[speaker001:] Right erm, let's start with, how long have you lived in Harlow?
[speaker002:] Er fort er forty six next, about forty six years dear
[speaker001:] Erm
[speaker002:] I moved from Nazeing into Harlow because my house was condemned at Nazeing and I had to come into a Council house at, and erm, from I had erm, when I came from Nazeing I had erm, three sons... three sons then and when I got to, I'd been here a year and then I had another son and after that er, when he was about two years and four months I had a daughter, but unfortunately I lost her with heart trouble and er she only lived four months and I lost her and er, er I stayed there, stayed there and, in and after that I moved to because it was a bit larger house for my family you see and from erm I was there several years and er stayed there and I had erm... oh first of all I, I had my twins, my twin boys after I lost the daughter, I had twin boys and they, I went to I suppose about two years and four months between and I wanted to adopt a little girl but they wouldn't let, my hubby said no and so then I er, sort of see if I get a little girl and I had twin boys didn't I, and I'm still in, I'm in and after er after I had the twins when I was about er forty two if I did had another boy which is the one I've got, the last one up there [LAUGHTER] of my eight, I ended up with eight boys
[speaker001:] Good god
[speaker002:] and from there er Mr was the er housing manager then from Epping, we came under Epping didn't we? There wasn't any new town or anything and er they'd built those er Council houses in the front in and he also erm, he said would I like a nice new house, to have plenty of hot water for the boys for bathing and everything, so I moved into a four bedroom and er I was there, er brought my family up there for, till er, unfortunately my mother came to live with me and unfortunately erm I had to go away erm because I wasn't very well on a holiday and I was called back cos she was found dead on the toilet my poor mother and er after that erm I came back and erm, in the middle of the week from holiday, oh bother it [phone rings] will it be okay? [phonecall starts] Hello, yeah, Betty's number..., I'm just having a recording done of me while I've been in Harlow... I'm having it done now [LAUGHTER], yeah, er so I can't stop alright? alright, bye, bye []. It's always the way innit?
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER]
[speaker002:] Will that come on it? Will that
[speaker001:] No
[speaker002:] No that's alright then [LAUGHTER] and er I, I got into, I came, came back sort of when mother died, had to come back suddenly in the middle of the week and then erm I brought me family up as I say and, and my hubby... he took, he took us Christmas shopping which is twenty one years ago this, this month the sixteenth my daughter-in-law and I and the little boy and that's the little boy over there that's now married, the one with the photograph, he took us shopping at Bishop's Stortford cos we hadn't any shops nothing here then, there was nothing when I first came here it was terrible and we went to Bishop's Stortford and we came home in the, dinner time and I got erm, had our dinner and everything, had our meal, well we had soup and that was gonna cook at night, er you know, dinner at night so we had soup and that and erm he said I go down to the garage to put a tyre on my car, he came struggling back and within half an hour he was dead at fifty six years old that's all he was, so I was left to bring up those that wasn't married, I was left to bring up er the others you know, er I had the twins with me and Roy one of the boys and erm, er Brian the youngest one and I had to bring them up and I, after I, they, they all got married and I moved, before they got married I just got Brian with me the two twins got married, and I moved into my daughter-in-law's house next door which was no two, seven, five the other side, I'm sorry, two, seven, five and er I was in my house though three years that four bedroom and I couldn't afford to keep you know big house like that going with just three, my, me and my son so we moved into her house and she had the end one which is still in now, we'd done a swap and then cos er, er in the later years I was in there oh a long, long while and I loved it and I didn't wanna move but then I found, I was handicapped, I wouldn't get up the stairs to the toilet so I was moved into this bungalow you see and I had a friend living with me and he erm, he come here to live with me, came to lodge with me because he didn't want to go into Stevenage you see and er, after that erm, after that we, I had this bungalow and er I moved into this bungalow and er he moved in here with me and er everything happened when I got in this bungalow. The first May I fell out my garden and put my elbow out, this, this, this one right out which makes it awkward for me to use now, you know, I, I put that right out and therefore erm I had to go at, up to hospital and put that right [LAUGHTER] and the follow the following, the following May my bed caught alight [LAUGHTER] with electric blanket and that blazed all up, had my, had my bed all alight my double bed, the electric blanket and I'd only just had it serviced and that went, that was the second May and the third May we were going on an outing me and erm Arthur that was lodging with me and he, we got out of the taxi at Parndon and it, he just collapsed and died at me feet so that's the, that was the end of that and I've been living here you know, since he went, and erm I used to be able to get anywhere with one stick cos I had arthritis in this right hip you see, I could get anywhere with one stick in the taxi, or anywhere and I went to my son's, er which is now coming, I've been here about twelve years in this bungalow, er eight years erm, eight years ago in No this November gone, I went down to my son's, it was rather slippery and he took me down in the car and I, as I got out erm the car I said to him mind it's very slippery, he said I won't let you fall mother he said, so I went in, but as I came out with one stick he still hadn't got anything down, you know, if it had been a, a sort of erm sand or something down I wouldn't of slipped and I got half way in his car and out I fell and caught this left hip on the step, on the step and I dislocated my hip and it's right out of the socket like that, it should be, and I can't have it put back because I've had several coronaries in my life time and I cannot have it put back you see
[speaker001:] Oh
[speaker002:] but er, er as I say while I was round there the new town was, was all built and er I found, we found such a difference cos I used to have to go into Old Harlow shopping, I used to cycle before I was handicapped like this, I used to cycle everywhere, and er I went, you used to have to queue up in Old Harlow for the shops, we hadn't got anything here at all, no Stow or anything when I first, I mean when I came here nothing, it was just terrible [LAUGHTER] terrible lane up here it was and all these were all ploughed fields and it was really terrible and I had erm, I used to have to cycle into the doctors Old Harlow, queue up, queue up at the butchers, queue up everywhere you had to queue and er, till they built this er the new, The Stow then we used to go to The Stow shopping you know which made such a difference, but er, during my say during my lifetime I've so, so pleased when the new town came because I wanted to move back to Nazeing where I came from when I first got here because it was such a terrible place [LAUGHTER] there was nothing doing whatever, you know and then I moved erm, as I say after I got round the front there it was more, better really, you know, with all the er traffic and that you could see people going by and that as otherwise it, it was monotonous really in Common Fields, you didn't see much at all there, but you know it was, I quite enjoyed it really, now what else have I got to tell you? [LAUGHTER]
[speaker001:] Oh, erm, do you think your life's been changed by the New Town?
[speaker002:] Oh yes it's, it's been changed a lot and a, and er, it's made such a difference and I've met er, I've got a er fr a very good friend who's, who's a Red Cross young man who I met at Leah Manning and he takes me out in the car which I wouldn't, never get out otherwise because my boys are all working you see they can't, they're busy working and erm do shift work and security work, one's got his own security business and the other one's got a factory in Bishop's Stortford so that they don't get much chance, they work away, some of them do that they cannot get to take me out see, so he takes me out, which he's very, very good you know, he's, yesterday he took me to erm, yesterday we, he took me to Ongar to see his sister in the bungalow and then he took me for a meal at erm The Chariot at er, at Brentwood, Brentwood, yes Brentwood The Chariot, it was quite nice I had rather, a good time, erm cos usually I can't get out unless I go out in the wheelchair you see I'm confined to a wheelchair, though I struggle out into the kitchen with me two sticks and I've got a stool in there that I do all my own cooking and I make cakes and that and I'm doing a cake gonna make a cake for Christmas for me brother and make a cake, er another one for myself like, but, and then I go to my erm daughter-in-law's to spend Christmas Day and then I, I'm going to my son's and spend Boxing Day which is my birthday, I'll be seventy four on Boxing Day [LAUGHTER] I'm dreaded to say, yeah, but erm, this young man that takes me lives in Northbrooks, he's er a widower, but he's very, very good, he helps all us old people, you know, he's ever so good he is to me, he comes up and brings my shopping today, does my shopping for me as well, so, well he's, yes, he's most kind, for, nearly two years I've know him, that's a photo over there, it was taken at a wedding look, of my, that's it, over there, taken at a wedding dear, very good
[speaker001:] Yeah
[speaker002:] No I've made, it's made an awful lot of difference to me the New Town I mean we've got and the Council are very, very good to us, I mean we can't say they're not, they've had a, I've had the gas central heating put in, I've had a shower put in since I've been here and I mean they do they look after us well, the only thing I'm upset about that I've put off the ambulance to go to Leah Manning on a Wednesday because they want me to go on a Tuesday and I cannot go on a Tuesday because I have my friend come down which does all odd jobs for me you know, on a Tuesday dear and I just cannot so I had to see Mr is it? The other day
[speaker001:] Mm
[speaker002:] and he said he'd, he'd let me know before Christmas if he can get me back on a Wednesday, but I'm still taken on a Wednesday but my friend takes me in the car on a Wednesday but er I like to go in the ambulance you see really so er
[speaker001:] Yeah
[speaker002:] to be with my friends although they let me sit with me friends so they're good really so I'm hoping that I should be able to get back on a Wednesday because er, that's the only day really I can go, I go to Barn Mead on a Thursday as a rule you see, but yesterday I had to have a day off to go out, I had an invite out
[speaker001:] Oh
[speaker002:] so it poured, it poured of rain though last night that's the only thing
[speaker001:] Mm
[speaker002:] but er otherwise I'll, I'll wouldn't, I never want to go back to Nazeing not after now and, and now the, this new town we were taken shopping the other Tuesday, it was really lovely and we see all the shops, first time I've really seen them properly and er I thoroughly enjoyed it and we were all given erm in a, is it Blockers one of the shops?
[speaker001:] Yeah
[speaker002:] He gave, they gave us all a lovely mug each, beautiful
[speaker001:] Oh that was very kind
[speaker002:] Yeah, yeah was kind, it was kind of them, yes and we went all round the shops and er I thoroughly enjoyed it and in the new Co-Op as well you know, I thoroughly enjoyed it but he took me in the car so that we didn't have to hang about you see
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] so I can't get cold so I get, sometimes I get a coronary if I get very cold so I have to keep warm see but otherwise dear erm I think the New Town is really great I do...
[speaker001:] Yeah, erm what do you think of erm entertainment in Harlow?
[speaker002:] Well, er very good but erm last year I was very disappointed I didn't get invite, an invite to the old time musical which is most unusual, it's the first time I've ever been missed out, but I don't know how it happened, our warden didn't have any of us invited, so I don't know how it happened
[speaker001:] Oh
[speaker002:] no, so we didn't have an invite I know, I mean normally I'm taken every year you know, there, to see the old time musical which is great and I look forward to that but cos I didn't get, get there and I love going to Leah Manning as I say we have dancing there on a Wednesday afternoon it's great, I enjoy it ever so much and I meet all my friends there that I haven't seen for years, you know, that I used to go to clubs with and they've all arrived there now you know it's great to see them, I thoroughly enjoy it.
[speaker001:] Yeah, so you've got a lot of friends in Harlow then?
[speaker002:] Oh yes I've got loads of friends dear in Harlow yes, lovely
[speaker001:] Got a lot
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER] yeah I've got a lot of relations, I've got twenty, twenty seven er grandchildren, that includes the great grandchildren, twenty seven which I have er to get something for all at Christmas [LAUGHTER] it's a pantomime I've got stuff here and everywhere sorting out for them, cos my little grandson tonight is coming round to wrap them up for me so I got to mind I haven't, leave his present in the way otherwise he'll know what he's got [LAUGHTER] yeah he's got, I got a tape for him, he wanted a tape called Madness so I've got him a tape for it [LAUGHTER] so I've had to put that out the way so he doesn't wrap that up, no he comes and does them up for me tonight, and a friend Ian will help him as well, so you know it's, it's great really
[speaker001:] Mm, what did erm the dentist and hospitals used to be like before the New Town was built?
[speaker002:] Well we only had Epping hospital dear, that's all we had, there was only Epping and er they were er you know done what they could very good and we had a dentist, oh dentist you had to go er, oh right to Old Harlow, up er
[speaker001:] It's a long way
[speaker002:] I think it was Old Harlow or Hoddesdon somewhere I used to go, I know a long way off we had to go because there wasn't anything round here was there? No, no one, nothing at all, no, it's great.
[speaker001:] It's much better now?
[speaker002:] Oh it is now yes, you've got, I mean you've got the service now haven't you and erm, but I like at St Margaret's hospital I'd been, I had been, I went in there to have my last boy, but they're very, very good there they were, I've not been in, I've been in, I've had treatment here for my hip and that up at Harlow but they wouldn't do the operation because of my blood clotting you see, so therefore I've got to grin and bear it, I've had eight years of it, I couldn't walk for six months, but now I struggle and get around as I say with a couple of sticks I get round
[speaker001:] Mm... er what was the school like before it, the schools in Harlow before
[speaker002:] Well all we had was Broadfield School and that's where my boys had to go to Broadfield, they went into Broadfield School and erm, they all got on alright you know, they got on well there and then from there they went to when the new school was built they went to Netteswell school you see, but two of my sons are electricians and unfortunately the eldest one, one of the electricians I couldn't put him to apprentice because I couldn't afford it cos I had a hard to struggle to bring them up you know in those days, we didn't get erm any family allowance or anything those days, and erm, so therefore he couldn't go, but he sort of got on and got his own factory, but my other son who's an electrician, one of the twins he's erm, he's got his City and Guilds he passed, he went, he was able to go to the school when the new schools were built you see, when Netteswell school was built he was able to go to night school and er learn all you see, then there was the one at Burnt Mill wasn't there, down the bottom? I mean
[speaker001:] Mm
[speaker002:] he was able to go and he, cos he passed his City and Guilds, he works for the Water Board so he gets the maintenance
[speaker001:] Oh
[speaker002:] for the Water Board so he's got quite a good job you know, but erm, I'm, we couldn't afford to put the other through the apprentice because I mean you hadn't got the money had you then
[speaker001:] No
[speaker002:] you couldn't do it, but he had every opportunity the other, the twin did to get through you know and he passed his City and Guilds, but Peter's got on alright, the other son who's got the factory, he's, he's busy got an electrical panels and all that he does, you know, he's quite good and my other son he works, he used to work at Burnt Mill, and he now has moved to erm er Stansted, he works at Stansted he works in the big food depot, that used to be years ago and he works there, he's been there ever since he left school, since except two, two years he had in the army you know for the conscription, but he's been there erm ever since he was fourteen and he's now about oh, forty something now he is, I'm not quite sure of their ages, I get muddled up [LAUGHTER] I've got, eight, eight sons altogether, so, I've got quite a family dear.
[speaker001:] What was your old house in Nazeing like?
[speaker002:] It, it was a two bedroom old cottage it was, very, very nice with a big garden and all I had was erm one room downstairs and like er a kitchen, well er where the sink and that was it was more like a big room where the kitchen was and the two bedrooms upstairs, but only a door on one bedroom, you went up the stairs into a big open room you know where the bannisters all round you know what I mean, no door on it and just, another door, a bedroom door, that's all but I loved it you know it was a nice erm, not bad, but of course it was condemned it got so old and then they pulled it down and they built another house on it right next to where erm that shooting took pla you know they was having that shooting night just down that lane where I used to be
[speaker001:] Oh
[speaker002:] I used to live just down that lane, back lane and er that's where they er had that last week that episode with the police wasn't it, bogus police, yeah, yes that's where I and er it was a quite nice old house really I didn't like leaving it.
[speaker001:] How long did you live there for?
[speaker002:] Oh I li well I, I've had a lot of moves dear in my time I tell you [LAUGHTER] I, first of all when I first got married I lived at Bishop's Stortford, then from Bishop's Stortford I went to erm Stansted in rooms cos I, you know we couldn't get a place and from there I had one of my sons [phone rings] oh... [telephone conversation starts] hello... time, eleven o'clock just struck... what's the day? Today is Friday, yes, it's Friday... the date today, what's the date today the eighth?
[speaker001:] The tenth
[speaker002:] the tenth, the tenth, tenth... alright, that's alright, right... [tut] righto. up the top she lives, oh dear [LAUGHTER] what's the time? Just strike eleven, so it's not far wrong...
[speaker001:] Erm, when the new town was first proposed and erm, and they you know said they were gonna build up houses and that, what did you think?
[speaker002:] Well I was pleased, I was pleased of it
[speaker001:] Mm
[speaker002:] really great it was, you know I didn't really think it would turn out as big as it has done you know, but it's turned out beautiful hasn't it really, yeah we was, I was thrilled especially when they built the new houses round the front we used to go and keep looking at them, little did I think I would get one, and the housing officer came one day and he said would you like one of the new ones, I said I would and it was four bedroom but we got, you see we've got the other bedroom over my daughter-in-law's, so me and hubby used to have the en right down a long passage and the bedroom was over like the sit you've got a bedroom over the sitting room like see and she erm, we used to have so the children didn't make a noise to disturb her [LAUGHTER] so my hubby and I had that room, yeah, it was quite nice it was, nice house, I erm, you know, enjoyed being there, bringing up the family, you want plenty of room you've got a big family don't you really? So it, then I had erm, I brought up my husband's sister's daughter from when she was fourteen, I brought her oh, yes fourteen, I brought her up for nine years and br brought her up as my own daughter like because she got, got to be put away in a home and I didn't want her to have to go into a home so I, I brought her up you know we brought her up and sort of as, I lost my little girl she was with me like, see and she still comes to me like, she still calls but she calls me mum, mother like now, ha, you know all those years I had her, she's married and her family's grown up now and er she's got one daughter left, left at home who's just got engaged that's Mrs from er she lives, yes so, so that was my hubby's er sister's daughter she only had the one daughter and two brothers, but she, the brothers she don't hear nothing of them they just, you know they were gonna put her in a home, but we took her so she didn't have to go in a home, I didn't want her to have to go in a home
[speaker001:] Mm
[speaker002:] so we brought her up, brought her up, she lived with me until she got married you see dear.
[speaker001:] Yeah, did a lot of people have to go in homes in those days, or is it just like today?
[speaker002:] Well it's, it's more like more or less just like today, you know, if you, if you've got nowhere to go and they just put you there, but I mean now you can't get in very good can you really, not now, but erm, Pat since she's been on duty she's had a terrible trial, terrible she had to get one, help in this morning, get one of the floor next door, then we've had trouble one down further, but she's been put into erm Ashlyn now for five weeks, so she's out the way for a little while [LAUGHTER] we've had an awful worrying time here though, it's absolutely been a pantomime cos this has just keeps er throwing herself on the floor, all the time she's doing it
[speaker001:] Mm
[speaker002:] and the warden was there in her dressing gown trying to get her up and she couldn't get her up this morning, so she had to get help, one of the workmen came along and helped from the top [LAUGHTER] terrible to say though it is, yeah, never mind, they get over it...
[speaker001:] What did the shops used to be like cos you used to have to go to the Old Town didn't you?
[speaker002:] Yeah well, there wasn't many shops there really dear, there were just the er fishmongers and greengrocers and the butchers and the, we used to have to go there to get, to queue up, you had to queue because there was no, not many shops to be there you see to serve you, it's altered a lot now, there's a lot more shops now and the doctors I used to have to queue right out the gate, the doctors a big long queue, there was only Dr surgery and then we had another doctor came that started down at erm the bottom of erm Harlow near where, where do they call that? Bottom part of Harlow, down by the Fire Station where do they, there used to be another doctor had a surgery down there Dr...
[speaker001:] Oh I don't know
[speaker002:] but where, where it's in, it's Old Harlow it's in Old Harlow, but further down, right further down by the Fire Station, he used to have a surgery down there
[speaker001:] Was it Chippingfield somewhere round there?
[speaker002:] No Chippingfield's in, near the Post Office, no it's further
[speaker001:] Oh
[speaker002:] than that dear it's down the other end, the other side of Old Harlow, but he used to have a surgery there which he, you know, made it better after the erm, to ease up Dr surgery cos that was so packed and the shops were absolutely and you used to have to queue and queue for, to get your shopping, you couldn't, I used to cycle into Harlow and leave my cycle somewhere and then go along do my shopping, but it used to be two or three hours' job it was, you didn't get done till dinner time and then I used to call it a, a lady used to say call there that used to have the fried fish and chip shop on the corner of erm Harlow and I used to go there and have a cup of tea before I came home because I used to be so long shopping you couldn't get served you see, it's too many people, there was nowhere else for them to go, it was only Bishop's Stortford you had to go
[speaker001:] Mm it's a long way innit?
[speaker002:] see, yeah I mean it's a long way out isn't it, yeah you couldn't get there you see, mm...
[speaker001:] Are you allowed to have pet pets here?
[speaker002:] Yes, I've got my cat, it's just gone out, yeah I've got a cat, yes he's a lovely little cat I've got and he's just gone out a little ginger and but I did have a dog but I, cos he, I had him several years here a beautiful little corgi he was and then I had to have him put to sleep because he had er water trouble, but then my doctor advised me that I, he said don't have another dog have a cat, so I had a cat, I've always had a cat though
[speaker001:] Mm
[speaker002:] I had two when I first came here, but erm, one came as a stray but this one I've got is a lovely little er ginger and white one he's, he's about somewhere but he's just gone out I should imagine been on the si sitting on the sideboard...
[speaker001:] Do you go on holiday anywhere?
[speaker002:] Yes dear I went to erm, er the er holiday camp in October to erm, er with the Red Cross and I went with the, Charlie took me and I went in a car with a friend of mine we went to the Red Cross holiday in Patefield, but it poured of rain every day [LAUGHTER] every day it poured of rain didn't October it was terrible, ever so cold, but we were well looked after you know and I enjoyed it and we had the wheelchairs to go around in on for the dancing, it was really great I thoroughly enjoyed it, I haven't been for two years I hadn't, but I went like in October, cos you're only allowed really every two years to go, that's all you're allowed really, but I thoroughly enjoyed it you know, it was nice
[speaker001:] Yeah
[speaker002:] really great.
[speaker001:] Did you go on holiday when you were younger? Did you take the family away or was it?
[speaker002:] We used to, we, I used to go when my husband was alive we used to go to erm Devon cos I had a brother living in Devon we used to go there, but er unfortunately I lost him when he was only fifty with a coronary, and so erm, in, cos and after that I lost my husband you see so cos we I've never been away like that before, not, not since, years ago that was, he's been gone twenty one years this Christmas sixteenth might be so, I've not been able to so I, I, I go with the erm, I went with the Red Cross this year the year before last I went erm er,Char Charlie took me away we went to er a chalet we stayed at and er a friend of mine we went there for a week had a week there, that poured of rain every day, this year it poured of rain every day
[speaker001:] Mm
[speaker002:] so we've had nothing but rain. Last night was a terrible night wasn't it?
[speaker001:] Yeah
[speaker002:] Pouring all night, yeah, did you want a coffee dear?
[speaker001:] No thank you
[speaker002:] Cos you can have one
[speaker001:] No it's alright
[speaker002:] Are you sure?
[speaker001:] Yeah... erm, erm do you get a lot of benefits? Have you got a bus pass or anything like that?
[speaker002:] No, I don't have a bu I, I didn't, I didn't have a, you, I used to, no I didn't have a bus pass no cos I've been handicapped haven't I, no
[speaker001:] Mm
[speaker002:] I haven't dear, no I can't get a bus pass but I get the grant from the Council in er January twenty five pound we get to help towards the fuel bills you see, no.
[speaker001:] What do you think of the Council in Harlow?
[speaker002:] Very good, very, very good, no I think as I say the only thing I said to Mr I told him that I'm very upset because I've always been treated ever so fair by him I mean they've really been good to us, you can't say they're not, I mean no other Council I don't think is as good as Harlow Council, well I say that because I know by my friends who live away they're not er, they don't get half the benefits that they get here, I mean we are looked after aren't we?
[speaker001:] Yeah
[speaker002:] I know, I say that, and the, the only thing is I was upset over the Leah Manning, being taken off the ambulance you see and whether I will get back I'm hoping I will because erm he said he will let me know before Christmas so I think he will, he came to Leah Manning to visit me any rights to see me about it, so it was good of him really
[speaker001:] Yeah
[speaker002:] cos I mean they don't usually do they, but he did he came up there to see me
[speaker001:] Mm... oh what did your husband do for a living?
[speaker002:] He used to be a crane driver dear for, yeah he used and I've got to, one of me sons now is a foreman for, well they're not now it's, it's sort of amal amalgamated with another firm now I think, but he does, he does erm, he's a foreman like now, he used to be a truck, crane driver and my, the very night that my hubby died on the following Monday he would of been working in Harlow, he got a new crane to take over in Harlow and he'd been working away from home for weeks and months of the year always away, coming home weekends and I used to have to cook and do his washing and pack him up for going off again Monday morning early, but he never was near home working then, and as I say the night before he went he was, he was gonna work on the Monday to in Old, to Harlow down where the new er place was for and it unfortunately cos he went.
[speaker001:] Have you ever had a job?
[speaker002:] Beg your pardon?
[speaker001:] Have you ever had a job?
[speaker002:] Yes I, after I lost my daughter I had to go into erm, into the factory to make aeroplane pieces at Burnt Mill cos I was so bad with my nerves after I lost her, er just afternoons I had to go and then I was taken ill I couldn't do it, well then after my erm, I got my family off to school I took a part time job in erm one of the factories making tea in the mornings for the office and coffees and that for the office and then in the afternoons I used to do the tea as well, I used to cycle there, I quite enjoyed it until my right hip started coming bad then I had to pack it in, but I was in there, I was there for about four years and I thoroughly enjoyed it you know making tea and that, I didn't have to take it round only collect the money to go round and collect the money, but used to have to put the trolley outside and they used to come and get their tea each one, of which they knew which was their mugs and cups ha, you know, I, I thoroughly enjoyed that job, really great...
[speaker001:] You got any hobbies?
[speaker002:] Yes, stool making, you know I've got a stool here, I made that stool over there ages ago for me daughter-in-law and this one I cannot get it right I've, I've, it's, it's, I'm trying I've got to undo it again there, it's not right, I think it is because the cord's too thick, it's a very thick cord and I've not got enough stitches you know not enough strands on it, but I'm gonna do it, it'll be done before Christmas [LAUGHTER] I've got to do it otherwise oh and I've made a big rug at the centre, which I shall have home before Christmas, a big woollen rug I've made, yes so, oh it's a beautiful rug it's with those er silver thing you push through the hole on the canvas
[speaker001:] Oh yeah
[speaker002:] and you put the cluster of wool in it and pull it back and it's like little bobbles of wool and er I've got a beige and a brown I've done it with it will look nice you know, it will come right here, it's a beautiful rug, quite nice, so I've been busy and I make coat hangers
[speaker001:] Mm
[speaker002:] I do those, knit coat hangers you know make the with the, when I'm not doing me rug I'm making them [LAUGHTER]
[speaker001:] Yeah
[speaker002:] and the squares for the blankets, I can't crochet though, I'm no good at crocheting, I can't do any crocheting, I can knit but I can't crochet
[speaker001:] Is that blanket crochet, crochet?
[speaker002:] Yes that's been crocheted this one, yeah I can't do it, that, that one's a knitted one, but I can't erm I just can't crochet, I can knit [LAUGHTER] I've tried, but I've tried I just can't do it I don't know why I take the hobby my plants, I've, I grow those violets from leaves, look behind
[speaker001:] Oh yeah
[speaker002:] that's all grown from leaves, just put the leaves in water and the little shoots come on them and then I put them in after some, when they've got their little roots on them and they grow, that's, that's one I've grown from, from just leaves and one in over there in the window I've grown from leaves.
[speaker001:] That pink one's lovely, what is it?
[speaker002:] That's a cyclamen, two I'd had me given that at our family party, we have a family party once a year
[speaker001:] Mm
[speaker002:] and er we do all the cooking between us and my, my sons they have a disco and all that they get
[speaker001:] Mm
[speaker002:] and this year they brought me the wireless and cassette
[speaker001:] Oh lovely
[speaker002:] last year I had a hoover, the year before that I had erm a teas maker, which I've got a Goblin teas maker they bought me
[speaker001:] Lovely
[speaker002:] yes, and er, that, that's one of the plants I had given me, yeah I have some lov I have some lovely presents you know really great they are, quite nice at the part we, we have a, the children they, they er have games for the children to start with we do for the grandchildren you see and then er we have the dancing and the erm disco, it was great, we have a lovely party every October we have and I have all my friends we had about a hundred and eighty this year I think, must of been Hatfield Broad Oak hall we hold it, over at Hatfield Broad Oak cos it's er nice hall there, you know it's, you know especially handicapped toilets and everything there it's beautiful, mm
[speaker001:] Yeah, good... I don't think I've got any more questions, that's lovely
[speaker002:] No [LAUGHTER] was it alright?
[speaker001:] Yes it was very good, you did very well, thank you.
[speaker002:] That's alr