Individual results

Interviewees: Graham and Jill Prime

Track 1
Graham came to Coventry in 1970. Job - architect for council. School job - firefighting water ponds found when digging at Gosford Park School. Found petrol tank when digging used in WW2. Late 80's - Barrs Hill school - German bomb dug up - Army took three days to make safe (tower block had to be evacuated). Also 80's - Brandish's former site - petrol tanks found buried underground.

Track 2
Buried air raid shelters found. Pool Meadow bus station not on solid ground - bridge over a river / stream (prior to war an open river) - debris from war filled it up. Extension to Frank Whittle's School - jet engine in main entrance. Sherbourne River under Pool Meadow?

Track 3
Met wife in a folk club (Binley Road - Bulls Head). Leisure - skiing once - "I just potter around Coventry". Not a Coventry person - doesn't like it much (compared to reconstruction of German cities which still look pre-war) - "not enough thought…rushed" (planning in Coventry).

Track 4
Buildings demolished after the war. Coventry now - mixed feelings - "lot rather tatty looking" (since 50's). Broadgate better before.

Track 5
Would build over Mary Herbert's garden. Godiva 'tent' "isn't bad" but would move it. Fears for the future - "change is normal…I'm expecting Coventry to improve".

Track 6
House in Binley built in 1964 - gun implacement during the war. Holiday in Caister as a child. Parents had a car - "by today's standards quite crude". Not born in Coventry - lived in various places. School in Cheltenham and Cambridge then Bristol University (for 6 years). Father in construction industry.

Track 7
Now retired. Plays bridge - used to be more teams (tied to industrial factories). Only two bridge clubs now in Coventry (Conservative Club and Coventry Bridge Club).

Track 8
(silence) then lower sound. (She interviews herself).
Jill Prime b.1945. Parents married for nine years before she was born. Born in a private nursing home. Rations. Parents Flora and Cecil Ollerenshaw (father lived until 90).

Track 9
Talks about family history in 19th century (Leamington Spa). Family came to Coventry. Ollerenshaw's - she has been doing research. Joseph Ollerenshaw was a yeoman.

Track 10
Henry and Thomas Ollerenshaw came to Coventry. Her father was born in Leamington Spa in 1905 - grocery shop (got photo). Shop didn't do very well so they came to Coventry - grocery shop in Earlsdon (1909). Father went to Earlsdon school in 1910 - didn't do well. Father worked in Standard Triumph when 14 (just before WW1) - until 1970 (when he retired aged 65). Father married when 30 years old (Mother 25 years old). Father 40 years old when she was born. House in 1936 - Clovelly Road.

Track 11
School aged 5 - didn't like it but worked hard - frightened of teachers. Scholarship to Stoke Park School. "Wore school uniform at weekends!" (because she was so proud of it). "I'm a Coventry Kid really…I've lived here all my life". Clothes she wore (liberty bodices to keep her warm). Mother had a boiler (dolly) in the kitchen.

Track 12
Scrubbing board and mangle. At Stoke Heath went home for dinner every day (but had school meals at Stoke Park). Father worked at Standard Motor Company. Spotting-dick puddings, etc. Baking - cakes and scones (Mother made). Mother worked as a part-time book-keeper. Had a bike as a child.

Track 13
Had a bicycle - wouldn't cycle now (happy with buses). Holiday - seaside in car (often to Bournemouth). Bucket and spade. Deckchairs. Swimming costume "smelt horrible when it was wet" (and itched).

Track 14
Birthday parties - had to eat sandwiches before jelly. Games at party included 'pass the parcel'. Parents leisure - no TV until late on - read or went out on a Sunday in the car - went to church (married in 1936). First fridge a novelty. 'Watch With Mother' programmes on TV. Pocket money "not much".

Track 15
Pocket money. Dolls, gollywogs and teddy bears. Aged 11 years old went to Stoke Park. Hated music at school (couldn't sing). Loved languages. Scared of bunsen burners.

Track 16
Had to wear school uniform - "outdoor and indoor shoes". Enjoyed 6th form. Boyfriend aged 19 at college. Not interested in pop music. As a kid went to play in the park (felt safe then). Two 'A' levels not enough for university. Left school aged 18 years old - student teacher at John Gulson School.

Track 17
Teacher training college in Bromsgrove - first boyfriend. Keeps in touch with college friends. Loves pottery. Taught in Manchester. Aged 24 years old, returned to Coventry - lived with parents who have now retired. Met husband at folk club - "loved folk dancing". Married aged 26 years.

Track 18
Didn't want children - "not the maternal type". Taught at difficult infant schools in Coventry. Soon be no Ollerenshaws left in Coventry - previous Ollerenshaws ended up in a workhouse. "I'm a Coventry Kid…I can't say I really like living in Coventry" (no individual shops like nearby). Doesn't like some shops in the city centre. Liked the previous Godiva island.

Track 19
Likes new leisure centre - but doesn't like Apollo theatre being knocked down. "Old fire station been left to go to rack and ruin". Sad about Whitefriars monastery (you have to reach it via a subway). Interested in the history of Coventry and ancestors.

Track 20
Retired early from teaching. Reads and visits art galleries and museums. Mother from Wales - her father died when she was 12 years old. Would have liked to have had grandchildren. Not a rebellious child.

Track 21
Played games - aged 10 years - including 'stroke the bunny'. Friend across the road (Julie). Roller-skates.

Track 22
Roller-skates - father fastened her friends skates with hers to go downhill. Wrote stories and comic strip. Read annuals.

Track 23
(silence). Different food now. Used to have a roast every Sunday. Drank a lot of milk. Paddling pool in Gosford Green. Shops in Empress Buildings - bought a bonnet. Had a nylon dress (one of the first). Jacket / waistcoat. Clarks sandals.

Track 24
Straight hair as a child - put curlers in each night (aged 8 to 10 years). Hair a mess at school. High-heels (like 1940s). "Dad always wore a suit at the weekends". Dad died. Mum partially sighted now.

Track 25
Mum's house. Hardworking father (good with hands). Dad made her a cot when she was young. "Not many Coventry Kids here now".

Track 26
Father buried in Stoke church yard. Mother tells her about the war in Coventry. Father told her he made Mosquitos in factory in Ansty - "hush hush work". Father at Standard - experimental department (called a coachbuilder) - made a mannequin (crash testing). Father worked long hours.

Time: 77:34

Coventry Lives Oral History Project, date of birth: 1944 (Graham Prime)
1945 (Jill Prime)