Could you tell me where you were born and brought up please?
I was born March 1935 in Chicksand street, in the East End of London, so technically I am a Cockney being born within the sound of Bow Bells, (my parents had moved down from Glasgow before I was born) I believe they moved several times and my first real memories are living in a flat in a house in Wood Green. Times must have been hard as it was for so many in the Thirties.
Mother used to tell me stories of taking me to the Benefits office with her and teaching me to say I was hungry, so she could get extra food vouchers at least I think it was that and not money. She had bitter memories of those days. She had a visit from the Welfare officer or whatever he was and was told that she couldn’t need relief help as she had flowers on the table and so must have some spare money! (They had come for the garden of the house we were living in.)
The war started and after a few months we moved back up to Glasgow from London, My Dad got a job in John Brown’s shipyard. We first lived with my paternal Grandparents in Wellfield Street, Springburn, the flat had only 2 rooms with hole-in-the wall beds. There were two in the Kitchen -cum -living room, My Mum, Dad and I slept in one and Granny and Grandad in the other. In the “best room” Aunt Jean had it to herself. Mother considered her “hoity toity” as she worked in a bank.
The lighting was gas and a coal fired range; it had the added refinement of a two ringed gas cooker on the top at the side. There was always a big black kettle on the fire gently simmering to make tea. It used to frighten me because Granny used to tip it towards herself to pour the water into the tea pot and I was sure it would slip and go over her. The toilet was down a flight of stairs and shared with two other families, each family provided their own newspaper squares for the use of! Mother used to go there for a smoke as Granny did not approve. Grandad was occasionally allowed to smoke his pipe( thick black tarry tobacco- lovely smell in the tin) as long as he blew the smoke (& spat) into the fire, otherwise he went down to the entrance of the close.
Eventually my mother found a flat at 51 Otago Street Hillhead.The flat had 3 rooms and a toilet, electric light (gas light on the landings), coal range and gas like at Granny and Granddads’ but no hole-in-the -wall beds,
Mother, Father and I slept in one room. A lodger Mr McNab, slept in another. I have no idea who he was. He may have been a salesman. He just slept there, no meals were provided only cups of tea. He was a kind man. As I had problems with mental arithmetic at school, he used to help me by giving me little tests to practice.
As we didn’t have a bath in the flat and I became too big to fit in the sink, I used to take the tram and go to the public baths. The woman used to turn on the hot tap with a special key (so you couldn’t get anymore) and left you to put in the cold water. The water was almost boiling, and you didn’t want to put too much cold as you wanted to wallow as long as possible. You were allowed half an hour then the attendant came and banged on the door and told you to get out. I can remember going home looking like a boiled lobster! Great.
Just prior to WWII
Would you tell me any memories that you have of 1939, please? Fear of war? Any preparations for war being made? Air raid shelters being built? Housing-for your family and for others. Food? Healthcare? School? Parent’s work? Any holidays? Films, play, entertainment in general?
I was still pretty young in 1939, but the first real memory was the journey from London to Glasgow by train and being met at the station by Aunt Mary who wrapped me in her great big grey shawl which was around her shoulders and then me. At that time Mothers and Grannies used to carry young children.
As for my father’s work, He went to work at John Browns Shipyard as an electrician, I just remember the sound of his tackety boots coming along the street.
Main entertainment was listening to the radio, children’s hour was extremely popular, and the announcer was called “Uncle Mac” he had a lovely voice very reassuring and always rounded of the program by saying “goodnight children everywhere”. One of the serial stories he uses to tell was about Tammy Troot. Later, on a Saturday night was a program called Saturday Night theatre presented by the Man in Black, which probably started my lifelong love of mystery stories again he had a wonderful voice. The other popular program which I loved which was music Big Bill Campbell and his Canadians cowboys which was country style music.
Early Days of WWII
What do you remember about the announcement of war? How did you feel about the onset of war? Did you talk about the war with your friends – what did they say? What do you remember (if anything) about the sinking of the Athenia? What can you tell us about your awareness of people going off to war? The changing role of women? Can she describe any memories around munitions factories? People moving to Glasgow to work in them? The air raid wardens, blackouts. school? 602 Squadron.
I don’t remember the announcement of war but remember that we would all sit round the radio and listened to the 6 o’clock and 9 o’clock news which started of with chimes of Big Ben. As a child listening to the news it caused me great anxiety as I was always terrified of Big Ben being bombed.
At night all the windows had to have blackout curtains drawn- not a speck of light had to show outside. Wardens patrolled the streets and blew a whistle if any light showed. Even using a torch outside had to have brown paper over the light.
Wine bars were springing up everywhere and also were very popular I obviously wasn’t out much at night, but Mother had some good stories. She was working as a clippie on the trams coming out of the depot in Partick and according to the shift was often walking to and from the tram depot in the dark. Some of the women were getting worried about being on their own in the pitch dark, so they were issued with whistles which they were to use if they thought they were going to be molested. One-night Mother was walking home when she heard footsteps padding along behind her, of course she couldn’t see anything and got more and more frightened and finally blew her whistle it didn’t work there was no pea in it….
Her driver was called Bob and she used to say that he was a better driver when half-drunk than when sober. On a Saturday night particularly, the tram would be full of drunks and if they became aggressive or troublesome, she had a signal which was 3 rings of the bell and Bob would head straight back to the depot without stopping.
I used to travel on their tram sometimes and I would sit upstairs at the front and change the seats at the terminus.
The worst job I had to do at home was to take the food scrapes to the pig in which were dustbins that were in every street which people put their scrapes in and then collected and taken to the local pig farms. They were not emptied every day and the smell was appalling, to this day I can heave at a bad smell but have no problem looking at bad sights.
Rationing
Could you tell me about any memories of rationing? Sweets (GIs with sweets?). Fish and Chips. Recipes, ‘Dig for Britain’? Clothes rationing- Coal rationing. Soap rationing? Etc. The end of rationing? Do you remember it being phased out?
Oranges were rarely seen, one day a sailor got on to Mother’s tram and she was talking to him gave her an orange- oh it was lovely. One day I was out playing ball on the pavement when I slipped on the only banana skin in Glasgow and cut my knee badly which then became infected wouldn’t have minded if I had eaten it first…
Food was strictly rationed and no variety and then the American food parcels started to arrive. Americans were encouraged to send food parcels as we were supposed to be starving. I didn’t know any better until Aunty Mary’s food parcels started to arrive well the sweets and biscuits, there were other things probably in tins. She also sent me American comics and paper dolls which I loved, but it was the sweets that were my downfall especially rum and butter toffees. There was the famous time when I called out of the window to my friends playing in the street and threw handfuls of sweets to them. Unfortunately, Mother was coming home from work and saw what was happening, she was NOT pleased.
Many Americans came to Glasgow and seemed very glamourous especially to the older girls. Us kids would run after them and shout, “got any gum chum” and they usually gave us a stick.
We used to have some merchant sailors come and stay when their ship came into Greenock. One of them was Jacko who was the ship’s cook. He was very tall, and his feet used hang over the end of the chair-bed which used to amuse me. He’d make the porridge for breakfast, but I didn’t like it because it was so thick the spoon stood upright and didn’t fall over. They all used to go over the road to another flat where the woman played the piano and we all had a good sing song. They were torpedoed once but managed to save the flag (the red duster) and gave it to my Mother It was hung out the window on VE day and Mother had it for many years.
Mrs Buchanan was a next door neighbour she was lovely, I was a “latch key door kid” the key to the front door of the flat round my neck and sometimes after school I would go to her flat and she made peppermint “sweets” made these with milk powder mixed to a stiff paste with peppermint flavouring which was very strong but enjoyable. The only other sweets available were from the chemist were tins of Ovaltine tablets…lovely.
Evacuation
Were you evacuated? Can you remember any friends that were? Would you say there were more or fewer children at your school? Can you tell us about seeing evacuees leaving/coming home? Any children coming to Glasgow from other places?
It was debated whether I should be evacuated to Canada, and then the Athenia was sunk by a German U boat and there was no more discussion about evacuation.
The Blitz
Can you describe how you felt when there was an air raid? Do you have any memories of a siren suit? The place you went to shelter. Did it change over time? What people chatted about in there? Were you aware of any other shelters in the area? Did you hear of anyone that died? Did you hear about the blitz in Clydebank and Greenock?
My main recollection of the war days was fear, I was 4 ½ when it started and 10 when it finished, so was quite aware of what was going on.
When the air raids started on Glasgow, there was a bakery along the road from us (where us kids gathered at a side door to watch the bread going in and out of the many ovens) that had large deep cellars big enough that the whole street of people could take shelter.
Every night Mother would make a flask of tea and bread and jam and kept them in a bag in the hall cupboard, also at the ready in the bedroom was a sleeping bag into which I was dropped when the siren went off and carried down to the bakery shelter. This when the fear began, there is nothing worse than being wakened up by a wailing siren and the terrific rush to gather everything up and charge down the stairs and along the road. At least the cellar was so deep that you could only feel the “thump” of one of the big guns nearby it was called “Big Bertha” ( most big guns had this name) Glasgow raids were mostly at night and didn’t have the doodle bugs and V bombs that London got.
An incident that caused great hilarity- the sirens went, and we all awakened with a start and rushed to the shelter. Dad couldn’t understand why everyone was laughing at him until it was pointed out that he had pulled his underpants on over his pyjamas instead of his trousers
The worst night I can remember was the night that we stayed in the building only going down to someone’s flat downstairs. I was sleeping in my sleeping bag in the hallway when there was an enormous bang and the whole building shook violently of course I screamed the place down I think Mother was in the loo!! Fortunately, there was no damage the bomb called a land mine landed in the nearby park and made a big hole, which of course we all went to see.
One of the worst times for Glasgow was the raids on the docks in Clydebank at least the attempted raids, obviously the Germans wanted to demolish the shipyards as they were working all out building ships, their mistake ( The Germans)was mistaking a road for The River Clyde. The road was a new wide white concrete road running near the river. The main raid took place on the night of the full moon, the rod showed up brighter than the river and the bombs were dropped either side of the road. Some factories were demolished but unfortunately many tenements were hit and there was a big loss of life. I remember the panic the next morning, Mum and Dad went to the area because his brother, my Uncle Tom, Aunt Chrissie and my cousins Helen and Nan lived there. Seemingly the tenement that they lived in was the only one left standing in the area and as they had not gone to their shelter that night, they were ok. Helen who was about my age, was severely affected nerve wise and spent many months in hospital. I remember Aunt Chrissie describing going to a cupboard and she could not touch the things inside due to the heat from the burning building next to them.
Housing during WWII
Do you have any memories of people being made homeless by bombs? Can you remember bombed-out buildings?
The only bombed building I saw was when we moved back down south and saw what had happened in London. As the rebuilding took years, until the late ‘60s, you could see where the bombs had landed.
Impact on Family of WWII
Did you have any family members that went off to war? Do you have any memories of friends whose parents were in the army/navy/air force?
Schooling and bits of war work
Can you describe what school was like during the war? Did your classes get moved to other buildings? Gas mask training? Any war work that you and /or classmates carried out? Gas mask training? School dinners? Patches of land with vegetables on?
I went to Willowbank primary school all during the war.
There were 60 kids in a class on the register. But not that many attended as there was a lot of sickness, diseases went round very quickly. I had Measles, chicken pox and Impetigo. I remember a lot of the children were very unwashed and nits were rampant which led to my Mother being extremely vigilant, she would spread newspaper on her lap and I would have to kneel and she would drag a “bone” comb which scratched my scalp which consequently got infected this was a very painful ailment it meant that my hair had to be cut round the scab and Gentian Violet applied. When I went back to school I was so conscious of the very short hair I asked to wear a hat and the teacher made me stand in front of the class and take my hat off which was a great humiliation for me.
Discipline was very strict and if you misbehaved you would get the belt which was a thick strap that the teacher would be slapped across the palm of your hand. Most of the time it was the boys that suffered, though I did receive it once for talking too much… and it wasn’t nice.
Remember vividly the smell of the rubber from the gas masks- horrible. We used to carry them in cardboard boxes to and fro to school every day and had to practice putting them on.
School dinners we used to travel from school to a central point for school dinner which I found very difficult to eat most of the time and the dinner ladies were very strict and you had to eat everything on your plate, the meat was mostly gristle which I chewed and chewed and nearly choked getting it down. Then, because there was so much gravy, I used my pudding spoon and dared to ask for a clean spoon for my pudding. Well that was the end. I told my mother about the dinners and she was able to arrange for me to have my lunch with a friend whose mother cooked her lunch and that was much better.
During term time we had school milk and in the summer if left outside it would begin to turn sour and in the winter it would freeze and would have to be put on a radiator to thaw and was horrible. I have had a dislike for milk since then. During school holidays we could go every day to get milk.
The Red Cross was collecting money to make up parcels to send to prisoners of war. So, us kids thought we should do our bit. There was a big cellar under one of the tenements which was never used, it was filthy, but we swept and scrubbed it out, borrowed chairs and got all our parents to come and we put on a concert- charged them of course, we sang and danced the popular songs. I don’t remember how much we made- probably only a few shillings but were very proud of the letter from the Red Cross thanking us.
On Saturday’s we would go to Wellfield to Granny and Grandads’ for tea. Sometimes clootie dumpling! Grandad McLennan would take me out to his allotment- somewhere in Springburn, as we walked there, there was a railway yard with a big coal yard nearby. On the way back we would go to a place for his medicine, later found out it was the pub!
Granny would make a pokie with a newspaper and put a couple of spoonful of precious sugar, and when we got to the allotment Grandad would give me a stick of rhubarb which I dipped the end into the sugar and ate. Although he had a little greenhouse and I loved the smell of the damp earth I don’t remember what he grew.
Children’s understanding of events during WWII
Were you aware of The Battle of Britain, Dunkirk, D-Day etc? The progress of the war in general? Did you hear about it on the radio? Through newspapers? newsreels?
I was well into following the news on the radio and was very aware of the Battle of Britain and Dunkirk.
Towards the end of the war I remember the awful newsreels showing the concentration camps. We were all horrified and upset.
Cinema and play and other entertainments and leisure activities.
Can you tell us about going to the cinema? What games did you play as a child? Any other entertainment or trips away during the war? Anything in local parks?
Saturday morning was the children’s cinema I went “The Ascot” in Anniesland and the song we would sing.
“We come along on Saturday mornings greeting everybody with a smile,
We come long on Saturday mornings knowing it is well worth while,
As members of the GB club we all intend to be, good citizens when we grow up,
And champions of the free”.
We had so much physical freedom, played outside, in the street all the time peever and imaginative games playing out the war and skipping.
Played in Kelvingrove park and went to the art gallery, and to the bowling green. The best time in the park was when we had a very severe winter 1946-47 and so all us kids went sledging in Kelvingrove park. Nobody had a sledge. We used pieces of Lino, tin trays and dustbin lids. There was a full moon and we were out there for ages. Clothing was a problem. Underneath was fine, we had combination and liberty bodices plus woolly jumpers on top, but trousers were the issue so Mother had to alter some of my Fathers old trousers. I can still feel the cold but the moonlit night was beautiful.
I was in the Brownies and after a meeting in the winter my friends and I would go to “Auld Pete’s and get a bowl of Pea- browse ( it was like a pea soup but with lots of whole peas)with salt, pepper and vinegar
I can remember taking the tram on my own to the terminus at Milngavie and then walking along a country lane and the bluebells would be out.
At the band stand in Kelvingrove Park, there would be military bands and what we called the entertainers, singers, dancers and comedians, this was in the summer months towards the end of the war.
The end of WWII
Can you describe the end of the war? What was VE day like for you? Where there any immediate changes in your life and that of your family? What expectations did you have for your future? Can you let us know what it was like to have Social Security come in as a safety net for everyone? Do you remember what it was like when the National Health Service was introduced in 1948?
VE day everyone was extremely excited and happy. We had a huge bonfire in the middle of the street- no problem with the traffic and sang and danced, and most of the fear had gone.
I can remember the atmosphere from the adults talking about how wonderful it was that they could get medical treatment without paying.
My brother was born in January 1947.
In January 1948 we moved down south to Hayes, Kent and moved into a house. For me it was great as it had a garden and fields at the end of the road. In the Sunday Express there was a column written by Andy the Gardener which I avidly read and wrote to Grandad on what and when to plant.
Schooling Post-War
Can you describe schooling at this time? Any changes from during the war? Leaving age?
In Sept 1947 I left primary school and went to Woodside senior secondary school but was only there a term as we moved down south to Kent to Bromley. I then was accepted into Bromley Grammar school for girls and started there January 1948. The first day there was rather traumatic as when as I was taken into the classroom, the form teacher introduced me to the class. All the desk lids went up as when she asked me what my name was I spoke with a very strong Glasgow accent and also didn’t have the right colour uniform. I was in brown and the school uniform was Blue, and from then on I was the most popular girl in the school simply because of my accent. I made good friends some of whom I am still friends with now.
The leaving age was 15 but I stayed on until I was 18 completing my certificate of general education
At 18 I went to Brighton Teachers training collage for two years finally becoming an infant teacher.
It was 1953 when I went to Brighton and rationing was still going on, The ration book went to the college, so I don’t remember about the meat as they fed us but on a Saturday morning. We were allowed 2oz butter and 2oz cheese. The problem was deciding whether to eat the cheese and butter immediately or spread it out over 2 days. But having no refrigeration it was probably better to eat it in one go. Have been obsessed with cheese ever since!!
Women’s work Post-War
Can you describe what was expected of women in terms of work? Would you describe your experience? What were your peers doing? Did they leave work once they had had children or when they got pregnant? How did the role of women in work change from after the war until 1960? The women you knew?
In 1952 I had job in a shop called Wayletts which sold newspapers, tobacco sweets and was a post office. I wasn’t old enough to sell tobacco, so I worked on the sweet counter, sweet rationing was still in, things that were in bars e.g. crunchies or mars bars and bars of chocolate were kept under the counter for the “favourite” customers, but the loose sweets anyone could have with their coupons.
I remember at college just as we were leaving, the girls were advised if they were wearing an engagement ring to remove it before going to an interview, especially at church run schools, because it was assumed that they would be getting married soon and would not be teaching for very long.
Men’s work Post-War
What sort of work were men doing? What did the boys from your class go on to do? Did any of them do National Service and/or go to Korea.
Housing Post-War
Do you remember people being homeless then? Houses being built? Prefabs, people living in old POW camps? Where did you live?
I remember the prefabs, people loved them especially if they had lived in the tenements with no facilities. They came with inside plumbing and a built-in kitchen and had a small garden. They were only supposed to last for approx. 10 yrs. but lasted much longer, another form of housing was the Nissen Hut, they were previously used as barracks for the military .I can remember the ones on Hayes Common and people lived in those for many years.
When I went to college we all lived in the college, the first year there was 4 beds in a room, the only heating was a gas fire, and you had to put ½ crown into the gas meter, and sometimes when my parents came down to visit they would leave a couple of ½ crowns on the shelf. In my 2nd year I had a room to myself. We had to sign out and sign in and it was strictly adhered to. We had a curfew of 10.30pm on week nights and on a Saturday if you put a “T” by your name it meant you were going to the theatre and so were allowed an extra half hour to get back and had until 11.00pm needless to say the theatre was very popular!!! Many times, you could see girls running madly to get back in time. Wine bars were springing up everywhere and were extremely popular.
After college I went back home to live. Although the college advised us not to. But when I got a job teaching. II moved into a one bedroom flat. It was in the attic and had two room a bed sitting room and a kitchenette with a cooker, sink and a cupboard. There was no refrigerator. One flight down was a shared bathroom and toilet. Once a week you could have a bath, but you had to book your session.
Courtship and Marriage
What was courtship like then? Were people married younger then? Do you remember lots of your friends getting married?
My contemporaries and friends were in their mid-twenties before they got married. Engagements were very official. If the man broke it off the woman could sue him!!! Not that I knew anyone who did this. At lot of girls who were engaged before they got to college were not necessarily engaged by the end due to the new found freedom and growing up.
Courtship was very formal, my first date with my husband to be I spent the whole day calling him “Mr”. It took me to the end of the day to ask him his name! Things were taken very slowly. Illegitimacy was still frowned upon and shameful and girls were sent to a home for the last months of their pregnancies. The parents didn’t want them at home because of what the neighbours would think, and when the baby was born they had about 6 weeks and then the child would be put up for adoption. They were bleak places. They had to do all the cleaning and there was a mixture of girls there from all walks of life. There were no supports for single mothers in those days.
Food and Consumerism Post-Rationing
What changes were there to food, recipes and buying habits between 1954 and 1960?
Food was bought every day from small shops. No big supermarkets. Some areas milk was delivered daily, and you always had a string shopping bag when you went out (bringing your own bag is not a hardship)
As television became more popular so came the cooking shows. One of the first hosts was Elizabeth David and she introduced olive oil and garlic. Up until then the only olive oil available was in small bottle that you bought in the chemist, and used principle for pouring in your ear if you had earache. And garlic was viewed with suspicion. Other television chefs were Philip Harben, and Fanny Craddock and her husband Jonnie. Because of the popularity of television cooks people became more adventurous, imports from Europe became more accessible. Also, by the late ‘50 s and early ‘60s people started travelling to the continent for holidays.
Leisure -time
Any holidays in the 1950s? Any hobbies or pastimes?
In the early 1950’s I use to go on cycling and youth hostelling with school friends. We cycled England, Scotland, Wales and went to Southern Ireland.
All through my school years from about 13 always had a Saturday job. In those days I had to get a licence because of my age, which entailed having a medical to say I was fit enough to work.
Was a keen member of the Girl Guides and finished up in the air rangers and learnt how to fly- well in theory……
