Z1205/140

Female. Farmer's wife. Lifelong resident of Wilstead. b. 07.06.1926 SIDE A (00 mins)Born at Little Church Far, Wilstead. One brother. 14 milking cows. Mother was a town person, originally from Chichester. (05 mins)Mother was her father's second wife (the first died in childbirth, when he brother was born). Father was from Elstow. Paternal grandfather was the baker there. Father took up farming; his father rented a farm for him. Water from well outside back door. Started a milk delivery "round" in the village, with 3 gallon container and measuring jugs. (10 mins)When Second World War started, she left school and worked on the far;. Father went into army. Between the wars, although there was mains electricity in Wilstead village, the farm wasn't connected. Tap water arrived just before 2nd. World War and mains electricity about 1949/50. Paraffin lamps prior to that. (15 mins)Going to bed with a candle. Village grocery shop in Cotton End Road. Cold winters. Frozen chamber pots in bedrooms. Difficulties raking milk churn to Bedford using a horse and float. (20 mins)Separate Church of England Infants and Junior schools in village (both now private houses). Vicar used to come and take prayers. Walked home, over mile, and back at lunch time. No school dinners. Majority of men in village worked on farms. Also a chapel and an evangelical mission in the village. About 500 people in village. (25 mins)Attending church 3 times on Sunday (2 services plus Sunday school). Village fete for George V's Jubilee celebrations. British Legion fete. (30 mins)Queen Elizabeth's Coronation in 1953. Bought first black & white television then. Was married then. Remembers visiting Granddad in Elstow. (32 mins)End of Side A SIDE B (00 mins)Food deliveries from the International Stores in Bedford, plus a fish man and a butcher. Had an orchard for apples and plums. Mother made jam. Butcher's shop in village, next to post office. Left school at 13 to keep farm going. Father and brother both went into the army for the whole of the Second World War. Numerous evacuee children in Wilstead during war, in Vicarage and around the village. She had 3 from London, one a Jewish boy. (05 mins)Majority of evacuees from Crinkleroot. Some of them stayed in village after war. Some still come back to see people. She was a Red Cross first aid volunteer. At haymaking and harvest time, extra rations were allowed. Made their own butter. Killed a pig. Didn't go too short of food in the country. Father bought Village Farm at the end of the war and the first tractor, a Fordson Major, in the village. (10 mins)Preferred working with horses; "you can't talk to tractors". Father never drove the tractor; brother operated it. Had to plough up field and grow arable crops during war. Married in March 1948. Son was born and father built a house for them. (15 mins)Brother went into partnership with her husband, farming, for 40 years after war. Reflections on changes in society: people live in village and commute to work. Still a community spirit: village celebrations for the Queen Elizabeth's Jubilee (2002) (50th. anniversary of accession to throne). Raised £1600. Every child had a medal. (20 mins)Saturday concert and Sunday "Songs of Praise" during Jubilee weekend. She read a lesson during service and carried the Mother's Union banner. Church full of villagers. Also did that for the Millennium celebrations (2000). Fewer children attend Sundays schools these days because parents take them out in the car more than in earlier days. Children less subject to discipline than in her childhood. Family life less structured. She had six children, all boys, of her own. They were keen on sport. (25 mins)Church fete every June. Methodists also have one. Mother's Union visits newcomers into the village and tries to recruit new members. (30 mins)Leisure events in village include bingo in the village hall, a bowls club and barbeques on the Jubilee playing field. Talk of building a new village hall. (32 mins) End of Side B END OF INTERVIEW. Original Interview 60 mins.

6 June 2002

From: 1920 To: 2002

item

George V, King,
Elizabeth II

baker, farmer, dairy, milkmen, World War Two, army, electricity, water supply, horses, general Church, Methodist chapels, Sunday Schools, jubilees, coronations, television, evacuees, Red Cross, volunteers, First Aid, rationing, tractors, horses, Mothers' Union, Millennium, bingo, village halls, Leisure, off Vicarage Lane Wilstead, Chichester, ELSTOW, Wilstead Cotton End Road, Cricklewood, ELSTOW