Z1205/088

Female. Office worker at brickworks. b. 28.07.1934 SID A (00 mins)Born in the Skerries, Ireland, from where his Mother came. His Father came from Whittlesey in Peterborough. Her parents came to know each other through being "pen pals" (strangers corresponding with each other, at a distance, through an arranged scheme or through contacts arranged by friends). He was in the army. She and a friend came over from England from Ireland to work in domestic service in London, as maids. Her father joined the brickworks near Peterborough when he left the army and got married. They moved to Marston Moretaine when she was three. When the Second World War (1939-45) started her father was eventually called up. Mother worked at the ammunition factory at Elstow. There were seven children but one died, leaving 4 girls and 2 boys. Parents used the front room downstairs as their bedroom and the three bedrooms upstairs for the children. (05 mins)Outside "bucket" toilet. A bath in the kitchen. House was owned by the brickworks and was close to the brickyard. The noise of machinery. Father work in drawing bricks from the hot chambers and used cold tea to refresh him. Mother lit a fire under the copper in the kitchen (large container of hot water) to enable clothes washing and providing hot water for Father to bath when he came home filthy each day from work. After the war, he worked on the "navvy" (mechanical excavator) on 12 hour shifts, 6 days a week, one weeks nights, one week days. (10 mins)Non-perishable food was stored in the brick chambers during the war, when the Americans were based in the village. They were generous in giving food and nylon stockings to the locals, who were subject to rationing. Men drank more then and women were more of a "drudge", doing endless housework. Both parents smoked. An Aunt from London came to live with them during the war because of the bombing. Children were affected by the sweets rationing during the war. During air raids, the siren sounded and the air raid warden checked that your house was blacked out (no light was showing anywhere). Parents had a hard life. Mother died aged 59; Father died aged 61. (15 mins)Her husband's father died aged 56 and his mother was 53. As children, she and her family went o Ireland for a holiday, until she was 13. Left school at 15 and got a job in the offices at Marston Valley Brick Company. An uncle in Ireland was a market gardener in County Dublin and they used to help him pick the fruit and walk by the sea. Her mother was one of 13 children so she had lots of Irish cousins. She was 14 when her father left the army (1948). (20 mins)They didn't have a lot when she was young, but appreciated what they got. She got married at 19 and had three children, the first when she was 21. When Marston Valley was taken over by London Brick, her husband moved to work at Plysu until her retired. As a child she attended primary school in Lidlington and secondary school in Stewartby, where she could have a meal at lunchtime. They didn't have a television until 1953, a second-hand one, the year she got married. (25 mins)Father used to come home frequently when he was in the army, because he served mainly in Norfolk or Northamptonshire. Mother was Catholic and went every Sunday to a 9am service at Marston Club. There was a Dutch priest from Ampthill. When she had children of her own she didn't have time to go to church. (30 mins)Her Irish relatives used to send them shamrocks to wear to school on St. Patrick's Day. (32 mins)End of Side A SIDE B (00 mins)Everyone used to be friendly, who worked at the brickworks. Then, gradually, as people got more affluent and some bought their own houses, there was less contact between those in council houses and those in private houses. Loved writing English compositions but nothing else at school. (05 mins)Worked on brickworks switchboard at Ridgmont - 7am to 2pm shift one week; 2pm - 7pm the next week. Used to cycle to work. When you had children, you left work. Her husband didn't want her to work. After a miscarriage, she went to work in the wages office on the clerical side. In those days, you waited until your children were at school before returning to work. Very friendly staff at the brickworks. (10 mins)Cycled to the cinema in Cranfield or the one in Ampthill. She and her husband loved dancing to live bands: waltz, foxtrot, quickstep, jive, jive. Used to have dancing classes in Marston. Cinema on Sunday night at Marston Valley Club and a live band on a Saturday night. Concerts on weekdays, with local amateurs taking part, singing and dancing. (15 mins)As they got older, her husband was too tired to go out and she was happy to be at home with the family. She married a German so they go to Germany twice a year to visit her husband's brother. (20 mins)Enormous increase in housing in Marstone over the years. Doubled in size since they moved here. She worries about her grandchildren growing up in a more dangerous environment, with the prevalence of drugs and the fear of crime. Traffic has increased enormously. She wishes that life would slow down more and that people were not so greedy. She feels lucky that she has her children and grandchildren in Marston, close to her. (24 mins)End of Side B END OF INTERVIEW Original Interview 55 mins

19 February 2002

From: 1930 To: 2002

item

Marston Valley Brick Company Limited,
London Brick Company

brick worker, clerk, army, domestic servant, World War Two, Ministry of Munitions, DEATH, toilets, pollution, Bath, Ministry of Food, Americans, rationing, alcohol, housewife, air raids over UK, holidays, market gardener, Stewartby Senior School, television, Catholicism, Roman catholic priests, Dutch, literature, cycling, cinema, dancing, singing, Germans, HOUSING, drug abuse, TRANSPORT, FAMILY, Ireland, Whittlesey, Peterborough, MARSTON MORETAINE, Dublin, LIDLINGTON, STEWARTBY, RIDGMONT, CRANFIELD, Germany, AMPTHILL