Interview with female brickworker.

Format:

Sound recording

Contributor:

Semeraro, Carmela, interviewer.

AM (Publisher), digitiser.

Bedfordshire Archives, owner.

Series:

Women's voices and life writing, 1600-1968.

Women's voices and life writing, 1600-1968

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Armed Forces.

Children.

Dance.

Education.

Families.

Health.

Labor.

Work environment.

England--Ampthill.

England--Bedford.

England--Cranfield.

Genre:

Oral histories.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (1 audio file (60 minutes))

Production:

[England? : producer not identified], 2001.

Summary:

(00 mins)Family background in Lower Shelton, Marston Moretaine. Growing up in 1940s during the Second World War. Large family - 11 children. Father, a Brickworker. (05 mins)Grandmother made lace. Uncles. Life for children of large family, sharing. (10 mins)Methodist Chapel in Shelton - hymn singing. Father's allotment. Wild fruit. (15 mins)Wide age range of brothers & sisters - over 20 years. Wartime meals. (20 mins)Elementary schooling only -missed out on new Secondary school at Stewartby (petrol rationed, so no transport). Left school at 14. First job in shop in Bedford. Cycling to work. After 2 years, joined London Brick Company - wartime labour shortage (men in armed forces) Five sisters worked at Stewartby brickworks during war. Hours and working conditions. (25 mins)Heavy work on brick presses - 7 lb brick. Own work clothing. German prisoners of war working at brickworks. (30 mins)"Fraternisation" between young German men and young English women. Some post-war marriages. (32 mins)End of Side A Side B (00 mins)Germans made clay sculptures as pastime - gifts to locals. High-spirited games. Lack of awareness of war. (05 mins)Physical demands of work. Pay and pocket money. Attending dances in Bedford and Marston Valley. Influx of men from armed forces, e.g. Royal Air Force at Cranfield (10 mins)Sexual innocence. Walking to the cinemas in Cranfield and Ampthill with girls friends . Cycling everywhere. (15 mins)Post-war redundancies for women - jobs saved for men who fought. Women taken on at newly-reopened Marston Valley brickwork . Better working conditions and happier workforce. (20 mins)Meeting husband to be at Marston Valley Brick Co. Smaller factory at Marston (25 mins)Left brickworks through ill-health. Virtually all family worked at brickworks. (30 mins)Take-over of Marston Valley Co. by London Brick Co. Sadness at closure of Marston Valley brickworks. End of Side B.END OF INTERVIEW

Notes:

Title from publisher's website.

Archive reference: Z1205/043

From collection: Marston Vale Oral History Project 2001-2005

There is roughly 30 seconds of silence at the start of the audio recording and 40 seconds of silence at the end.

Electronic reproduction. Marlborough, Wiltshire : AM, 2024. Digitized from a copy held by Bedfordshire Archives and made available by AM.

Description based on publisher metadata (viewed March 18, 2024).

OCLC:

1427704238

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.