Z1205/159

Female. Former Office Worker (Licences), at London Brick Company b.20.10.1932 SIDE A (00 mins)Born in Cranfield, father came from Marston, mother from Wootton. Maternal grandfather worked at Stewartby as bricklayer. She grew up in Stewartby. Both grand fathers died when she was very young. (05 mins)Paternal grandmother lived near The Exhibition (pub) at Marston. Grandfather's name was Adams and grandmother was Too. When she visited grandparents they had meals in the kitchen. These were modern houses in those days but had no drains, so all waste had to go into a bucket to be tipped away later. The toilet was at the bottom of the garden. All gardens were open, no fences in between. They rented the house. (10 mins)Grandmother's son (uncle) ,lived at home until he was mid thirty, then he got married and his wife went to live there too. Grandmother went out only to visit her daughter, she did not go to church. Paternal grandmother lived in Stewartby, she had very bad arthritis, could not walk was in wheelchair, she was taken out and looked after by members of the family. She never complained. A lot of singing went on at home, church and village hall. Went to Sunday school. She can remember when the church was built in Stewartby, in the forties. (15 mins)She was a Sunday school teacher, used to go to Gadsden Chapel too, when it was based in Broad mead road. It was just a tin hut. Gadsden had a Band (still do) which played in the Chapel and other places. The Chapel now is in Wootton in one of the Gadsden children gardens. (20 mins ) A lot of people went to church then, some to chapel for the singing, some went to Wootton church even after Stewartby church was built. People went to church services 3 times on Sunday. Usually nicely dressed for the occasion. No other activity usually took place, but a leisurely walk. Some men went to bed for the Sunday afternoon. In some household no games or even knitting was permitted on Sunday. (25 mins)Grandmother did not do any housework on Sunday. Sometime they used to go for a walk to the pit (brick). In general children went out in groups, without fear of danger then. Played tennis and swam at Stewartby swimming pool End of side A Side B (00 mins)As a child she took part in sports days at Stewartby. Felt very privileged to have the use of a swimming pool on the doorstep. All the children in the village had the possibility to learn to swim. During the war the children only had one teacher for all the subjects. Her father was in the ARP, did not go to war. He was a bricklayer building air raid shelters. She went into the shelter a few times, but mainly went under the stairs when there was a raid (neighbours joined them too). (05 mins)They did not have an air raid shelter in their garden. There was one near the junior school and one near the pond. The children were supposed to go there if there was an air raid during school hours. However they did not until there was an incident where the children ran to the fields whilst there was shooting from planes. After that they all obeyed the rules. She remembers the black curtains on the windows. As a child she did not notice any shortages of food, but she remembers that they used to eat quite a lot of rabbit, and share it with her grandmother. (10 mins)Not too many sweets during the war. Certainly a shortage of fruit, but had plenty to eat. Her mother and some women of her age did not go to work during the war, some did go to work in the canteen and stayed after the war too. She never saw her dad at work, he used to came home for breakfast and lunch. When her dad was away working she did not see him for days. Now the village has changed, it was much nicer for children then, much more open & free than now. (15 mins.)The houses in the village of Stewartby looked all the same, they were neater and cleaner, the front gardens were always done by the London Brick Company gardeners, they cut the grass and looked after the flowers, a lot of roses every were. The open space in front of the school was cultivated (wheat) during the war. Sir Malcom Stewart bungalows' had not been built then. So that area was all fields, on the left hand side there was a farm. Family during the war had to have soldiers billeted with them, her grandmother had airmen, the grandchildren visited, sang and played games with paper aeroplanes with a lot of soldiers. Nice time was had by all, not very worried about the war, although some incendiary bombs fell in her garden due to the chimneys being in the vicinity. (20 mins)At 13 left school and went to work in the offices of London Brick Company. Her parents did not want her to go in to a factory or into nursing. Her two brothers were apprentices and went to college, she was not interested in studying. She worked for the stationery department, delivering internal mail and filing. She earned 25 shillings per week and by the time she left in 1960 the wage had risen to £11.75. But by then she had moved to other departments and done some internal training. This was above the average wage for girls. Some lads working with her resented her high wage. (25 mins.)For women doing the same jobs as men the wages were lower, she did not mind that. She mainly worked with men in the costing department, and got on very well with them, and with the girls too, there was in general a good friendly atmosphere. Evening classes were run at Stewartby school. There she did shorthand & book keeping on her own initiative, this helped her to progress up the scale at work. End of Side BContinues on 159C2 SIDE A (00 mins)The last job she had was in special expenditure department for licences, working with 6 men. She enjoyed her work but did not consider it as a career but only something to do before getting married. There was plenty to do then in the village of Stewartby after work: sports activities, dances, outings and getting together with friends. (05 mins.) Met her future husband at the newly formed Stewartby Operatic Society, although they knew about each other's family because they were living in the same village. Miss Betty Vass a music teacher, was the music director, supported by the head master of Stewartby school. Gilbert & Sullivan Operas were prepared and performed, she sang and also helped to make costumes. Had a piano at home, her brothers and friends were also part of the group. Participants and spectators all enjoyed the effort of putting on opera in the village. There were no professional singers, but some did go on to singing lessons. (10 mins) She got married in 1960 and left work, she wanted 4 children by the age of 32, but only had 2. She had no regrets about leaving work. Took part time work when her children were growing up. First worked in a warehouse helping a friend, then in a miniature radio controlled aircraft factory in Kempston. Then she worked for a builder, but did not like it. (15 mins)She thought that the brickwork industry would continue the same as when she worked there, did not envisage a scaling down and closure of most works. A lot of members of her mother's and father's family worked there and her son too. He first started in Stewartby then got transferred to Peterborough, he travelled there daily for a while from his parents house, then moved there permanently. He is a section manager in the purchasing department. She feels sadness about the closing down of so many brick companies as well as other industries too. (20 mins)Worried about the expansion of Milton Keynes, in the Marston Vale area, feeling that the countryside is going to disappear, and is going to be taken over by urbanisation. The biggest change in her lifetime has been communication. When she was a child they were one of few family to have a radio and shared it with neighbours. Now every one has TV & computers. Travel by flying is another great change she notes. Also when she was growing up there hardly were any cars on the road. Her husband had a motorbike when they first married, and they used to go and see a lot of places. Then there was the invasion of the car on the road, with a lot of traffic. Motorbikes are coming back into fashion, but they will not be having one. END OF INTERVIEW.Original Interview 90 mins.

20 September 2002

From: 1930 To: 2002

item

London Brick Company,
Adams,
Vass, Betty

brick worker, licensee, clerk, Public House, water supply, Sunday Schools, Methodist chapels, swimming, tennis, World War Two, air raid shelters, rabbits, employment of women, Sir Malcolm Stewart Trust, chimneys, soldier, wages/conditions, SHORTHAND, Stewartby Amateur Operatic Society, radio, television, computers, motorcycles, CRANFIELD, STEWARTBY, MARSTON MORETAINE, WOOTTON, KEMPSTON, new town Milton Keynes