Down Memory Lane

Memories Near and Far

2012-02-21T02:56:00.001-08:00

Cait Sweeney (Assisting Sharon Woodward in documenting theproject) met some of the group for the first time. 20^th February.

Doris brought in a photo of herself in uniform (Army) from1944 which gave us the idea of bringing in my (Cait Sweeney’s) scanner and laptop for a week so anyone can bring in photo’s, memento’s, souvenirs from etcfrom their childhood and we can make copies which will go towards theexhibition in September.

Doris also has a book written by her brother in-law ‘From Peron to Piccadilly’written by her brother-in-law…it’s in French, but she also has a typedtranslation. Could she bring these in when we have the scanner?….we could maybeus extracts and book cover in Exhibition.

Other areas discussed were, games they used to play aschildren, with hoops, marbles, skipping and chucks (Jacks). (How many of theseare played today?).

Doris spoke about how the children from her school wereevacuated to Exeter but she refused to go so she stayed in London. Earlier inthe War she had been evacuated to her Godmother’s house ‘but that wasdifferent’…

They remembered how front gardens in particular were full offlowers before the War had been turned into vegetable patches.

Mary S loved going to school so much that she cried when sheleft aged 15. They talked about how different it was; learning was throughrepetition. Mary S gave us ademonstration how she can still say the alphabet backwards!

Both Mary Southey and Doris remember boys getting the cane, but couldn’t recallany girls that had, whereas Mary Walsh remembers clearly girls getting the caneand was taught by ‘cross nuns’!

Mary W. grew up in County Cork, leaving school at 16; shecame to England in the ‘50s to work in service.

We talked about the kind of entertainment that was availableand the film-stars and ‘heart-throbs’ around at the time like; Errol Flynn,Stuart Granger, Richard Green the ‘Brylcream Boy’.
For Mary Southey it was all about the ‘Rockers and the Rollers’, she remembershow she used to take a matchstick and rub the end in soot from the fire to drawherself a beauty spot. She met her husband because she began writing to him inMalaysia…so pen pals first. Is Internet dating the modern day equivalent?

There was talk ofthe ‘Potato Famine’ and the ‘Highland Clearances’, which whilst not in theirliving memory are stories or oral family histories that have been passed downthrough the generations.

Cait Sweeney - Assistant Co-ordinator

Big thank you to Cait Sweeney for typing this up.

Was really nice to have Mary Walsh join the planning meetingon Monday she had previously been involved in the taster workshops I ran, so good to gether input. I think her experience of being in Service and coming from Irelandwill offer a different historical perspective. So many people from all overhave come to live in Oxfordshire I only wish I could capture everyone’s story.


Pictures of my Grandmother, Grandfather and Great Grandfather -	Sharon Woodward

Many things came up in the meeting that Ihadn’t been aware of, such as evacuees being taught separately from the pupilswho already attended village schools. How very different the education systemis now to how it has been and the kind of environment the members of AbingdonResource and Wellbeing Centre had grown up in. When Mary recited the alphabetbackwards I remembered my grandfather doing this and how impressed I hadbeen. The schedule is coming togetherfor April – September and looking like a very interesting selection of eventsI’m certainly looking forward to filming the memories and events that aretaking place. I have also entered the Ration & Fashion; Women During the 2^ndWorld War into the Portobello Film Festival if they show them it will be greatbecause it takes place in September and could coincide with the exhibition inOxford.

Sharon Woodward (Filmmaker/Artist in Residence)

Down Memory Lane is funded by The Awards For All Grant – Lottery Fund.

The project is being run with:

Forum Chairs (representing the Oasis group)

Renee Zarecky , Josie Kinduich , Doris Hurley,Janet Churlish, Sylvia Pead and Mary Southey

Jackie Bowler – Abingdon Resource and Wellbeing Centre

Abigain Brown – Arts Development Officer Vale of the WhiteHorse District Council

We would also like to thank:

Pauline Krason, Pat TaylorJean Abraham, Sarah Holloway, LinaMokute, Christine Sadler and Jackie Richards.

Sharon Woodward – Filmmaker/Artist in Residence, ProjectCo-ordinator

Cait Sweeney – Assistant Co-ordinator

The Memories Begin

2012-01-26T23:52:00.000-08:00

It was just before Christmas the 21^st Decemberwhen I received the email telling me that the Senior Citizens - Oasis groupbased at The Abingdon Resource and Wellbeing Centre had been successful intheir bid for funding from the Awards 4 All Lottery application. This wasindeed wonderful and meant that the amazing stories of these incredible peopleare now going to be documented through digital video and archived for futuregenerations.

So it was on Monday the 9^th January that we hadour meeting with Mary Southey, Doris Hurley and Josie Kinduich from the groupalong with myself, Jackie Bowler from the Centre and Abigail Brown the ArtsDevelopment Officer from the Vale of the White Horse. Unfortunately ReneeZarecky wasn’t available on that day but I did manage to catch up with her afew days later and she let slip that she had once taken part in a show toentertain the troops. I’m really looking forward to that story.

We were all incredibly excited and we draw up a roughoutline of the project. The ideas is that I will now schedule in events,activities, day trips and these will run from April – September. Some of theevents and visits will be followed by group discussions that I will also befilming and I will also be interviewing people towards the final films. Allthis will be put towards an exhibition that will in the first instance be takingplace in September. We are also discussing space for of the exhibition to beshown in other local museums. I have also had some interest from the Hanneygroup of Senior Citizens who would like us to visit after September, they wouldlike to see some of the films and I hope to encourage the Oasis group to comealong as well. I think it would be very inspiring to hear this group talk.

I have also had a meeting with a wonderful lady Anne Ransomewho will be paying a visit to the group with some of the amazing photographyand poster archive from the Co-op. She showed me photograph of an Co-op stallfrom the 1920’s which was not far from where I now live and I was really takenback with it.

We will also be working with a local school as well as theDaryton Brownie group and I’m looking forward to hearing a younger generationsoutlook on life without computers, mobiles, TV and lets face it generaltelephones.

So I will now be working closely with Forum Chairs: ReneeZarecky , Josie Kinduich , Doris Hurley, Janet Churlish, Sylvia Pead and Mary Southey, Abigail Brown – Arts Development Officer (Vale ofthe White Horse), Jackie Bowler – Assistant Manager (Abingdon Wellbeing &Recourse Centre) as well as my new assistant Cait Sweeney who will be supportingme in some of the co-ordination.

I would also like to thank welcome those of you who haveshown an interested in this project

I am so please that I made the two pilot films Ration andFashion as well as the Women During the 2^nd World War Ithink they give some insight into what is possible in filming the memories ofthese amazing group.

I also feel incredibly privileged to be allowed into thepast of people’s lives and feels that they have allowed me a little bit of myGrandmother back. That I somehow understand why she believed and thoughtcertain things now, that I didn’t when I was younger, it is indeed a bonus tofind that the group you are working with have given you back some memories ofyour own.

Down Memory Lane is funded by The Awards For All Grant –Lottery Fund.

The project is being run with:

Forum Chairs (representing the Oasis group)

Renee Zarecky , Josie Kinduich , Doris Hurley,Janet Churlish, Sylvia Pead and Mary Southey

Jackie Bowler – Abingdon Resource and Wellbeing Centre

Abigain Brown – Arts Development Officer Vale of the WhiteHorse District Council

We would also like to thank:

Pauline Krason, Pat TaylorJean Abraham, Sarah Holloway, LinaMokute, Christine Sadler and Jackie Richards.

Cait Sweeney – Assistant Co-ordinator

Anybody who is interested:

We would like to hear from local businesses, educationalestablishments or individuals who feel they could offer something to theproject for example a Restaurant who might be interested in making a Wartimemeal using rations that were available at the time or a Garden project whomight be interested in revisiting the ‘Dig for Victory’ Campaign.

Those organisations that have already contributed:

The Oxford Bus Company

The Oxford Bus Museum

The Phoenix Picture House

Newport Film School (Philip Cowan)

Little Nellies (Traditional Sweet Shop) Henley (Kate Harman)

Those who would like to contribute in someway can contactlocal filmmaker Sharon Woodward info@mischiefpictures.co.uk

Project Co-ordinator and Filmmaker:

Sharon Woodward

Sharon is an Independent Filmmaker, Project Manager andMedia Tutor she has over the years received a number of awards for herdocumentary work as well as corporate production. She trained at Newport FilmSchool, the National Film and Television School and with BBC Wale and Tyne TeesTelevision.

This is a wonderful opportunity to take part in documentingthe past for future generations.

Facebook page

Ration and Fashion

2011-10-21T06:58:00.000-07:00

It’s a Monday morning on the 17^th October, and I have talked my friend Eloise Coyle into taking part in the gravy browning stocking challenge (I actually just made that up but I liked the sound of it).

Many of you will be aware that during the 2^nd World War just about everything was rationed including materials. Silk and high-grade rayon was needed for parachutes, wool needed for military uniforms, and basically every type of fabric was in short supply worldwide.

In the UK rationing was very strict, the British government introduced a coupon system for clothing that started on Sunday the 1st of June 1941. Rationing continued until 1949, and some forms of rationing didn’t end until mid 1950’s.

I remember my Grandmother talking about how some women would paint their legs with gravy browning when they were unable to get stockings. So it was with this in mind that we went along to the Abingdon Wellbeing and Resource Centre to see how it was actually done.

Eloise like myself had been told stories from various relatives about such improvisations. Eloise like me was interested in finding out just how difficult this process would be.

So like many of the fashion conscious women of the time. Eloise used gravy browning and water to paint her legs with some help from Josie. I would later attempt to use eyeliner pencil to draw a seam up the back of her leg.

Two of the members Mary and Ruby had done this themselves during the rationing. Mary explained to me that she and her friend had painted each other’s legs earlier in the day. They then had gone out only to have the heavens open on them both - it absolutely poured with rain and the gravy browning legs were washed away.

Mary and Ruby told me that ideally you would have help from your friend, and do each other’s legs. I’m pretty certain they wouldn’t have been impressed with my help. I made Eloise look like she had wonky stockings on and when Renee saw what we had done we got the big thumbs down. The line was too think, the gravy not even.

It must have been very difficult to apply such things as gravy or Coco. I’d like to find out if anybody else has tried this more recently and filmed it.

So I would like to set all you ladies the Gravy Browning Leg Challenge. Can you apply gravy or Coco to your legs evenly with the eyeliner running up the back of your legs to simulate the seam? If so please send me the link it would be great to share this and see how other people have got on.

‘Down Memory Lane’ is seeking further funding for this oral history project.

Big thank you to:

Eloise Coyle (gravy browning model)

Jackie Bowler - Resource and Wellbeing Centre

Abigail Brown - Arts Development Officer, Vale of White Horse District Council

Forum Chairs:
Renee Zarecky, Josie Kinduich, Doris Hurley, Janet Churlish and Sylvia Pead

Ration and Fashion - Short Film

Facebook

Taste of Times Gone By

2011-10-06T07:13:00.000-07:00

Little Nellies Sweet Shop

It was in 1953 on the 5^th February that the sweet rationing came to an end. It was with this in mind that Down Memory Lane turned to the Little Nellies Sweet Shop, 4 Friday Street, Henley of Thames for it’s next fill of nostalgia.

‘Down Memory Lane’ is a reminiscence project, currently in development with the Arts Development Officer from Vale of the White Horse District Council, myself a local Oxfordshire filmmaker and the members of the Abingdon Resource and Wellbeing Centre on Audlett Drive.

I was suddenly seven years old, asking for a 5p mix up - an assortment of chews, Blackjacks, Fruit salads and the Parma Violet sweets. Parma Violets tasted like perfume but I couldn’t resist them anyway.

All this ran through my mind as I walked into ‘Little Nellies Sweet Shop’ on Wednesday the 28^th September. Where I met Kay Harman owner and manager of the shop.

I know it’s tough investigating sweets but somebody has to do it!

If the sight of sweets in jars piled high on shelves, filled my thoughts with sweet eating memories. I wondered what they would evoke in the wonderful ladies and gentlemen of the Centre.

Kay was marvellous and very supportive of the project. She informed me that her own mother had cycled miles in 1949 to get a packet of Fizzy’s the only sweets available at the time .

According to the BBC website in 1953 ‘The government and manufacturers had been quick to reassure the public that there would be no repeat of the first attempt to de-ration sweets, in April 1949, when demand far outstripped supply and they were put back on ration after just four months.

Kay Harman weighed out the Barley Sugars, Liquorice and Aniseed Balls. Then packed them away in little brown bags. Finally she placed them in a beautiful, flower patterned sweet box, which I would take to the Abingdon Resource and Wellbeing Centre.

I was very restrained and kept the lid on (well almost) until Monday the 3^rd of October. It was then time for me to see what Barbara, Beryl , Gerald (Jan) , Mary, Reg and Betty remembered.

Mary would be the groups box opener and as each packet came out people remembered something different.

Beryl shared with the group her memories of the day the sweet rationing ended. She stood in a very long queue on Broadway in Didcot waiting for the sweets that would no longer be restricted.

Mary passed the Aniseed Balls around and I filmed as the group recalled experiences and exchanged stories. I did sample a couple of sweets myself it would have been impolite not to join in!

‘Down Memory Lane’ is seeking further funding for this oral history project.

With thanks to:

Kay Harman – Little Nellies Sweet Shop

Jackie Bowler - Resource and Wellbeing Centre

Abigail Brown - Arts Development Officer, Vale of White Horse District Council

Forum Chairs:
Renee Zarecky, Josie Kinduich, Doris Hurley, Janet Churlish and Sylvia Pead

Sweet Sampling Group:

Barbara Hodgkins, Beryl Cross, Gerald (Jan) Burnett, Mary Southey, Reg Macdonald and Betty Macdonald

Assistant Sweet Samplers: Sharon Woodward, Christine Sadler and Sarah Holloway

Facebook page

Women During the 2nd World War

2011-09-11T04:17:00.000-07:00

On Thursday I spoke to Stella Coulling (formally Stevens) about her experience of being a bus driver during the 2^nd World War. Like many women during that time, Stella was called up and asked to take on work she previously had not considered. Stella told me that she had driven a bus during the blackout on a provisional licence and I couldn’t help but smile. I remembered struggling to take the MiDAS minibus test some years ago myself and passed the second time I did it . How much the attitude has changed and how much it had to change back then.

Obviously it was a different world, a different time and I suspect that not as much traffic was on the roads. However, I wouldn’t fancy my chances, certainly not driving in a blackout!

To think of somebody driving in blanket of darkness. It is hard for my generation and perhaps others generations, to imagine what people suddenly found themselves doing. Stella reassured me that your eyes grew accustomed to the night.

I could only think back to stories I was told as a child and then as a teenager and into my twenties and thirties. The stories my Grandmother told me of her experiences and how the 2^nd World War had changed her life forever.

Stella told me that after the War she was given a full driving licence without taking a test. That the gentleman who gave her the licence said that he had sat on the bus as a passenger many times and knew she was careful and safe. I’d not heard of this before, I wondered if it had been some kind of temporary measure until systems were back in place. I looked up some information regarding the driving licence and found the following.

Driving Licence

In 1935 a driving test was introduced. Voluntary at first and then on 1 June, compulsory. The test was designed to ensure that each new driver had the competence to drive.

2nd September 1939 - Driving tests suspended for the duration of World War Two and resumed on 1st November 1946. During the war, examiners are designated Traffic Officers and supervise fuel rationing.

18th February 1947 - A period of a year granted for wartime provisional licences to be converted into full licence without passing the test.

This must have been what Stella was referring to and had received her full licence during the period after the War. I really applaud her and wonder if I would have shown the same initiative in her shoes. Thank you Stella for taking the time to speak to me.

(Funding is currently being sort to develop further archive and documentation).

With thanks to:

Jackie Bowler - Resource and Wellbeing Manager

Abigail Brown - Arts Development Officer, Vale of White Horse District Council

Forum Chairs:
Renee Zarecky, Josie Kinduich, Doris Hurley, Janet Churlish and Sylvia Pead

Organizations:
Oxford Bus Company, Oxford Bus Museum Trust Ltd, The Phoenix Picture House,

Women During The 2nd World War - Down Memory Lane

Facebook page

Down Memory Lane

2011-07-23T04:48:00.001-07:00

Down Memory Lane is part of a Pilot Community Reminiscence Project .

Taster Session – Sharon Woodward

Over four days I ran one hour taster session workshops with 25 people from Abingdon and Resource Wellbeing Centre.

The idea was gauge the interest of the members in developing a bigger oral history project. The sessions consisted of show and tell where photographs, Meddles and a DVD of my Grandmother talking about her experience during the 2^nd World War were used to stimulate memories. On the last day I really didn’t need to show anything to start the discussions. Often people were more than willing to speak about their experiences, if anything it was perhaps that too many wanted to speak and I was aware of missing quite large chunks of what I was being told.

Many talked of the experiences during the 2^nd World War, from rationing of clothes, making do and mend along with the improvisation with ingredients for meals, as well as those with harrowing encounters of being given nine hours to pack a bag and leave the Channel Islands on the arrival of the Nazi’s, to bombings that left them as a child huddled in a metal box under the dinning room table, those who became female bus drivers and those who painted their legs with gravy browning, applied eye pencil to imitate stockings. Working for the Ministry of Food joining the volunteer services Red Cross, Home Guard as well as the WAAF, Wren’s RAF Navy and Army.

Having a sense of humour which has stayed with many on referring to the arrival of the American’s – they were Oversexed, overpaid and over here, unlike the British who were underpaid, undersexed and sent somewhere else. Although British lads were not as shy as they made out. One member admitted that he tried to join any of the services so he could wear a uniform. The reason being that in uniform you received more attention from the women. Where the term any Tom, Dick or Harry came from – was introduced to those who owed Chickens and warned not to name them. Nobody wanted to eat Harriet at the end of the day so TOM, DICK and HARRY would replace it.

I recalled the interview I did with my Grandmother Marjorie Spicer (formally Sullivan) many years ago when I was a Film Student back in 1985/86. What follows are the transcriptions from the short film I made (then on VHS).

Marjorie Spicer

I was born in the East End of London, in October 1920 my parents (Daniel & Emma Sullivan) were born in 1880.My mother was a housewife as long as I can remember and my father was a furnace builder he built the furnaces for the glass blowers to blow the glass bottles etc.

I left school at fourteen (1934) and went looking for work and got a job in a Millinery shop. Well I suppose I worked there about three months, but it wasn't what I expected, I wanted to make the hats, but it was only making tea and sweeping up. So I went to look elsewhere and got a good job in a factory Maison & Pearson the hairbrush people. I worked there and worked up well into a good position prior to War breaking out.

When War broke out I was only young I was nineteen, we just didn't know what to expect, everybody was very anxious. In fact we didn't think it would last very long, that was the view of most people it was more excitement than anything else.

When War was declared we were all issued with air raid shelters, they all had to come and dig your gardens up and put these shelters below the ground in case of air raids and that. But for the first twelve months practically, there was nothing of that way at all. There were episodes on the Coast but they didn't get inland much, not enough to disturb people, we had the sirens and a few odd planes go over. But it was in September 1940 when the battle of Britain started that was when the real War was bought home to the people in the East End amongst other places.

I had a young Nephew evacuated from school like most of the children and he was sent to Oxfordshire. Then when it got extremely bad or was threatening to get very bad; the lady that he was lodged with wrote to my Mother and suggested that we go down there. So we came down by car my Mother, two sisters and myself and stayed with the person my young Nephew was evacuated to. In the village quite local was a big, very large house (Sibford), which the Government had taken over for the Red Cross. Well the Commandant came to see my sisters and I, and asked if we wanted work there was plenty there for us to do. So the three of us went across to the house and were accepted as washers up and housemaids and that sort of thing. It was a convalescent home for solders that had been wounded or were hurt in some way and they came there to convalesce. Actually I was the only one who remained there all through the War years.

Well when I first came to the country I didn't like it very much at all it seemed very quiet to what the London life was and actually I was a person who went out quite a bit.

Some people accepted you and some didn't; they resented the Londoners in a way that, I really don't know why?

The Londoners had a bad name in the country, actually they thought we were interfering in their way of life and they resented it, but others couldn't have been kinder.

The man I married lived just a short distance from the house from what we went to live in. That was in 1943 - I went with some girls I worked with to a dance in the village. My husband as he was to become came over and spoke to me and from then on we went out together and I ended up by marrying him. He was a typical countryman one of the best!

He was an agricultural worker and he did apply to join the RAF. He went for a medical etc. and passed it all until they realized he was a key man on a farm there wasn't anything he couldn't do, and they refused to accept him because he was needed at home more than what the Air Force needed him. So he joined the Home Guard, which a good many more farm workers did, and he was in that through all the years that the War was on.

He was quite agreeable that if I didn't like the country that he would go back to town when we were married. Go back to London and get a job there, but he was a typical countryman that would have never been able to stand factory life.

After the War we were still rationed for a couple of years. America was very kind to us and sent lots of food over, but it still had to be shared round. Solders were coming back there again, there were more people to feed - and children had been born in the meantime so the population was still growing. But I don't know exactly, I should think it was somewhere like a couple of years before we were back to normal again. (Rationing continued into the 1950’s for some items)

When we first took over the house (the house had originally been built for Farm Workers but after the War the Council took them over, Tadmarton, Nr Banbury Oxon) we actually did have my Mother come and live with me for a period of time prior to her going back to London. She was very poorly and she came to live with us for about six months. Then she went back to London, my sisters having gone back. One sister married a Scotsman, and went to live in Scotland and the other went back to London 'to live with her husband

I had three children (1946, 1947,1949) and then my father retired from his work and as he was in a flat that went with his job they had to get out. So they came eventually to live with me (1950) although they were both elderly about seventy when they came to live with me and lived with me for thirteen to fifteen years .

Two of my children got married they live quite locally, one lives in Banbury town and one lives in another village locally. But my youngest son still lives at home with me and just recently I've had an older sister come and live with me because she became widowed. So for companies sack she is now residing with me and my son.

If I had to have a choice again or live my life again no I don't think: I would change anything really. I was glad to have a family I wanted a family, and everything has turned out just as one would hope it would.

I've never regretted coming away from London and I got no wish whatsoever to ever go back and live there again, I adore the country.

I lost my husband (Ernest Spicer) some years ago now (1974) and he is buried locally (Tadmarton) in the Churchyard in the local Church, some day I will join him I hope.

Interview Sharon Woodward and Marjorie Spicer 1985

(Funding is currently being sort to develop further archive and documentation).

With thanks to:

Jackie Bowler - Resource and Wellbeing Manager

Abigail Brown - Arts Development Officer, Vale of White Horse District Council

Forum Chairs:
Renee Zarecky, Josie Kinduich, Doris Hurley, Janet Churlish and Sylvia Pead

Facebook Group