Z1205/261

Female. Lifelong resident of Cotton End b. 18.06.1932 SIDE A (00 mins)Born in Cotton End in per parent's house, where she has continued to live all her life. Father was from Cotton End and her Mother from Houghton Conquest. Paternal grandmother wore long dresses and little boots with button-up sides, with her hair combed straight back and worn in a bunch. She seemed austere to a little girl. Her Father's sister had fits and Grandmother protected her from children. (05 mins)Father worked for Cosmic Crayons in Bedford on shift work. Later, that became Crayola. Later, he became a storeman at Cardington Camp. Father tended an allotment where he grew vegetables and corn to feed the hens they kept, to provide fresh eggs. They also kept rabbits for food. (10 mins)Childhood picnics in the fields. The village school had two classrooms; the smaller one for infants and the larger one could be divided by a long green curtain to make an additional classroom - three in all. Children had to walk from Shortstown because there was no school that that time. Separate playgrounds for boys and girls. Outdoor toilets but no mains sewerage so no flush lavatories. Weekly grocery van delivery from Cople and a horse and cart delivery of wood from Haynes. Occasional "stop me and buy one" ice cream three-wheeled bicycle vendor and a seller of cakes. A colporteur, Mr. Allan, selling bibles, and other Christian publications, visited the village occasionally. He had a stall at Bedford market. There was no library service. (15 mins)Children only ever had one pair of shoes, so when they were at the cobblers, they absented themselves from school. The old village school is still used, but has additional mobile classes outside. Wilstead children had their own school. (20 mins)Wartime ration books. Collecting apples from a relative's tree in Houghton Conquest and bringing them back home in a pram. The bread man form Wilstead, used to bring fresh bread on his trailer, drawn by a pony. Steam puddings made by her Mother. Plenty of fresh vegetables and local fruit. Suet puddings. Tin bath for the weekly bath, in front of the fire. Monday was washing day for Mother. (25 mins)Helping Mother to mangle the clothes at midday. Hanging out the washing on the clothes line. Tuesday was ironing day. Hot irons. Water from wells in the village. Stand pipes or pumps. An old man used to pass on his clothing coupons so that the children could have more clothes. Mother made lace to trim items of clothing. Mother would change clothes from morning clothes to afternoon clothes. Remembers mains water being piped to the village and electric mains. They had an electric light downstairs only. Went to bed with a candle. Oil lamps preceded electric lights. (30 mins)Remembers the village road outside being tarred. Dangerous bend where motorists frequently ended up in the ditch. Father pull them out and Mother would bathe their wounds and make them a cup of tea. (32 mins)End of Side A SIDE B (00 mins)Visiting the "sick" from Church. Changes in the village. (05 mins)Reduction in the role of the "extended family". More parents being put into old folks homes when old, rather than being looked after by children at home. Local activities in the village hall. Village has now lost its post office shop but a woman runs a voluntary one from her house. (10 mins)Still a milk delivery. She never married and it never occurred to her to leave the village she grew up in and the house she was born in. Mother and Father rented the house and when the landlady died, she bought the house. She nursed her Mother until she died. She's now modernised the cottage. (15 mins)A close friend persuaded her to buy a car and helped teach her to drive. It has made her more independent and changed her life. She worked for years with children in care. She was a housemother at a "family home" in Leagrave, Luton. The children came form "broken" homes. Her main job was to "love" them. (20 mins)Worked there for 16 years. She still hears from some of them. When she first left school she took various clerical jobs. Eventually, working for the Children's Department, she became ill with depression. She left and worked at Telephone House, Bedford, as a clerk. Reflects in changes in society during her life: reduction in church attendance and people's morals. "I'm all right, Jack" attitudes. Still areas of real poverty. She is thankful that she was brought up in a Christian family. (23 mins)End of Side B ORIGINAL INTERVIEW 55 mins.

19 February 2004

From: 1930 To: 2004

item

Cosmic Crayon Company Limited,
Telecom

allotments, sewage, playing fields, ice cream sellers, cobblers, rationing, World War Two, wash houses, WELLS, lace maker, Electricity Supply Company, roads, post offices, housemother, POVERTY, Christianity, religious practices, Cotton End, HOUGHTON CONQUEST, CARDINGTON, Shortstown, Wilstead