. The home farm took all produce and sold it wholesale. (10 mins)Towards the end of the war, father branched out on his own. Moved family to Wootton Green. Father worked part-time as baker's roundsman and the rest in developing a smallholding. Not a good businessman. Went to work as gardener for Cranfield College for rest of his working life. (15 mins)Schooling. Wartime requisitioning of Coronation brickworks by Ministry of Supply as a store. Trainee fitter. Got married in 1954. Joined London Brick Company. (20 mins)National Service in army, aged 18 - 20 years. Returned to brick works. New style of quarrying, from the top alone, using draglines and conveyors. (25 mins)Moved to Stewartby village in 1955. Good social life for brickworkers - social club as the centre. Brothers and sisters left area. Mother died, aged 52. Good pension from London brick Co. Hanson, when it took over London Brick Co., downsized the staffing in service areas, where there was overstaffing. Decline in brick production since Second World War. Locally, the closure of brickworks led to a cleaner environment. (32 mins)End of Side A (No recording on Side B) End of Interview Original Interview 32 mins
  • Date free text
    10 December 2001
  • Production date
    From: 1925 To: 2001
  • Level of description
    item
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