Individual results

Interviewees: Mary Beale and Alan Beale
Logged by Maurice Rattigan

Track 1
Born New Street, Coventry in 1928. When I was 2 years old when we moved to Perkins Street, now site of Sidney Stringer School. Basic two up and two down terraced house. Outside loo. Scullery with brick copper for the washing. Gas lit with one penny in the meter. Basic furniture. Scrubbed table. Black lead grate.

Track 2
Cleaned every week. Fire used for cooking and toasting and boiling kettle. On sideboard was biscuit barrel. Old sofa. Mum and dad had arm chairs. Brick floor covered with matting. Picture rail hung with photos. Clock. Wash day hated.

Track 3
Lighting copper. Clothes scrubbed and dollied then boiled, rinsed, starched, mangled, (hard work turning handle). Then scrubbed scullery and loo (toilet) floor and outside yard. Monday dinner was always left overs from Sunday. Ironed on scrubbed table with flat iron heated on fire.

Track 4
If wet the clothes were dried indoors. Coalman delivered coal through house to under stairs, so dust everywhere. Mum often bought bundles of firewood. Drawsheet to help fire lighting. Chimney sweep came early morning. Us kids (children) verified brush coming out of chimney. Tasted soot for days afterwards.

Track 5
Pantry for all the food. Mum shopped every day. Shops were handy nearby. Gas man emptied meter onto table and mum got rebate and mum gave us a penny, so gasman was welcome. The tar gang for the roads was a delight for us kids. Got tar off hands with lard. Dad was a tailor. Paid ten shillings a week rent.

Track 6
Everybody rented then, until houses were built in suburbs. Doctors man also called weekly for subs(criptions) for health treatment. Got medicine off doctor. Insurance man also called weekly. One penny a week policies for me and my brother. No married women worked then. Doors never locked. Milkman delivered in a pail into our jugs. School milk.

Track 7
Half a bottle a day. Wheatley Street Infants and then South Street School. Then back to Wheatley Senior school and left at 14 years of age. First School had slates and chalk for our ABC. Teachers were always spinster women who didn't like kids. Not friendly. Both parents my were stone deaf.

Track 8
Sign language. Parents never went to visit schools. No Wendy houses but plasticine. Basic education, and religion. Skipping and ball games in playground. Had PE and country dancing.

Track 9
Mother shopped with sign language but we kids often shopped, also for neighbours. Mothers were never ill, they just carried on. Everyone came home for midday meal. No school dinners. Chest rubbed with Vick or camphorated oil heated by the fire. Cod liver oil and malt. No hot water.

Track 10
or central heating but we kept well. No mollycoddling. Navy blue thick knickers, black stockings and thick jumpers. But dad being a tailor I had lovely coats. Well made. Didn't appreciate at the time. We all wore hats. Boys wore short trousers until 14 years of age. Life was hard. Dad was sometimes laid off with no work. No benefits then.

Track 11
We ate different. Stews with cheap meat cuts. Roast on Sundays only. Special day high tea with tin of salmon and tin of fruit and Hovis bread. Only on Sundays. Bread and jam in week, no cakes. Biscuit barrel was nearly always empty.

Track 12
Maggie Roberts shop sold broken biscuits for a halfpenny. Sweet shop, we got halfpenny to spend. Half an apple each. No fruit bowls. Never went on holidays. British Legion members kids would go on day trip to Blackpool for lights. Was 10 years old when I first saw sea. 18 years old when I had my first holiday. Dad was wild. Thought we were going to get into trouble.

Track 13
Streets were our playground or played in back yard. At South Street School, 8 years old until 11 years old. Was 11 years old when war started. Had Anderson shelter. Was dreadful. Condensation dripped on us. Candlelit. Heavily bombed area. Prayed. Walked everywhere.

Track 14
Never went on tram or bus. More trams than buses. Town was lovely then. Late Saturday shopping cheap. Loved Xmas. Special air about the place. Narrow streets. Lived near St. Peters Church near abattoir. Sheep in church yard and we would feed them. Thought Canterbury lamb came from Canterbury Street.

Track 15
Sheep kept grass down for church. Dad went to pub and city match. All worked on Saturday mornings. Mum didn't go out for leisure. Her outings were visits to nearby parents. Went to pictures cheap Saturday mornings at Globe or Palladium cinema. No regular pocket money. First job, fifteen shillings and eight pence and gave mum ten shillings.

Track 16
War brought better wages. No cars. Lucky to have a bike. First job was at Whitley (Armstrong Whitworth) in wages office for few months and then to Bass the brewers in Much Park Street, stopped there until 33 years of age, when I had daughter. Took war in my stride. Wasn't frightened listening to bombs. Didn't realise what it was all about. Sheltered in Stevengraphs factory cellar when it was hit by incendiaries. Didn't know until water started dripping through roof. Went into another shelter. Firemen pumped water from River Sherbourne in Cox Street.

Track 17
I despair of modern Coventry. When first rebuilt I thought it was great. Was proud of it. Godiva was in good position on flowered island. Dreadful escalator and ramp ruined it. Our lovely visions were gone.

Track 18
Still rebuilding it without improvement. A disaster. My daughter home from Australia thinks it's a mess. Cheap and nasty, even the shops. Noisy. Broadgate pre-war was lovely. Streets were wiped out before the Blitz. Nice individual shops.

Track 19
No green in centre. Met husband at Daniel's dancing lessons. Lot of people met at dances.

Alan Beale
Track 19 (cont.)
Born Mar 1929 in a nursing home in Albany Road. The family home was in Windsor Street and lived there until it was destroyed in the blitz in 1940. Went to Spon Street School.

Track 20.
Mother also had been there. I had same teacher. Old school built in 1873. Coal fires. Coal monitor was an honour. Hard winters, kids (children) took turns around the fire. Was ink monitor and had to mix powder and take it to other classes.

Track 21
Good standards at school, but lopsided. No history or geography, but had bookbinding. Girls did cookery. Was deprived area. Enjoyed school. Can still remember teachers' names. Spon Street area comprised a lot of shops. Could tell in fog by smell where you were.

Track 22
Hunts, the bakers. Baked bread and numerous cakes. Bought small baked mixture left over. Mr. Ward was the pork butcher. Pig hung in shop doorway, and chopped it down the middle. Lard and scratchings.

Track 23
Corn chandlers. Timms, the fishmongers. From Spon End Bridge to the town was a whole procession of shops, and Rotherhams was in Spon Street. Rudge Whitworth was just off Spon Street. Dad worked there as chargehand packer. Made bikes and motor bikes. Walked few minutes to work.

Track 24
Was never short of firewood. Dad brought odd bits from work. Dad then to Armstrong Whitworth at Baginton in 1930s and through war period. Dad always ran a vehicle. Motor bike and sidecar. Always a Rudge. Went to country for picnics. Lucky. His first car was in 1938, a Morris Seven. Never took a driving test.

Track 25
Severe petrol rationing stopped private motoring. He then had a Riley Nine, and it stood on bricks without wheels and it started OK after war. Had bikes in war. On Blitz night dad was badly injured about 8 pm. Neighbour Bob Clarke found him.

Track 26
He had a little car and took him to Coventry and Warwickshire hospital but none was being admitted so took him to Kenilworth, and then to Warneford hospital. Was in serious condition and had fifty-six stitches in his head but recovered though still got hole in head to put three fingers in. Still alive at 95 years of age. Martial law was declared and Bob Clarke couldn't get back into Coventry to tell mum.

Track 27
Mum didn't know where dad was and tried to find him, it was three days before she met up with Bob Clarke and knew where dad was. Mum is now 93 years old. When a lad, our neighbour was a widow, Mrs. Mack and she took in washing. From 9 years of age onwards I worked for her. Done her shopping and delivered and collected the washing

Track 28
and collected the money. At 9 years old I was paid three pence a week, and later I did more work. She had a lodger, Mr. Gilks, who was special.

Track 29
Her son, Harry, became head boy at Bablake school and eventually became head metallurgist at Standard Motor Co. During Blitz period we went to paternal grandparents at Centaur Road, with other bombed out people. Maternal grandmother came back to Coventry and took us back to Derby for several months.

Track 30
Interesting period. Derby different. Garrison town. Strongly defended so not much bomb damage. Mum found us a house in Poitiers Road, Cheylesmore, and we came back in time for the April raids. Modern three bedroomed house. Very pleasant house and area. But we continued to go to Spon Street School.

Track 31
I was Grammar school material and thought I shouldn't change schools. I did win scholarship to Junior Technical at the Butts. As a boy, student and lecturer I was there until I was 36 years old. I was lucky to get apprenticeship at A.C. Wickmans.

Track 32
Served my time as machine tool mechanic, left and went to several firms then went back to Wickmans, left again and moved around then returned again and finished up as manager of technical sales office until the firm collapsed in 1971. Houses now occupy that site in Banner Lane.

Track 33
Machine tool industry disappeared in this country. Bad times. Worked in interesting jobs and companies. Worked at Armstrong Siddley on jet engines.

Track 34
Sir John Black set up factory to produce the Avon jet engine. Contract for twenty-nine a month for Ministry of Supply. Got job there as production engineer for about four years. Best job I ever had and best paid. Planning to get married at the time.

Track 35
Left because I had to learn different methods at different companies. Went to Dunlop for a short time, but it was bad move. hey had different approach. Not a happy period. At Wickmans I was one place from the top of the tree. The last eleven years I worked at Olio Pneumatics, who made railway buffers.

Track 36
Wallcote house at Blackdown, near Leamington, formerly owned and lived in by Cash's. Original furniture still there. My office was the butler's pantry. To my regret, we moved to their factory at Bedworth.

Track 37
58 Windsor Street was my boyhood home. Two up and two down. Scullery, no garden at front, small yard at back. Cold water. Coal under the stairs. Had been Gran's house. We split back bedroom up for me and my brother, and Granny. All houses much the same. All twelve in block the same.

Track 38
Our house. Two armchairs, table. Coconut matting over red quarry tyres. All had chilblains. Bath night Thursday. Large tin bath in front of fire. Me and brother together. At times I toasted bread from within bath. Mam and dad bathed Fridays.

Track 39
Hot water carried from copper in kitchen or kettles from black lead grate. Cooked on range. Fed well. Gran was friend of relative of pro cook. Great-grandparents associated with aristocracy.

Track 40
Gran was good cook. Dad was part time barman for extra cash for furniture. As working class family we didn't do too bad. Later mum helped with housework at water engineers house. Later helped run private lending library.

Track 41
Mrs Warren owned it but mum read all new books. As child I hated change of seasonal clothing. From cotton to woollen vests. Short trousers until I was 13 years old. No school uniforms in war. Tie and badge only.

Track 42
Most kids wore boots but we had shoes but didn't like to be different to other kids. Had leather helmets for motor bike but wore it other times to swank. Mum and Gran good knitters. Made us socks.

Track 43
Gran done needlework for Queens railway carriage. Spoke of seeing first aeroplane and first car. Would take me to pictures occasionally. First teacher Miss Wolton

Track 44
Second teacher Miss Perrins. She tried to stop me using my natural left hand. Under doctor for nerves and he solved out my problem and saw head teacher. Next teacher was Miss Colvert who was keen on handicrafts making cheese etc. , and final teacher was Miss Copes. Good teacher. Then up to next upper junior class. Mrs Stanley

Track 45
which was unusual to have married teacher. Due to shortage of teachers in war. Very cold classes. No school dinners. Took packed lunch it was too far from Cheylesmore to go home to dinner. Only kids still in school. Got hot drink.

Track 46
Played sports in summer. PE on fine day outside. Spon Street School was badly damaged in Blitz. Main hall gutted. Learned to swim at school.

Track 47
Seasonal games. Marbles in gutter. Cigarette cards. Skimming against wall. Collected them in sets of railway engines, Speed, etc. and stuck them in albums. Swapped with mates. Then conkers soaked in vinegar.

Track 48
Whips and tops. Winter warmers. Empty cocoa tin with holes pierced in then bits of burning rag and threw around overhead on a cord. Tip cat was a strange game.

Track 49
A piece of wood three or four inches long, carved at ends and another stick to hit it with. Complicated rules. Played in street. Windows were at risk. First television, nine inch square was bought by granddad for us to see the Coronation.

Track 50
Our first colour television we bought was to watch a wedding. Prestige thing. Probably had about twopence a week pocket money. House next door, Mrs Rainbow, a widow, turned her front room into a little shop. For basic goods. Had chewing gum machine outside.

Coventry Lives Oral History Project, date of birth: 1928 (Mary Beale)
03/1929 (Alan Beale)