Z1205/097

Female. Former Land Army Girl & teacher, living in Marston Vale. b.10.06.1924 (00 mins)Born & brought up in Bedford, Russell Park area. Played a lot of games in the street as a child, with her two sisters one brother. The roads were empty of cars but and there were a lot of children. They were never bored, no TV, had battery radio, gramophone & records. If these records broke they could be melted and made into other things, like bowls. There was always music in the house. Mother sang, had good voice. She looked after children. Father was dentist. Paternal grand parents lived near. Often visited maternal grandfather in Buckingham. Great musical evenings, she hid under the table once to see it all. (05 mins)They had one penny a week pocket money, with that bought a lot of sweets. One penny bought four oranges. In the summer early in the morning, father took them to the river, taught them to row ('feathering'), fish and to swim at the swimming baths in Newnham Avenue. With their friends they went over the gate to swim before the baths were opened. In the park they learned to play cricket from their father. (10 mins)The baths were part of the river fenced off. where the Aspects complex is now. Incorporated a waterfall which is still there now. It had wooden dressing huts to change in. There was also Prebend Street baths which was heated. They never went there. Father rode horses and they too went to Clapham Riding School. All changed when the war started. She had to help with the evacuees, met them at the station. They went to school only half a day. She was offered a job at Town Hall as Billeting Officer and worked in the clerk's office. She wanted to go in to the forces, but her parents would not give permission. (15 mins)At nearly 16 she went to Buckinghamshire on the farm. She worked in market gardening with a lot of Gypsies. She had a great time with them. There she met a Land Army official who recruited her and promptly moved her. It was felt that the job she was doing with the Gypsies was not suitable for her. (20 mins)She was sent to Ditton, near Langley in sole charge of a poultry farm. She liked that and stayed there for the duration of the war. She looked after 2.000 chickens. Lived in digs near Slough, cycled there every day. There were other Land Army girls on the farm, she saw and helped them occasionally when they were harvesting. (25 mins)She was alone most of the time. There was a RAF camp near, she was occasionally invited to visit them. Rarely she went home for a long weekend, it was difficult to get a replacement. She was 21 when she came out of the job. The men from the Ministry got her a place at the Harper Adams Agriculture College. She did not want to spend the rest of her life on the farm. She had wanted to teach and went to Bedford Teacher Training College. She looks back at those years as happy years and necessary work to feed the nation. She is hoping that maybe a monument will be put up in Whitehall to celebrate Women's effort for the war and that the Land Army Girls will be included. She had no pension or monetary reward, only sufficient money to pay for digs. End of Side A Side B (00 mins)Few year ago found out there is a Land Army Society and joined. Surprised to ear other girls stories, some had very bad places to live. She feels jobs were allocated according to classes. She had been asked a lot of questions on her family background before she was given her job. Her sister also had a nice job in the Land Army, she did the milk round. On the11 November there is a Memorial March - finally the Land Army got permission to march too, after 60 years. She went and was the only one from Bedford. She felt very proud. (05 mins)She would like to talk about the games she played as a child. They played hoops with the stick, rolling them along the street and racing. Whips and tops, stilts squares, skipping with various verses. The town was small then children could play in the street, now it is too dangerous. In the summer they just went to the park all day. Father thought them to play rounders and tennis. She liked fast games best and playing dares. There were two pavilions in Russell Park with seats around them. One day a tramp exposed himself to the children, their parents were shocked when told about this. She led a sheltered life until she got married. (10 mins)Where the Fire Station is now, in Barkers Lane, there used to be allotments and fields. The played Cow-boys & Indians hiding amongst the corn higher than their heads. Some of the ground there had mounds, which it was said were burial mounds. Where the Athletic ground is now there was a pond and they used to collect tadpoles to take home and watch them grow into frogs. She was at training college for two years, she enjoyed it very much. Then went to teach at Pearcey Road School in the nursery then went to Priory School. She had a class of 40 children. One year there was only one white child. There was a lot of Italians, Asian and Caribbean's. (15 mins)At first the children did not speak English, sign language was used. The children form poor part of India had to be thought how to use toilets too. She did not receive any additional training to be able to cope with so many ethnic minorities, just learned on the job. She had to instil good discipline. Sometimes the children from different cultural backgrounds did not get on with each other and there were fights. When they first arrived the children were quiet, then they all very quickly learned to speak the language. Some times she visited children's homes and noted how they lived, some in very poor conditions even when their father were working at the brickyards. (20 mins)She was always well received when she visited children's homes. She noted improvement in living condition with some, but not others. She occasionally meets her former pupils, they remember her. She was head of the English School in Egypt, she has kept in touch with some of her former students and they have reunions when she goes there. (25 mins)She got married had three children. She wanted to look after her own children, so for 14 years did not teach. Then she got a teaching job in Egypt. There she taught children of very rich families who came to school with their nannies. She instilled in the children good behaviour and respect for the less fortunate than themselves. She was in Egypt for four years. Then her husband became ill and they had to come back. After he died she could not leave the house here to go back there. The biggest change she has noted in her lifetime is the lack of discipline in bringing up children, which has led to the rudeness of young ones towards older people. Also the size of the town has increased considerably. End of Side B.End of interview Original Interview 60 mins.

30 January 2002

From: 1920 To: 2002

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Land Army, teacher, games, TV, MUSIC, dentists, singing, sweets, rowing, swimming, cricket, evacuees, Gypsies, market gardening, poultry, RAF, Bedford Training College, class issues, Pearcey Road School, Priory Street Council Infant School, Italians, Asians, African Caribbeans, LANGUAGE, POVERTY, brick worker, widow, Bedford Russell Park, Bedford Newnham Avenue, Bedford Prebend Street, CLAPHAM, Buckinghamshire, Slough, Whitehall, Egypt