[Ivy:] I'd had er er er strange life really
[speaker002:] Yes.
[Ivy:] but very
[speaker002:] Very interesting. But what,
[Ivy:] [LAUGHTER]
[speaker002:] but what I find so interesting is because people talk nowadays as if it's only recently women have had jobs erm
[Ivy:] Yes.
[speaker002:] and careers but you obviously had one
[Ivy:] I've had one all my life
[speaker002:] all your life
[Ivy:] all my life, you see
[speaker002:] Yes. That's what I find so interesting.
[Ivy:] Yes, mostly of course, well
[speaker002:] Mm.
[Ivy:] it's all office work
[speaker002:] Yes.
[Ivy:] and er you see and, and anyway I finished up my holiday and the sergeant said, he kept his promise and er sent me a report over the newspaper, you see, and er and of course and I liked the Isle of Man, you know, I went for trips around the island and various places and er, and I did see a Manx cat
[speaker002:] Yes. [LAUGHTER] no tail [] oh dear oh dear but you see then of course and I was still not married but you see I, as I say, then I went to Cambridge and that's when I met my husband and all his family were so kind to me, er he had erm two sisters living in a flat round the backs, you've heard of round the backs Mm.
[Ivy:] haven't you? The back of Kings College I spent hours and hours around the flat, back of Kings College, Cambridge and er, you see and we, we went sometimes for a service. His mother died when she was sixty unfortunately. Or sixty two rather but his father lived until he was eighty six and his father was the District Goods and Passenger Manager at Cambridge and er later on, of course, er when he was old enough, he, he was in the same office as his father was but not the same position, you see, but he was a clerk, a railway clerk, and his brother was Stationmaster of Colchester and his grandfather was also a Stationmaster and that would be in Queen Victoria's reign when, when railways first began and then again, you see, in those first days, you see, when there were highwaymen and that sort of thing erm signalmen, signalmen were issued with a truncheon for their own safety, you see, and I've got one.
[speaker002:] Really!
[Ivy:] Yes
[speaker002:] With.
[Ivy:] but I don't want er many people to know
[speaker002:] No.
[Ivy:] about it, because you see I don't want anyone breaking my door down and bashing in, you don't know who's who these days, do you and er but you see they, that's how. So that I married into what you call [LAUGHTER] a [] railway family.
[speaker002:] You did, didn't you?
[Ivy:] I did, yes and er, and so, and er as I say er I've had a most wonderful life and I've been a widow now for ten years. It's ten years ago since I lost Hugh but er, I don't feel lonely er not really.
[speaker002:] Well you've got so many friends and sisters, haven't you?
[Ivy:] Well I've got so many happy memories, you see, well then of course when Hugh and I married, you see, er we had a apartments down at
[speaker002:] Oh, really?
[Ivy:] Yes and we u
[speaker002:] That was, that was divided into flats then was it then?
[Ivy:] Oh no, no, no, well there's an old lady lived there named Mrs and her husband was a clergyman. They called him Father. At one time he, he lived at, they lived at but er er she was a widow and she was ninety but she was very good to us and, but we had er, we had apartments but there was a lock on both sides of the door, you know what I mean, we were quite self-contained and we had er er a narrow stairs and because of the war I couldn't, you couldn't er, I used to scrub the stairs down because you couldn't buy carpet in those days, you see because of the war and to the shortage of stuff and so I used to keep those stairs nice and, we had a, a, we went, as we went up these stairs erm it, I suppose originally, you see, it would have been back stairs for the servants, you see, in the hall and this old lady used to go in and if ever she had the doctor she used to ask me if I would go and sit with her and hold her hand while the doctor came, you see. She had other daughters in the town but she always wanted me and if ever she wanted anything to do with her papers and books and financial things, she used to ask my husband to go in, you see the day after we got there she brought us a huge dish like that with mushrooms which er grew f er well there are houses built there now but er at that time they had a big meadow there sort of a copse er in it with a bunch of trees and you see and all these mushrooms grew, you see, and they were, you know, they're nice you see. We paid rent to be there and er and of course either Hugh or me or both of us came up to see my mother every day, you see, unless we knew she was going to have a visitor and then we used to take a day off
[speaker002:] Mm.
[Ivy:] and we'd go off to Felixstowe or somewhere but you see we still went away because he had four first class passes a year
[speaker002:] Mm.
[Ivy:] being on the railway and er, you see, er and of course I went then under his pass I suppose Mr and Mrs then and er and then of course we started to er when my parents first died we, we started to get around.
[speaker002:] Yes.
[Ivy:] You see, and so we went to oh Inverness, Aberdeen and across to the Isle of Skye, and down the Skye and back across the water to Mallaig you see and er then we stayed one time at Fort William and because I love Scotland, so did he and erm and, and then and all r and then, and another thing, erm, this is before I married erm I went down, oh no, both of us, that's right, we went down to stay at erm not, not Portsmouth er Southsea er there, there's a place near there, next door
[speaker002:] Eastbourne? No, not Eastbourne, erm Gosport?
[Ivy:] Southsea
[speaker002:] Don't know.
[Ivy:] Nex anyway it's quite near Portsmouth and we heard that the first Queen Elizabeth ship, they don't say it's the first but they call this one the Q E Two but there was a Q E One, you see at one time and so we took a coach from there to Southampton because we heard that she was in dock there and so we went and there were crowds of people and all in a queue waiting to go in. Well we took our turn and we waited to go in but once we got in we broke away from the crowd and when they all came out and went to lunch in the town we didn't. We stayed on board and we went up on to every deck and there was even a gentleman, he showed us up on the bridge on that er on that and, and of course there was the little shop and I bought... I thought I must buy something on the Queen Elizabeth and I bought a pen. One of these er, I suppose it'd be a ballpoint or whatever you call it and this, I've still got it, it says on the Queen Elizabeth, see, and er, you see, we said, we said, well never mind very much, we can have something a snack afterwards and so we stayed on there from eleven o'clock in the morning until three in the afternoon, you see, and er er and we were wandering around and we saw the dining room, we saw the captain's table and er, you know it was, and, and then we looked along one deck, we were high up, and down below there were rows of, rows of lifeboats in case you see
[speaker002:] There was an accident.
[Ivy:] of an accident
[speaker002:] Yes
[Ivy:] you see, but oh I enjoyed, we had some lovely holidays.
[speaker002:] Yes, sounds like you did.
[Ivy:] I, I did, and then of course as I say er, you know, with my husband, well I had lovely holidays before but when you've got a companion it's all too different isn't it?
[speaker002:] It is
[Ivy:] I really, that's what I live on now, memories of the happy holidays I've had with him and, and even to this day I keep in touch. Janet posted a letter for me last week to a friend who I worked with at Ipswich, she was one of the girls behind the counter and at the moment they, her and her husband, he, he, he, he was on the, he finished up but he started as a lad in the kitchen but he finished up as a chef on the dining cars and they married and er and they've got er two children erm they're married to and, and we kept, we've kept in touch with each other for sixty years
[speaker002:] Yes.
[Ivy:] sixty years, I wrote to her last week and I had a letter from her the week before
[speaker002:] Yes
[Ivy:] and we've kept in touch and they live up er Witton Churchley
[speaker002:] Oh yes
[Ivy:] You know where that is
[speaker002:] Yes I do. Yes
[Ivy:] That's right and we've kept in touch all those years
[speaker002:] that is nice isn't it?
[Ivy:] Well its wonderful really you see
[speaker002:] Yes yes.
[Ivy:] and she we we we were good friends, you see
[speaker002:] Mm
[Ivy:] when er, we've kept friends you see, they don't come here often, like me they're getting old
[speaker002:] Mm.
[Ivy:] and she's got arthritis, well in her knees, same as I have but not quite so bad because er, well up to now, but then again she's younger than I am er several years younger than me and, but she's getting on and so is Jack you see and er, and er so erm I've had a, as I say, I've had, I've had a wonderful life really.
[speaker002:] You have haven't you? You know you say you lived in at Ipswich Station?
[Ivy:] Yes.
[speaker002:] Erm, didn't, at Needham Market didn't people live in there or main entrance?
[Ivy:] Where?
[speaker002:] At Needham Market Station.
[Ivy:] Oh, well,n I don't know what it's like now but because the booking office is closed.
[speaker002:] Yes,th that used to be through the main entrance, isn't it, the booking office. You go through the main door up the steps.
[Ivy:] You go up the steps, in the main door
[speaker002:] Mm.
[Ivy:] and the booking office was on the left
[speaker002:] Mm.
[Ivy:] and the Stationmaster's office faced the platform but there is another door that to get into as soon as you got in the main door to the left, you see and with a flap and that's the door that we used to take in the parcels, you see and very often we used to go in that door or sometimes we would go through o on to the platform and go in the Stationmaster's door, you see and then there again, if I took messages to the Stationmaster on the single telegraph er I had to go down the steps because th more often than not that they were in the basement. It was, there's the basement and then a large room above where they used to have meetings er, you see, and er, and er, well they did they had friends from Stowmarket go and visit them, you see.
[speaker002:] Didn't the Stationmaster and the clerk live on the premises?
[Ivy:] Er, oh yes, they lived in the station next you see.
[speaker002:] That's the bit that joins on one side of the main entrance area?
[Ivy:] Yes
[speaker002:] They've got there are two little doors aren't there, which are probably their front doors?
[Ivy:] Well,th yes, well that's it, they are going facing the station and it used to be so much prettier than it is now.
[speaker002:] Mm.
[Ivy:] pretty the daisies and things and the Stationmaster lived that side
[speaker002:] Which side, what on the left hand side as you face
[Ivy:] As you face the station, he lived that side you see and er there, the room where they used to entertain their friends was just the other side of the wall the booking office, you see, and er he was such a kind man, his name was Mr
[speaker002:] Mm.
[Ivy:] and his, his er son was one of the lads who worked in the office doing the middle turn, you see, and er I don't know if he's still alive. He must be eighty, because I mean there wasn't all that much difference in our ages.
[speaker002:] You don't know where he went to when he left?
[Ivy:] Well I, he lived at Stowmarket for years but then I heard not so long ago that they had moved to Ipswich but where I don't know but they must be, whether he's than I have now I don't know either.
[speaker002:] On the other side was th the Chief Clerk would live?
[Ivy:] No, he, no I think it was er, I can't remember who lived there. I think it was one of the signalmen or
[speaker002:] Aha
[Ivy:] I can't remember exactly who lived on the right hand side, I've forgotten but th I know the Chief Clerk lived just a little way down, you see, er
[speaker002:] In one of those little red brick cottages?
[Ivy:] Yes, that's right down there, down there, down and as I say who I took early and late turns with and er why I same as at Cambridge. There were twenty five staff.
[speaker002:] Was this at Needham?
[Ivy:] Ca no, not Needham.
[speaker002:] Oh [LAUGHTER]
[Ivy:] No I had nothing to do with the staff at the
[speaker002:] No, no that was at Ipswich
[Ivy:] He, he were a Stationmaster, you see, er he was exceptionally nice man. You never heard him say a bad word or anything like that. Well he was... quite, he was a good man. He used to. Oh I cried when I left there, I really did, it upset me.
[speaker002:] Yes. But and when we all quite shock How many were working there, how many girls were working there then at Needham?
[Ivy:] Only me.
[speaker002:] So you, yes.
[Ivy:] Only me in the office.
[speaker002:] Yes.
[Ivy:] You see, and er the porters did the er er cleaned the waiting room and dusted, you see. Well, there was a porter there, called Len and he, he was eighteen and er of course you know well I I was as I said sixteen, so he was a bit older than me but he, whilst he was at Needham he said well when I'm eighteen I'll get my calling up papers. Cos that's during the First World War, you see, and erm, he did and so he said goodbye to us all and he said... I'm going up now to say goodbye to your mother and he ran up the street here to say goodbye to my mother. She made some tea, she told me afterwards and stayed and stayed and stayed and he lived at Prindon and his mother was very very deaf and my mother got worried because he was going away the next day and she said to him, Len don't you think you ought to spend the evening with your mother and he said, yes, I'll go now and he ran off and he ran back again and he said, you don't mind if I write to Ivy do you? She said, no you write and he'll, she'll write back, you see but, and he went out to France and he was killed in three months and and his name, so they told me was on the er, on the board at er. Do you know I often wonder what happened to the honour board at Needham Market. There used to be an honour board and I was on it and so was Miss 's brother, er Ivor because er who whoever won the scholarship, you see, their name went on the honour
[speaker002:] Oh, I see.
[Ivy:] board, over the door
[speaker002:] In the church?
[Ivy:] No, no, in the school, er in the er, no it wouldn't be in the church, no
[speaker002:] in the school, oh
[Ivy:] and of course I'm talking now about the old school
[speaker002:] Mm
[Ivy:] Because I don't know anything about these new schools.
[speaker002:] No. No I don't know what's happened to that.
[Ivy:] No, I, I wondered because er it was quite an honour to have your name
[speaker002:] Yes.
[Ivy:] put on the honour board.
[speaker002:] Yes.
[Ivy:] You see, and my name was on there, as I say and Miss was the top. No I don't know whether hers was on, but I know her brother's was, you see, I, he died of course.
[speaker002:] Yes. So how many worked there, there was a lot of people worked at Needham Station then. There were what, two porters
[Ivy:] Er, yes there would be two porters, yes.
[speaker002:] Then there was you
[Ivy:] Yes.
[speaker002:] and two clerks
[Ivy:] And two t these two lads er
[speaker002:] So there'd be two clerks and two lads?
[Ivy:] No, one clerk
[speaker002:] One, one
[Ivy:] Chief Clerk
[speaker002:] Chief Clerk two lads
[Ivy:] and I took early and late turns with him
[speaker002:] Yes
[Ivy:] but the other one went on the district
[speaker002:] Oh, I see, yes.
[Ivy:] as I said before as a relief clerk
[speaker002:] Yes.
[Ivy:] for holidays and sickness and so on and then later on relief Stationmaster
[speaker002:] Yes.
[Ivy:] and you see eventually he got a station of his own at Thorpe le Soken.
[speaker002:] Yes.
[Ivy:] You see down on the
[speaker002:] Yes
[Ivy:] So that's how many
[speaker002:] and then the Stationmaster of course the Signalman. How many signalmen, just the one?
[Ivy:] Well no cos he had actually So there'd be two signalmen, would there? Yes.
[speaker002:] That's nine people worked at Needham Station.
[Ivy:] Yes, I, I
[speaker002:] No one works there now you see.
[Ivy:] They don't work there?
[speaker002:] No, no, the signal box is closed.
[Ivy:] Oh, now, is it really?
[speaker002:] Yes, yes.
[Ivy:] Well I heard not so long ago that they were going to either pull it down or
[speaker002:] Well I think they want to keep it, either there or move it somewhere
[Ivy:] Oh, well I, I think that'll be a shame.
[speaker002:] It would be a sha I think they've re they don't want to lose it.
[Ivy:] No. I hope not. But as I say they might They have how things have deteriorated since
[speaker002:] it's amazing, that there was nine people who worked there at the time of the war.
[Ivy:] Yes. You see, and of course when I was at Cambridge, you see, and that was during the Second World War, well of course, you see, I remember seeing a plane because of course the station was a prime target
[speaker002:] Yes, yes.
[Ivy:] and somehow I don't know how, but somehow they always knew when the train was being loaded up with tanks and then that was the night we would get a raid and of course, you see, they all ra tried for the station. Well, you know,it you see, time were, I don't know I suppose, I don't know but I never seemed to be afraid and I used to have my... or something round my waist, a belt with the keys hanging on and they supplied me with a as well, one of these, I don't know what they're made of they weren't all that heavy but still they were heavy enough to keep on. I mean they weren't aluminium so they blew off I used to wear one of those and er, you know, for safety, you see, but er anyway I survived the [LAUGHTER] survived the war [] and [LAUGHTER] but wh it's amazing really when I look back how we d how we managed because we had such nice people in there, as I say and like these actors Jack Claude Cecily. They all came down and used to come in our rooms and all sorts of other and I met some very ni and of course, all nationalities, you see and no matter what they were, well of course Cambridge has always been noted for different nationalities, hasn't it?
[speaker002:] Mm.
[Ivy:] And of course I loved the town and although the station was about a mile from the town centre, people used to come from the town centre in their cars, they had lunch at our place er er at Cambridge, you see, and there, there were two waiters and one, one of them took part-time cellar work, you see, and er, they were two brothers and er their name's
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER]
[Ivy:] the younger one they call tiny because he was the yo smaller than his brother but the other one you see and we did enormous business, especially during the war.
[speaker002:] Mm
[Ivy:] But er
[speaker002:] yes
[Ivy:] you see and I'm glad I didn't miss it, I'm glad I went through all what I did and, and this particular raid, you see, the siren went and they said a telegraph office read, you see,an and then I thought I'll go to the back door and I went to the, well it was actually on the front of the station and I went to the front of the station and there was this plane swooping down like that and of course, you see, the bombs didn't fall down straight like that but they went as the plane went and they knocked down a row of houses at the end of the road. Yes a row of houses and of course when I saw I looked out the door and there was this plane swooping down like that and it seemed so low because they were aiming an and the bomb fell in the cattle market and, and I threw myself on to the stone floor, you see, and er and presently one of the ambulance men came round to my office door and he said, are you alright? I said, yes thanks. I sat by the fire knitting and er he said, [LAUGHTER] I can see []. Well you took all this sort of things in your stride but the next day we heard about these houses being knocked down, you see, and I think that's the nearest I've been to be killed but one day, one Saturday and that was in a daylight raid, one Saturday afternoon because, you see, I was off every afternoon but I worked till ten every night, you see, and er so erm but of course Hugh worked during the day and he was off in the evening, that's why he used to come down to see, to see us and er he used to come in er you see and leave his lodgings and, oh be about nine o'clock and he spent the last day up there perhaps with his friends, have a chat, and er, you see, and but er and I was walking along it was called and suddenly a plane came over and I thought oh I expect it's one of ours. When all of a sudden they dropped a bomb and I thought there wasn't at all, you see, and no siren had gone, nothing, you see, and there was broad daylight.
[speaker002:] Mm.
[Ivy:] You see, of course we heard about it afterwards, you see,
[speaker002:] Yeah, yes.
[Ivy:] but er I don't know perhaps we were braver than these days, perhaps you were braver when you're young
[speaker002:] Mm, yes, perhaps that's true, yes. When you worked at Needham, you must have seen all the toings, comings and goings on station yard, yard and a lot of cattle coming and going.
[Ivy:] Well no, er we, no we didn't, the only cattle we saw was when they were on the train, cos I don't remember they, they seemed to. I don't know whether they dealt with cattle.
[speaker002:] Aha
[Ivy:] It was mostly seeds and stuff like that.
[speaker002:] Yes but you know Russell.
[Ivy:] I know he, he's older than me.
[speaker002:] Yeah, yeah, well he's I interviewed him er last year and he was telling me that he remembers going up into the loft in 's erm, the whole of the station yard was full of cattle.
[Ivy:] Oh.
[speaker002:] So loaded off of the train.
[Ivy:] Oh, oh I didn't know that, I, I perhaps that was, perhaps that was
[speaker002:] I think they were all going to market because obviously had a farm.
[Ivy:] Oh yes they did.
[speaker002:] So it's possibly one market day I think he said.
[Ivy:] Yes, well that might be the time, you see when perhaps I was at Cambridge.
[speaker002:] Yes. It might have been later than, than er when you worked there.
[Ivy:] Yeah y
[speaker002:] He was saying people going on the trains is it when you worked there rather than animals
[Ivy:] Oh I no animals
[speaker002:] No
[Ivy:] you see, no animals were er, only in the, in the trucks, you see.
[speaker002:] Mm.
[Ivy:] passed through, because they didn't stop at Needham and er but I always thought, you see, there were, I don't know several clerks in that office as I remember but I can't remember who they were anyway I didn't have, we didn't have much to do with them.
[speaker002:] No, no.
[Ivy:] You see, they were just more or less sort of, I thought they were just sea merchants.
[speaker002:] Mm. Yes that's probably to do with farm.
[Ivy:] Er, yes
[speaker002:] No, not the mill really.
[Ivy:] Aha, yes.
[speaker002:] I imagine.
[Ivy:] I, I don't remember any cattle
[speaker002:] No it may have been later
[Ivy:] Yes.
[speaker002:] or being older he may have remembered times before that.
[Ivy:] Yes, yes that's true yes because how old would he be now then?
[speaker002:] Oh, he must about ninety. I tried to remember when you said he was born.
[Ivy:] Oh.
[speaker002:] I can't remember maybe, he must be about ninety.
[Ivy:] Yes, well I was er, you see born in eighteen ninety nine.
[speaker002:] Yes.
[Ivy:] So of course I go as the years go
[speaker002:] Yes.
[Ivy:] you see and like eighty six, now this year, I shall be eighty seven but you see when it comes to the end of the year, the turn of the year, I'll still be eighty seven
[speaker002:] Yeah, yes.
[Ivy:] you see, until my next birthday, that is, you see, but I, well each year, you see, I always say well to my friends I am so thankful for my friends who drop in and each year I say, well I don't suppose I will be here much longer but I shall be here, I hope, while I can walk
[speaker002:] Mm.
[Ivy:] but when I can't walk well I shall call in the doctor. Cos I n I don't have a doctor year in hardly ever. I'm thankful for my good health, you see, because apart from arthritis, you see, I'm as well as anything and I hope I'm still in my right mind, you see, but I, now and again, I forget names
[speaker002:] Mm, but then I forget names, my husband is dreadful with names
[Ivy:] Well er
[speaker002:] he would even sometimes recognize
[Ivy:] Yes.
[speaker002:] with people he knows quite well.
[Ivy:] Oh I see.
[speaker002:] I think it's just some people are a bit like that and some are
[Ivy:] I I forget people, I forget but then, you see, as I never go out. Well I went out once last year, you see, and I was lucky enough but and for years and years and years I took Fynnon Salts and which is supposed to be good for rheumatism. Matter of fact this last couple of days I've started again but you see er of course that was before paracetamol came on, on the scene
[speaker002:] Mm.
[Ivy:] and I have tablets from the doctor and you see as I say from the waist upwards I'm
[speaker002:] Yes.
[Ivy:] I feel well and th and I try er and my husband's nieces they often ring me up er well I was on the phone to one of them when you came yesterday. Er and she said I'll ring you ag I said oh dear someone now coming to the door, she said, never mind I'll ring you on Saturday, so I said alright and er and she lives at Wyndham, Norfolk, my husband's niece and erm, you see, and then there's the other one and she said, auntie you're always so cheerful [LAUGHTER], I said, well I try to be cheerful because like everybody else I get a little depressed sometimes because, you see, I have no sisters and brothers, I have three elderly cousins who live away and who I, who I see, one was here a fortnight ago er er er my cousin and his wife er, you see, it will be on a Wednesday, a fortnight today, no Thursday, yes, you see, a fortnight ago and they said, we'll come again an we've always bought you a bunch of daffodils so we shall come again when the daffodils are and er and they bring me over bits and pieces because er she was a cook and they bring me something nice to eat
[speaker002:] That's nice, isn't it?
[Ivy:] Isn't it nice but I haven't any er
[speaker002:] Close relatives
[Ivy:] no and of course being, marrying at forty four er no family
[speaker002:] Mm
[Ivy:] you see, you haven't got any family?
[speaker002:] No, not yet. I'm married but I haven't got any family yet
[Ivy:] Oh, that's what I mean er and you'll have to make haste won't you?
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER] Oh I don't know, I don't know whether it'll be like Mark and Jenny and [LAUGHTER] perhaps never get round to it [].
[Ivy:] No, I know, well I mean what is there for young people to look forward to these days and I feel really sorry for them and I mean all I hope is that Jenny will get a job
[speaker002:] Oh yes.
[Ivy:] when she's finished
[speaker002:] Yes.
[Ivy:] er but I don't know whether there's any prospect, do you think she
[speaker002:] Don't know, don't know. When y you know you said your father was a shoemaker?
[Ivy:] Yes.
[speaker002:] Whereabouts in Needham did he have his... shoe
[Ivy:] Well it's where the bomb, where it was bombed out
[speaker002:] Aha out yeah
[Ivy:] quite near the United Reform Church.
[speaker002:] I knew there was a shoemakers there.
[Ivy:] Yes, Mr Yes and my father and Mr
[speaker002:] What was your maiden name again? and he worked for Mr?
[Ivy:] I didn't
[speaker002:] No, did your father work for Mr?
[Ivy:] Yes that was his name, you see well, well my father, as I say, he had a stroke and er he was in, in bed in the front room for seven years, you see. He er, Hugh and I used to come up every day do what we could, you see, in those days if you had a stroke you had to lay there till you died.
[speaker002:] Mm.
[Ivy:] Er but nowadays I suppose they take you up to Ipswich and you'd have er
[speaker002:] Physiotherapy or something like that
[Ivy:] That's right
[speaker002:] to make you, to get you going again.
[Ivy:] Yes, that's right
[speaker002:] Yeah they do so much more nowadays.
[Ivy:] Well that's it, but they didn't then, you see and er and Doctor used to come up here
[speaker002:] Oh yes I've interviewed his widow.
[Ivy:] Mrs er Mrs er
[speaker002:] she is
[Ivy:] Isn't she nice?
[speaker002:] Yes.
[Ivy:] Oh I knew her years ago
[speaker002:] Yes
[Ivy:] and of course, well she was er I haven't seen her for years and years
[speaker002:] but she's
[Ivy:] but but, you see, I am told that she's going to live next door to the, where she used to live the doctor's house er er unless that's pulled down, you know almost opposite the United Reform Church.
[speaker002:] Which house is that?
[Ivy:] Well there you, I don't know what it's like now but they u
[speaker002:] It's not quite opposite, is it?
[Ivy:] Er
[speaker002:] It's more or less opposite where your father's shoe shop was.
[Ivy:] Oh, is it? Oh
[speaker002:] You mean the big red brick one next door to the doctor's surgery?
[Ivy:] Er i er, yes the doctor just there.
[speaker002:] Yeah that's it I how
[Ivy:] Mrs 's father-in-law. I am going back to old Dr
[speaker002:] Oh, old Dr, oh yes.
[Ivy:] you see, and he was, he, he probably brought me into the world, you see but, er you see, and Mrs erm, you see, she was married to Doctor... and he used to come up to see my father and we had a different door then door being that's got a yale lock on now but he he'd say, hello Frank, you know [LAUGHTER] always [] so you got, oh he was so nice and it was such a shame that he died
[speaker002:] He was very young when he died.
[Ivy:] He, he was and I forget how old he was
[speaker002:] I think he was only in his forties.
[Ivy:] Was that so, oh
[speaker002:] Yes
[Ivy:] dear he was so nice
[speaker002:] Yeah, everyone said how nice he was and old Dr was quite a character
[Ivy:] Yes he was, you see and he used to come down, you know, and everybody's family waiting to go into that tiny tiny little surgery but I don't know if it's the same now and the door half open in er well, anyway, still er he, he, he, he used to put something in a bottle and fill it up with water some liquid
[speaker002:] Mm.
[Ivy:] you see I'm talking about his father but I liked er Mrs 's first husband, you see and er I hear that her second husband isn't all that good.
[speaker002:] No, no he wasn't well, I went to see her er I think he may have had a stroke and he can't get about very well at all
[Ivy:] Oh dear
[speaker002:] and I think he finds it difficult to speak
[Ivy:] Yes
[speaker002:] as well
[Ivy:] an and is he, is he at home?
[speaker002:] Last ti when I saw her he was, yes
[Ivy:] Oh he was
[speaker002:] but
[Ivy:] because he's had a spell or two at Stowmarket
[speaker002:] Yes
[Ivy:] he had er new place there er er what's his name they've got a, they opened a new nursing home didn't they?
[speaker002:] Oh, did they?
[Ivy:] Er works for er there's only, oh I can't remember his christian name, David, David and his wife, you see, and I think he, David still works and of course
[speaker002:] He lives along the road from me.
[Ivy:] Oh you know Mr
[speaker002:] Yes, yes
[Ivy:] and, and erm so on. Mrs was very kind, she sent me a box of... mince pies and barley water and shortbread all sorts, you know. Christmas time and she did last year
[speaker002:] Mm
[Ivy:] er and of course I've known Walter for years but I don't know his wife, I've never met his wife and of course not being able to get out into the street now, I should get out for about two years after I lost my husband and then I got this er awful pain nobody knows unless they have it er this arthritis in my knees, you see, and erm and then I found that it was too much for me to er otherwise I used to walk up to the post box road and I used to count the steps, three hundred and something steps there and three hundred and something back, you see, and to the front door, you see, but I, I can't do it now but I have with help and I went out last year with er Mrs and er twice we went to Dulwich which I enjoyed and so did she and the last time we went to and er we had our lunch and we went to see my cousins at West Suffolk and and, and then came home again, you see, and that's the only time I went out last year and usually I used to go to for a day and I am hoping that if I, I am hoping, well you can only hope, that I might perhaps go so out one Sunday, once, just once in the, you see, because er,th that's when when you're old you've got to keep, you've got to hope for something
[speaker002:] Mm. Yes.
[Ivy:] and you've got to keep busy and you see now my sight has gone I now, not long distance, I can sit here and see television
[speaker002:] Mm.
[Ivy:] you see I moved a bit more now but and I I've still got good hearing er apart from this ear here, this ear, I can't hear so well, quite so well, this side, you see so I always have to say excuse me while I, hang on while I turn off the television, you see, and then they have to wait a minute till I turn it off and then what I do is because I have this phone extension put in
[speaker002:] Yes.
[Ivy:] you see I've got one in the front room and I had this one put in so then I say if I am in the kitchen, I say, I lift up the receiver, hello, and hear who it is and then I, I say hang on while I get round the chair and then you see I sit on the arm of this chair and talk because er it's difficult to stand too long
[speaker002:] Mm.
[Ivy:] you see, but er, otherwise, you see, er you know I, I get on well really by
[speaker002:] You do, yes
[Ivy:] and I, I have a meal on the Friday and er brought to me
[speaker002:] Mm.
[Ivy:] and, and they're such nice people
[speaker002:] Mm.
[Ivy:] Do you know Mrs and Mr
[speaker002:] Oh yes, they live up in Creeting yes.
[Ivy:] and, and Mrs?
[speaker002:] Yes, yes.
[Ivy:] Now er her husband came down one day and I said to him, what's your name, and he said Mr