Z1205/133

Male. Brickworker. b. 30.03.1920 SIDE A (00 mins) Born and raised in Lidlington. Paternal grandmother told tales of Lidlington witches. Local glow-worms. (05 mins)Superstitions. Maternal grandmother at Marston near Rose and Crown public house. Franklin's tile-making yard almost opposite, the pit a few metres deep. Clay dug by hand went through a steam-driven pump mill and then into moulds in the winter. After drying the tiles were fired in beehive kilns, built up for each lot, in the summer. (10 mins)Calo, the top clay they used, was ideal for making hard tiles. Father worked for the County Council, tarring roads. Father's siblings (15 mins)Mother's siblings, including 2 or 3 orphans. He visited his grandmother in Marston, on his bike. His elder sister worked at Lidlington Post Office. Mother had "lost" two babies in between. Mother did lacemaking at home. She was also both a mid-wife and lay people out when they died. (20 mins)Examples of how superstitious she was. (25 mins)Lidlington village school. 3 teachers; about 60 children. Ages 5 - 14 years. Choice of local work limited to brickmaking or farming. Village shops and post office. Methodist chapel and Sunday school. He and father went to the Baptist chapel in Ridgmont, picked up by the only car in the village. (30 mins)After school, went to work at Marston Valley Co. brickworks in 1934. (32 mins)End of Side A SIDE B (00 mins)Two kilns with railway tracks, for loading, on either side. 41/2 d an hour wages. 6.30am - 5.30pm, Mon - Fri, plus Sat. 6.30 - 12 noon. ½ hr breakfast break & 1 hour for dinner at midday. No canteen. Many workers with family tradition in works. Friendly atmosphere. Moved to Ridgmont in 1937. Open-top kilns preceded long continuous-fire kilns. (05 mins)Clay extracted at Marston Valley by a "navvy" excavator and the drawn up on trucks pulled by a wire rope winch. Numerous accidents to press boys who removed the wire guards to de-clog the presses. Called up, aged 20, in 1940, to join the artillery during Second World War. (10 mins) Wasn't needed, after training, so returned to brickworks. Joined Ridgmont Home Guard. Recalled to army for invasion of France. Did four year's service, leaving in 1946. Got married during war. (15 mins)During war, Marston brick works was closed down and used to store food. Ridgmont was kept working and the bricks produced stored for re-building after the war. There were also storage depots for bricks in Hounslow and somewhere in the North Country. (20 mins)Women workers kept brick works going during war, some of them from London. Hard work on the presses, conveyor belts & clay hoppers. German prisoners of war given cigarettes as perks by the Manager. Housing without any modern facilities, without even cold water inside. Lidlington village used to be supplied with water from springs in the hill with taps around the village streets. (25 mins)Wide range of nationalities worked at brickworks after the Second World War. English workers wanted the day shifts; so Italians did nights at first. Eventually, all took equal shares. Introduction of fork lift trucks, the greatest change when London Brick took over. (30 mins)End of Side B END OF INTERVIEW. Original interview60 mins

13 May 2002

From: 1915 To: 2002

item

London Brick Company,
Marston Valley Brickworks,
Franklins of Marston Ltd

witchcraft, brick worker, superstition, Public House, tile making, clay, Bedfordshire County Council, lace maker, midwives, shops, post office employee, Methodist chapels, Sunday Schools, Baptist chapel, wages/conditions, injury, World War Two, Home Guard, army, Ministry of Food, employment of women, Germans, prisoners of war, water supply, Italians, works manager, LIDLINGTON, STEWARTBY, MARSTON MORETAINE, RIDGMONT, France, Hounslow, London