[speaker001:] Where do you want to start? When you were a child or when you started?
[Doris:] Ahem erm [clears throat] from July thirty nine I think were, when I came back and then what led up to me going abroad
[speaker001:] Oh yes.
[Doris:] being a nanny.
[speaker001:] Were you train er trained as a children's nurse?
[Doris:] Yes I've got the National Society of Children's Nursery Certificates.
[speaker001:] Mm. Where did you train? Did you have to go to college or?
[Doris:] Erm I went to, as a private nurse, I started training in the North Middlesex then I did children's training in the Children's Aid Society.
[speaker001:] Oh, I see, so you were erm a trained nurse as well as a children's nurse?
[Doris:] Yes erm well erm and I belong to the Nursery Nurses' Association.
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] And that's where I got this job with
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] babies
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] in London.
[speaker001:] Mm. How many erm children did you look after before you?
[Doris:] Two.
[speaker001:] Just two children mm.
[Doris:] Erm just two children. Because when you were trained in those days you only had two children or otherwise you had another nanny if you had more.
[speaker001:] Oh I see.
[Doris:] You had complete charge of the children.
[speaker001:] Mm. What was the first family?
[Doris:] Well the er family I went to, well they were all nice families, cos you have, you loved your babies cos you had them from birth and you looked after them. And I did return to nurse them for two years
[speaker001:] Oh yes.
[Doris:] with what we called unmarried mothers in
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] those days.
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] And the mothers wouldn't have the children er
[speaker001:] Mm
[Doris:] once they got erm pregnant
[speaker001:] Mm
[Doris:] and so the Children's Aid Society, which was the Church of England Society then
[speaker001:] Oh yes.
[Doris:] they erm had this erm had these people in Streatham and
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] we had the girls months before babies were born
[speaker001:] Oh yes.
[Doris:] and er then when they had their babies, a lot of them wanted to keep them
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] and so we had our own homes, for the boys in Brighton when they were older and the girls at Hastings.
[speaker001:] Oh I see. It must've taken quite a bit of courage for the girls to have kept their babies.
[Doris:] Yes and erm
[speaker001:] A real stigma, wasn't there? unmarried mothers.
[Doris:] Yes in those days there were and they was mostly young girls, they were waylaid going across the heath or it's their stepfather and
[speaker001:] Oh dear!
[Doris:] things like that. They weren't, you know they didn't, weren't girls that would er in those days know what they're doing so much you know.
[speaker001:] No, no.
[Doris:] And I used to have to sing hymns for them on the wards, they used to love that
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] and erm then we kept the babies in different toddlers' homes at
[speaker003:] Todshill and Norwood
[speaker001:] Oh yes.
[Doris:] and then when the boys were of school age they went to Brighton and the girls to Hastings and
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] and we kept the homes small, about twenty in a home to make it more like home-like and not institution.
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] And er then when they, if they got scholarships, they went to other schools. They had their own bathing tent on the beach.
[speaker001:] Oh yes.
[Doris:] They used to go swimming and walks in the winter, have their friends in for tea
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] and er then when they left school some were missionaries and some were nurses.
[speaker001:] Oh I see.
[Doris:] Cos in those days, some of the homes just pushed them into domestic service and that kind of thing.
[speaker001:] At least, you know, they had more foresight, more care for the
[Doris:] Yes
[speaker001:] children, they weren't really sort of turfed out were they?
[Doris:] Yeah and we, you know, having them as from babies you're so attached
[speaker001:] Oh yes, that's
[Doris:] to these children.
[speaker001:] right, yes.
[Doris:] And er
[speaker001:] So this job you had with the diplomat's family, did you get it from the, the home or were you in a?
[Doris:] Er, erm the one, I applied erm through the Nursing Mirror for that one. When I was er I started at the North Mid, but I was only there a few months
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] and I wasn't too happy and that's why I, I saw this job advertised
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] and I went there and worked with the toddlers and er and then I worked in the maternity side of it
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] and I loved the new babies.
[speaker001:] Oh yes.
[Doris:] And I used to do testing, you know, for urine
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] and things
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] er one night keep in touch with the mothers mm
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] and we were with them all the while
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] and it was really a happy life, I enjoyed that and then when they, we found them all jobs.
[speaker001:] Really?
[Doris:] Er, once they were able to leave the home and so that everyone was looked after, they never left our care really and
[speaker001:] No.
[Doris:] and whenever they wanted to go to see their children they could. They either went to Hastings or Brighton wherever it was necessary.
[speaker001:] That was marvellous really, it
[Doris:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] could have turned out so differently couldn't it?
[Doris:] Yes and then er I wanted to change and I wanted to do private nursing
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] so I went up to Streatham and did voluntary work in the maternity home
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] until I got fixed up with a private job
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] and that was a Jewish family.
[speaker001:] Oh yes. Was that in London?
[Doris:] And, and it was, yes in London.
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] Er Golders Green
[speaker001:] Yes, yes.
[Doris:] erm well Hampstead Garden Suburb of
[speaker001:] Oh I know.
[Doris:] And I was with them when I had this holiday with my sister and we went abroad
[speaker001:] Mm mm.
[Doris:] and we enjoyed it so much and it was only ten pound for ten days,
[speaker001:] No!
[Doris:] first class holiday
[speaker001:] Really?
[Doris:] and free admission to the casinos and
[speaker001:] That include the hotel?
[Doris:] what have you. Everything first class. Had an orchestra playing in the garden
[speaker001:] Really?
[Doris:] erm, you know, nighttime and the champagne was only two shillings a bottle and er really had a lovely time.
[speaker001:] mm.
[Doris:] And that, that's when we went on the ship.
[speaker001:] Mm
[Doris:] The Rodney, have a
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] We were told about war coming
[speaker001:] Mm
[Doris:] and we enjoyed it so much, we went and asked my mother for some more money, we stayed another week and then when we got back to London er Mrs said I think we better go, you know, get away from London in
[speaker001:] Mm
[Doris:] case war comes, with
[speaker001:] Mm
[Doris:] the children.
[speaker001:] Mm
[Doris:] So I suppose that was about August, we went down to erm Bath
[speaker001:] Mm
[Doris:] and then time went along until it was September and September the third I was in church when the vicar announced that war has just been declared.
[speaker001:] Oh, mm
[Doris:] So I stayed on a few weeks and erm then I went back to London
[speaker001:] Mm
[Doris:] and went to Nursery Nurses' Association and they suggested I took charge of an evacuee centre for children. Meantime, this urgent request for someone to go with a government family to North Africa
[speaker001:] Mm
[Doris:] and it would only be six months
[speaker001:] Mm
[Doris:] because no white people were there during the hot weather.
[speaker001:] Oh, I see.
[Doris:] But er, we went and we travelled overland, spent
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] had three days in Paris
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] and then we went through into Italy and I
[speaker001:] You went by train all, all the way through, did you?
[Doris:] Yes.
[speaker001:] Mm mm.
[Doris:] And then in Italy at Turin, we got on the boat er The Gaviteer Italian boat
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] and we called in at Naples, had a look round there and then we went through to Alexandria and spent a week there.
[speaker001:] How long did it take you from Italy to
[Doris:] Well, I think it was about a fortnight
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] and erm
[speaker001:] What was life like on the boat? Was it quite comfortable or a bit basic?
[Doris:] Oh it was very quiet. The children had a bag of homemade bricks, you know, all sawn up different blocks of wood and so they kept themselves amused with that.
[speaker001:] Mm it's a long time
[Doris:] Yes
[speaker001:] to be contained on a boat and
[Doris:] Yes
[speaker001:] How old were the children?
[Doris:] But oh er the little girl was a year
[speaker001:] Oh
[Doris:] and the boy was three
[speaker001:] Mm mm.
[Doris:] Judy and Hugo.
[speaker001:] Oh yes, so you were part of saying
[Doris:] and
[speaker001:] about their toys, were you?
[Doris:] Yes and they were, he was playing with his toys and his bricks and he was, in the evening you were feeling a bit sick sometimes with it was pretty rough crossing, er that was across the channel.
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] After we left Paris, that was on the train through to Italy, then down to Turin and then on the Italian boat
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] and er through to Alexandria where we spent a week, then by train from Alexandria to Cairo.
[speaker001:] How long did that take? Was that?
[Doris:] Not long.
[speaker001:] No, no.
[Doris:] And then we got on The Lotus, the barge
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] and we went down the River Nile which took three days
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] from Cairo to Khartoum north
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] and on the way we passed er the Wadi Halfa
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] Er Rames the Rameses heads.
[speaker001:] Yes, yes.
[Doris:] What they remove for the Aswan Dam
[speaker001:] Oh.
[Doris:] and we had a look over that temple, it was the Abdul Sindal temples.
[speaker001:] What was it like?
[Doris:] And er lovely with all the Egyptian markings on the inside of the wall and er then we got back on the barge and er we continued our journey to Khartoum north.
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] And we were opposite er the governor's residence, which was across the water
[speaker001:] Oh yes.
[Doris:] erm cos we were Khartoum north
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] and er the children used to play on the banks of the Nile early in the morning when they got up, there was all sand there.
[speaker001:] Oh yeah.
[Doris:] Yes and then being with government people, they had to go on trek
[speaker001:] Mm
[Doris:] and erm we u had a boat on the Nile and the police came with us on camels and another barge with the servants and er so on the way er we made marmalade and all sorts of things to fill in time.
[speaker001:] Oh ye were there obviously cooking facilities on the boat were there?
[Doris:] Pardon?
[speaker001:] There were cooking facilities on the boat?
[Doris:] Oh yes er Mrs she did the cooking
[speaker001:] Yes, yes.
[Doris:] Erm the servants did their cooking, but we made the marmalade and things, the extra
[speaker001:] Yes, I know.
[Doris:] things like that
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] and Mr had to see the different people being, acting like a magistrate while he was there as he was district commissioner.
[speaker001:] Oh I see.
[Doris:] And erm... so and there were,th in the evening the police used to let us go for a ride on the camels. Cos we used to tie up, we weren't on the water at nighttime.
[speaker001:] Mm mm where did you stay? Did you sleep on the boat? You didn't
[Doris:] We slept on the boat.
[speaker001:] Mm mm.
[Doris:] And erm... that, we didn't go on trek for so very long
[speaker001:] No.
[Doris:] about a week I suppose.
[speaker001:] Mm was this quite often during the year, or was it just the once?
[Doris:] Er that was just the once while we were there
[speaker001:] I see.
[Doris:] cos it was only supposed to be six months that we were there.
[speaker001:] Oh yes yes.
[Doris:] And then we came, went back to Khartoum.
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] Erm I mean we were in Khartoum but er just at this week's trek.
[speaker001:] Yes.
[Doris:] And we used to go to the cathedral
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] and the RAF lads were there and
[speaker001:] Oh yes.
[Doris:] and lots of soldiers, but there weren't many English nurses but they're only English, you know, families out there.
[speaker001:] Mm mm. So erm how did it, did you stay for the full six months or did it er extend further than that?
[Doris:] Er no. Then the Italians started to raid us and we had no fighter planes
[speaker001:] Oh I see so really
[Doris:] and they were dropping their bombs and some on, on the and they, some of the people were killed there. Some bombs they dropped on the RAF camp
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] but they didn't explode, so the RAF lads said they were made of macaroni. [LAUGHTER]
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER]
[Doris:] and er so Mrs said oh we must, we must try and get out of Khartoum cos it was so hot and we'd booked to go to k er for a week
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] and the night we slept in the garden and the night before we went we, Mrs was taken ill and I was giving her, tepid sponges up and the towel where she was sleeping in the garden
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] and she said you'll have to take the children to in the morning, cos it's all arranged.
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] So she had a little book and she wrote some words in English and some in Arabic the
[speaker001:] Yes.
[Doris:] other side.
[speaker001:] I see.
[Doris:] And er I managed to get the children to this place called.
[speaker001:] How did you travel there?
[Doris:] Erm by train.
[speaker001:] Mm mm.
[Doris:] And erm we had, we were in little kind of huts on the mountainside. We went up the hotel to meals
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] and there's all sandy wadders around that the, sandy wa sandy wadders that the goats had made and we used to run down there when there was air raids. They used to ring a bell up at the hotel.
[speaker001:] I see.
[Doris:] And er one day I was bathing Judy in the hut and the bell went and I just had to wrap a towel round her, you know, and run down to the sandy wadders And things got so bad, we went back to Khartoum
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] and arranged to go, evacuate to Rhodesia. All the English families went down south.
[speaker001:] Oh yes.
[Doris:] Some got as far as Rhodesia and the high altitude wasn't any good so then they had to go on to Cape Town. So, but we were able to stay there for a time.
[speaker001:] How did it affect them then the, the altitude, did it?
[Doris:] I think it's the breathing, the air's so thin
[speaker001:] Yes, yes I suppose if you
[Doris:] and er
[speaker001:] had any problems of that ilk then it would exag you know,a aggravate it, wouldn't it?
[Doris:] Yes.
[speaker001:] But you, you managed, it, it suited you?
[Doris:] I, I managed all right it suited me.
[speaker001:] Mm mm
[Doris:] And er then Mr said it was safe for his wife to return and children, that they, trouble was they couldn't get a seat for me on the plane. It was a sea plane we were on
[speaker001:] Oh yes
[Doris:] and er I said I'll join the Airforce.
[speaker001:] Oh I see.
[Doris:] So that's where
[speaker001:] So they returned to Khartoum and you stayed in Rhodesia?
[Doris:] So, yes so, when we went down to Rhodesia, I er, attested there and I went down, I went to Bulawayo
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] and I think it was the twenty third squadron that they have here. There was over a thousand lads on the camp
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] and erm I used to do erm, keep a check on the flying times of the planes cos every forty hours they had to come in for a different check.
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] And enter up the repairs and replacements
[speaker001:] Oh that's nice.
[Doris:] and train the English lads when they came out for that kind of work
[speaker001:] Yes.
[Doris:] that they had to do there.
[speaker001:] Oh, how long were you there?
[Doris:] Er, what in?
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] Well, most of the war you see
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] and at the end of the war I got married out
[speaker001:] Oh aye.
[Doris:] when I was out there.
[speaker001:] Oh you married a RAF man, did you?
[Doris:] But he, he he wasn't RAF
[speaker001:] No.
[Doris:] but he worked of, on a RAF camp.
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] He was exempt because he had a heart, an enlarged heart
[speaker001:] Oh I see, yes.
[Doris:] and erm... so that delayed things, you know, getting back home.
[speaker001:] Mm. So you lived in Rhodesia, did you?
[Doris:] So I lived in Rhodesia.
[speaker001:] This was after the war?
[Doris:] After the war.
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] I erm... I did go down to Durban
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] and waited six months to get home, that's before I got married
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] and erm but the plane, the er boat was slow in coming and it was so hard to get a ship back then
[speaker001:] Mm mm.
[Doris:] so I returned to Rhodesia and that's when I got married.
[speaker001:] Oh I see.
[Doris:] And then when I had my little girl er when she was about a year old
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] I came back to England
[speaker001:] Oh did you?
[Doris:] and had a holiday
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] and I stayed with Mrs the people I went abroad with
[speaker001:] Oh yes, yes.
[Doris:] for two months
[speaker001:] Oh
[Doris:] and then I returned to Rhodesia again
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] after being over here about a year.
[speaker001:] Mm. Did your husband and daughter come with you?
[Doris:] But he was still in Rhodesia.
[speaker001:] Oh I see.
[Doris:] Then in sixty, we came ov back to England
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] and my husband decided he would like to come over then. He wouldn't come before.
[speaker001:] Was he English?
[Doris:] But he was Eng he
[speaker001:] English, yes.
[Doris:] he came from Wallasey.
[speaker001:] Oh yes.
[Doris:] He had been in a children's home
[speaker001:] Oh yes.
[Doris:] and he was sent out to Rhodesia, to Rhodesia
[speaker001:] Oh
[Doris:] and
[speaker001:] quite a coincidence your experience of working in a children's home
[Doris:] Yes
[speaker001:] and your husband having been brought up in one.
[Doris:] Yes
[speaker001:] Strange how things work out like that.
[Doris:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] So you came back to England in nineteen sixty?
[Doris:] Er yes and in sixty one er he had lung trouble
[speaker001:] Mm
[Doris:] and the doctor advised me to take him back to Rhodesia
[speaker001:] Oh aye mm.
[Doris:] and er so in nineteen sixty six he died
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] and erm... I was feeling ill at the time and I, I wondered why because he'd been through so much suffering, you know, it was a happy release.
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] But I had this polyneuritis coming on and I gr gradually went paralysed.
[speaker001:] Does that at attack the, the nervous system?
[Doris:] It attacks the nervous system
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] from the spine
[speaker001:] I see.
[Doris:] and I, I went paralysed from my toes and
[speaker001:] Was it a gradual thing, was it?
[Doris:] Gradually, from the toe, that was July, and I got paralysed up to my hips and er I had no relations or anybody there, but Toc H were very good. They used to, you know, do any little bits of shopping or anything
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] er that they could, but I had
[speaker001:] Were you still living at home?
[Doris:] I was at home then and er I also had two rooms in a private boarding house
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] and erm I had jaundice as well which I'd contracted from Jim
[speaker001:] Oh goodness.
[Doris:] and so I could only have marmite or fruit to eat and
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] so then the housekeeper phoned up the doctor in October
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] and said you'd have to get me into hospital, cos I couldn't move, you know
[speaker001:] So it just
[Doris:] the bottom part was all paralysed then.
[speaker001:] Oh goodness.
[Doris:] So I was taken to hospital and I was in hospital two years.
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] Cos, and the paralysis crept up to my shoulders
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] and the neurologist said anyhow you're alright from the shoulders up, you
[speaker001:] Mm. That was cold comfort really
[Doris:] and erm but I never thought it would be a long job.
[speaker001:] No
[Doris:] But erm... so being in hospital two years and then I was in St Giles for eighteen months, which is like Stoke Mandeville
[speaker001:] Oh yes.
[Doris:] and th we used to be visited by some of their people
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] and er... and Mr and Mrs came up from Durban
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] and to St Giles and they heard about me and they offered me a month's holiday and they were complete strangers and they gave me a month's holiday
[speaker001:] Oh.
[Doris:] and we were in a flat, high up, facing the front south beach, next door to Addington Hospital
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] and whilst, when I was in hospital I always had that feeling that I'd love to hear the water lapping on a beach, you know and
[speaker001:] Oh yes, yes.
[Doris:] and it did come true, cos when I was in the room there I could hear
[speaker001:] You could hear.
[Doris:] hear the water lapping and see the seagulls on the hospital window ledges opposite.
[speaker001:] Mm mm.
[Doris:] And they were wonderful people, they took me all over Durban. The Valley of the Thousand Hills
[speaker001:] Oh yes.
[Doris:] and I visited their friends and went to their church with them and they gave me a wonderful time, did everything for me
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] because I needed, you know, looking after then
[speaker001:] Oh of course, yes.
[Doris:] But I had callipers
[speaker001:] Yes.
[Doris:] and I could get along holding their arms, you know, one each side
[speaker001:] Oh I see.
[Doris:] so we used to have walks sometimes along the front.
[speaker001:] Oh that was great.
[Doris:] Mm and there was a verandah there so, if I didn't go out, you know, I could always sit on the verandah and watch them surfing.
[speaker001:] Mm mm.
[Doris:] and so it was a lovely time.
[speaker001:] It was a really welcome relief wasn't it, from, you know, being in hospital?
[Doris:] Yes.... So then when I got back to erm er St Giles erm I was there for a month and then I went into a home for the blind and handicapped
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] and I was there nine years.
[speaker001:] Mm. You had some movement
[Doris:] and er
[speaker001:] returned to you completely paralysed
[Doris:] Erm yes erm well at the ti at first I could only move my head, but when I went on that holiday, St Giles had been working on me with nerve machines and muscle machines
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] and in the, swimming in the hot water.
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] used to have a black rubber tyre round my middle
[speaker001:] Yes.
[Doris:] and so I could er, you know, move around and that's why, it was I was able to walk with callipers.
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] I got on fine then.
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] But erm it was diagnosed late, you see, having polyneuritis for three months, that the er the movement was last to come back in the toes and feet.
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] That's with me, seeing that it was so long before it was diagnosed, that's why my feet and hands are still paralysed.
[speaker001:] Mm mm. I suppose the real extremities.
[Doris:] Yes and you think you can move your fingers and you pull on them and you look down and I'm trying to pull them now, but they just won't move.
[speaker001:] Must be a strange sensation your brain
[Doris:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] is telling you things but
[Doris:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] it just won't obey.
[Doris:] That's what I don't understand because the message is going to the brain to do it and yet I try and I can't.
[speaker001:] Mm. Must be obviously some break in, you know,
[Doris:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] the nerve impulse, mustn't there? Affect
[Doris:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] your fingers.
[Doris:] The toes, thank goodness, are straight, that's why I can get a slipper on
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] but the fingers are curled round.
[speaker001:] Mm. Considering, you know, you are so handicapped with your hands
[Doris:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] and the artwork and everything.
[Doris:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] The copperwork I think is fantastic.
[Doris:] You see the St Giles taught me to type first of all
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] with a, well they, they made the wooden stick and I got the Pitman's book and
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] I taught myself typing.
[speaker001:] Did you?
[Doris:] And er then they tau
[speaker001:] Quite a resourceful lady aren't you? [LAUGHTER]
[Doris:] then they taught me the copper
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] work, they showed me how to do that and I just love copper
[speaker001:] Mm mm.
[Doris:] and erm and then they tried me on painting.
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] And during this time I belonged to Toc H.
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] I was initiated in fifty six
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] and they were very good to me and they kept in touch with me
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] and erm... then I, I couldn't be really active and you're supposed to be an ac active to be a member of a branch. Er they said oh we'll find you a job so you are active, so I was librarian out there.
[speaker001:] Oh were you, oh.
[Doris:] And erm then when these jobs came along I was er the handicapped Brownies at St Giles.
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] My friend said I'll erm, I'll only go if you'll come too. And I said how can I like this? Well I did, that was about nineteen seventy.
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] And erm so we started the Brownies and I could train them and we used to have such fun together, you know
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] and er and then those Brownies got older and I started the first Girl Guides there
[speaker001:] Really?
[Doris:] and erm so that in nineteen eighty, when things got so bad in Salisbury,
[speaker001:] Yes
[Doris:] that people were leaving the country., my friend wrote to my niece in One House and asked her if I could live with her until I got fixed up in a home.
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] I thought it would be quicker, you see and I'd been in the services as well, because I used to give a subscription to British Legion
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] every year
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] and they did have bungalows for Rhodesians over here in different parts of England
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] that erm, when I got here, you know, I knew how difficult it was to get fixed up anywhere.
[speaker001:] Mm mm.
[Doris:] And I had my name down for Sue Ryder's and the Legion and then a vacancy fell due here
[speaker001:] Yes.
[Doris:] and that's why I'm at One House, Wade house.
[speaker001:] House
[Doris:] [LAUGHTER]
[speaker001:] So that's, it's convenient that. Does your niece still live at One House?
[Doris:] Yes, my niece is at One House
[speaker001:] Yes.
[Doris:] and she comes in to see me on her way home from work
[speaker001:] Mm
[Doris:] and her house wasn't suitable, you know, cos of the stairs
[speaker001:] Yes that's, that's right.
[Doris:] and she was just a working girl, you know, and it was a worry to her as well.
[speaker001:] Mm mm
[Doris:] So she can visit me now
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] and erm... so that's how my life is.
[speaker001:] You came here in nineteen eighty, did you?
[Doris:] Nineteen eighty
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] Mm, I've been here just on four years now.
[speaker001:] Mm mm. You certainly keep yourself busy, don't you?
[Doris:] Yes.
[speaker001:] I think you've got to and obviously you've got a very active mind and
[Doris:] Yes
[speaker001:] you know, it's, it's marvellous that you keep doing things.
[Doris:] Yeah, and I got a transfer in Toc H I'm a district member now
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Doris:] of
[speaker001:] Mm
[Doris:] branch and I'm a member of the Trefoil Guild. They meet once a year, you know, to a kind of get together for
[speaker001:] Yes.
[Doris:] the disabled Trefoilers.
[speaker001:] Oh I see.
[Doris:] And er, but last year was a bad year. I was in hospital twice so
[speaker001:] Were you?
[Doris:] I didn't get out much.
[speaker001:] Mm, mm. Still with your condition was this you know...?
[Doris:] Yes erm I c I'm, I don't get out so much
[speaker001:] No.
[Doris:] now.
[speaker001:] Mm mm.
[Doris:] But of course I enjoy going to Red Cross
[speaker001:] Oh yes, yes.
[Doris:] every other week and they've made things so much brighter for me.
[speaker001:] Mm, mm. The fact you haven't got the worry of transport taken and brought home
[Doris:] No, no.
[speaker001:] I'm glad you're going
[Doris:] So it's ju
[speaker001:] out and about more
[Doris:] Yes.
[speaker001:] erm because next time we're going to Harlston, aren't we?
[Doris:] Yes.
[speaker001:] it's lovely in the summer.
[Doris:] Yes.
[speaker001:] Well it's ever, thanks ever so much Doris, you've really,
[Doris:] Oh.
[speaker001:] really been great, you know
[Doris:] Thank you.
[speaker001:] I expect, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
[Doris:] I'm sorry I, I'm [LAUGHTER] so forget you know [] I
[speaker001:] Oh goodness, no.
[Doris:] hesitate on things.
[speaker001:] No. I mean when you think, it's quite er a long time ago to
[Doris:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] remember it, you know really
[Doris:] Mm.
[speaker001:] Thanks ever so much [LAUGHTER] really appreciate it []