Reference
P55/28/1
Title
Reminiscences of George Gaskin, titled 'A Country Boy... 1928 -'.
Date free text
Reminiscences cover c.1933-1945; produced 2014.
Production date
From: 1933 To: 1945
Scope and Content
Chapter Summaries:
1. The Early Years
George Gaskin born in Brook Vale, Upper Stondon. He describes their house, Brook Vale, and domestic work. Also recalls what the family grew on their land, and describes some childhood activities including enrollment in the King's Messengers to 'make things to send to the poor benighted children in the underdeveloped countries.'
2. Village School
Gaskin attended 1933-1939. He describes the school, including some detail about lessons and about games played by children. He also describes his great grandmother, and her cottage at the bottom of Blacksmith Hill.
3. Home Decorating
Gaskin recounts the process of decorating a room, as well as a digression to briefly talk about his grandfather's habits.
4. Hitchin and the Saturday Market
Gaskin recalls Hitchin's market, cinema, swimming pool, and summer fair, as well as installing an indoor sink in their house and briefly joining the Sea Cadets.
5. Secondary Education
Gaskin recalls attending Luton Modern School, including skipping a year, his sporting participation, the school bus. He also describes some changes to the school in the following 60 years, before moving on to discuss his enrollment in a Luton Electricity Undertaking apprenticeship program created by C.T. Melling, including study at Northampton Polytechnic, London, and Royal Technical College, Salford, and his experiences of Manchester, Scotland, Burnley and Derbyshire. Finally, Gaskin recalls the playground games at Luton Modern School.
6. Games and Activities in the Village
Gaskin recounts many childhood games and activities, including whipping tops, conkers, forts made of hay, Boy Scouts, picking wild flowers, killing rooks, sliding on ice, and following the hunt.
7. Harvest Time - Summer and Autumn
Gaskin recalls the harvesting process, including his personal role as a boy.
8. Gypsies
Gaskin recalls the gypsies living in a field 'halfway to Hitchin'. He recalls their occupations as Rag & Bone men and door-to-door saleswomen, including buying a remedy for a cold.
9. The War Years
Gaskin recounts his experiences of the Second World War, including cycling to bomb sites, being an Air raid Precuations (ARP) Messenger, going to air raid shelters, seeing Allied planes fly overhead, the irrelevance of rationing to self-sufficient farmers, the Italian Prisoners of War contentedly working in the fields, and celebrating VE Day in Hitchin then VJ Day in London.
10. Christmas Preparations at Brook Vale
Gaskin recounts the work involved in preparing suet, Christmas puddings, and Christmas cakes.
11. Christmas at Brook Vale
Gaskin recounts his experience of Christmas in 1935.
12. A Winter Evening at Brook Vale circa 1935
Gaskin describes the radio - both listening to it and its physical operation and components.
13. Granddad Dilley and Great-Gran Cooper
Gaskin recollects his grandfather, who lived at Brook Vale as Gaskin's father left c.1940, as well as his great-grandmother.
Epilogue
Brief biographical information about Gaskin's later life, covering his career and family.
Exent
38 pages
Level of description
item