right (unclear)

T L S stroke nine two seven

thanks eh (pause) eh to start at the beginning could you tell us eh whereabouts you were born please

I was born in Princess Mary maternity hospital and then I lived in Springwell

yes

which is about five mile south of Newcastle

yes eh is that ehm Springwell (interruption) eh not the estate but the

village no Springwell village which was about a mile down from the estate

that's right yes

just past the colliery

yes an important distinction in fact (laughter)

oh yes (laughter) definitely

(laughter) eh and eh whereabouts else have you lived since then and eh for roughly how long you know

well I lived in Springwell for oh twenty one years and then we've lived here seven years

yes (unclear)

moved to Lobley Hill yes they're the only places I've lived

eh how did eh those places compare as places to live where did you like living best

Springwell I like the village atmosphere you know

yes

I don't like the town at all much prefer a village

yes i it's there's a big difference between town and not town I think

definitely even this you know in the suburbs of Gateshead there's a big difference

yes

here to what there is compared to Springwell

yes a lot of people feel that this is in the country compared with Gateshead I think

well it is you know there are fields around but a lot of the people are town people that live here

yeah

and you can't you really can't get to know them at all whereas in Springwell as a village everybody knows everybody else

everybody knows everybody mm

you can walk up the street you know and you know everybody but here you just really you can't get to know anybody

aye I see yes that's how long how long did you say you've lived here

seven years

seven years mm

course I worked for six of those seven years

I see yes yeah

but really you know I worked in a school and I got all the school holidays so really I had plenty of time to get to know people

yes

but you just can't

but you still didn't

no

aye what eh what do you feel about living in you know ehm well Gateshead as compared with Newcastle for instance do you have any attachments to Gateshead or do you (pause) (interruption) just as soon

no not really no the re the only reason we moved here was because my husband works in the town and he's from Chester le Street the Wear and he won't cross that river Tyne to live (laughter)

(laughter)

so of course we had the choice of you know living on this side of the Tyne and Lobley Hill was near the town so we just chose here

aye I see yeah yes it does seem for some people it seems to be a big difference between this side of the water and the other

mm-hm now I worked in Gosforth oh for the last eight years and it didn't bother me I rather like Gosforth as an area but he just won't cross that Tyne to live (unclear)

eh and what about ehm other parts of the country would you be fairly happy to go you know away from Tyneside altogether

yes I would I I wouldn't mind at all providing it was a nice area

mm-hm

that we went into

yes you've no sentimental attachments to the area

none at all no

or even practical ones like friends or

no well I mean you know I think you can make friends anywhere

just yes

you have people you like people you dislike it doesn't matter where you live

yes ehm do you think that eh Tynesiders are very different from people from other parts of the country from your experience

I would think they were slightly friendlier

mm

or nosier (laughter)

(laughter)

that could be the word really when you go further south people are more offhand and th they don't accept you until they really get to know you

mm

and you're not accepted into the community whereas here people seem to be too nosy about what we call foreigners you know southerners'll come and you ask them you know where did you live and what did you do etcetera you know just nosiness

yes eh you've never have you ever actually lived in other parts of the country for very long periods

no (interruption) no

just holidays and stuff

yes

eh just to finish off getting the facts eh whereabouts were your parents born please

eh (pause) well round about Newcastle I think

mm

I can't tell you the exact (interruption) places you know

but they were Tynesiders (interruption) were they

oh yes definitely Tynesiders and my grandparents

yes

all all Tynesiders

eh (pause) (unclear) cards could you tell us which age group you belong to if you just say the letter

eh B

B ta and on what basis you occupy this house again if you just say the letter

A

thanks ehm it's just in case people are touchy about either of those subjects (laughter)

(unclear)

eh is eh your husband from Tyneside

y he's (interruption) Wearside

oh from Chester le Street you said (interruption) that's right yes

Wear Wear

(laughter) silly old me ehm (pause) eh you aren't working at the moment

no definitely (interruption) not

definitely not eh what eh what jobs have you done (interruption) (unclear) since you left school

I was a school clerk when I first left school for three years and then I did a nursery training course as a nursery nurse and I worked as a nursery nurse after that

oh I see (interruption) in a

another eight years

in a n a nursery school like

yes

was it was that a good job did you enjoy it

oh yes I like kiddies you know and I really enjoyed it because it was variable and you met lots of people and of course there were the children there and I thought it was good

yeah whereabouts was that in Gateshead

Gosforth

oh I see yes yes mm and what does your husband do

he's a printer

I see who for

ehm (unclear) and at Andrew Reeds in the town he's been there ever since he left school

yes ehm yes it's no good talking to women about what jobs they do because they (unclear) (laughter) (interruption) (unclear)

they never say much about it no

eh (pause) ehm just a couple of questions to find out if you use certain expressions eh if something's put a put away on a high shelf somewhere could you say that it's up a height do you use that expression

no I don't

no

I don't really no

mm in which case you probably never use this expression ehm could you say of a tool or something this'll do the job clever

no

no

I know all the expressions no my grandparents use them but you know I wouldn't

yes ehm if somebody's had too much to drink he's what do you say

tipsy (laughter)

ta eh (pause) how old were you when you left school

fifteen

and eh do you think you were glad to leave school or not

no I wasn't I rather enjoyed school I liked it

mm

we had a good staff and of course being in a village you knew everybody and you play with everybody and I really enjoyed school in fact I went back and worked there for another three years as a school clerk you know I I enjoyed it that much (laughter)

(laughter) eh would you say that ehm (pause) looking back on your education would you say that it's been worth a lot to you or not very much since since you left school

since I left school I would say it's been pretty good because I did go to college (interruption) afterwards to ehm well to train as a nursery nurse you see you had a college education after that for three years and eh I enjoyed that (interruption) I liked (unclear)

(interruption) oh I see you have some more education (interruption) was that full time training

no it was part time we did three days practical at the nursery and two days theory at college which was very good it really opened your eyes there because leaving school at fifteen you don't really find out much about life and working at school and living in a village you didn't really find out all that much

yes

about life and I was green (pause) till I went to college and I got my eyes opened there I can tell you

aye lots of people say they learn more after they've left school

oh you do definitely yes most definitely I think missed out going into the town you know and working in the town in office life and that because a lot of the girls they seemed to be much more mature because they they went to the town and they met different people and town people they they really seemed as if they they matured a lot quicker than I did

the big metropolis

yes (laughter) definitely

eh and what about ehm in ways outside your job do you think your education has been fairly important for you know just your personal life (unclear)

outside of the education

well outside of your job you know do you think that your education's been you know done a lot for you as a person

yes we did a lot of ehm environmental studies at school and of course that that widens your outlook and you know wh when you sit and talk to people especially when I was at work talking to people you found out a lot more

yes

and really I was I was you know really surprised at the things you had learned in school how they they made you be able to cope with situations (pause) afterwards

yes

it's really good

eh (pause) do you think eh that it's a good idea for children to stay on at school as long as they can

yes I do I think they should further their education if they could providing the education isn't just for three R work I think they should have more ehm environmental studies and things to do with like politics and things like that to widen their outlook on life not just give them the old slog at the three Rs

yes

which isn't really all that much good to you any way once you've left school once you have the basic facts that's it

mm-hm yes

you know you do your (pause) sums (laughter) and eh it's it's not really much good to you once you leave school

yes I know some people think that eh that this was the only thing that was any good to them that that you know they learned to add up and get their change right in shops and so on (interruption) (unclear)

well that's all that thing's good but I mean once you've learned the the rudiments of it you know that's all it is it's just really practice after that isn't it

yes

that helps you to add up quick etcetera

yes do you think that eh education at the moment is fairly relevant or (unclear) a lot of people complain that it's it's a waste of people's time

well I think basically it is and yet if you get interested in certain things it's you can carry on yourself even when you come home you can carry on you know of course there are libraries and things which widen your outlook on life but eh I think the comprehensive schools seem to have more eh character about them I know they're new schools and they haven't really settled down but they seem to cover more facts and you can take up whichever subject you want to whereas in the old type of school you know secondary modern you had basic subjects set down and you had to do them whether you wanted to or not you had no choice in the matter

mm

it wasn't bad I mean in our school when before I left we had the choice of taking languages or commercial subjects

mm-hm yes

which I thought was really a good thing because you know mainly the girls took commercial subjects the boys just took languages but it wasn't very good to them

do you think that's because girls have more initiative than

yes well you know girls going into offices doing typing shorthand etcetera and boys just thought that was too much of being a sissy (laughter)

yes

and they just took the languages but I mean you see it was it was beneficial to girls they could go into an office they had qualifications because they'd sat the exams yes

yes think lots of lots of girls after a long formal education think they would be much better if they could type you know

yes well you see you find you've got these colleges like Scurry's Curry's Scurry's and eh the commercial colleges they go to technical colleges just to learn how to type and to do shorthand

yes

whereas if you learn it at school as well as your studies it's quite good because you can sit your exams

yes

(interruption) at school while you're there

yes not wasting the time

mm-hm yes

eh (pause) when you were eh fairly young that is when you were under twelve say you were living at Springwell (interruption) at the time

yes

do you think that it eh was it a good place to live from your point of view as a child you know did you (interruption) did you enjoy your childhood

oh yes well there was plenty to do being a village you know there was a farm at the bottom of the street and eh plenty of fields to go around you know we used to snaffle turnips out of the fields and jump on the farmer's haystacks then we used to go out blackberrying later on (interruption) there was plenty to do

(interruption) must have been very different from a a a ci city childhood I suppose

well I think so you know even around here you know the kiddies when I think of this little kiddie growing up in this environment here it's it's really quite different from what I was brought up as you know I was you know typical country girl out there we used to go to the farm as I say it was at the bottom of the street there was plenty to do swing on the trees (laughter)

I suppose it probably meant that you played less ehm less games and things or do you think that street games are a very citified thing or did you

well I you know there were terraces where I lived there were streets and the kiddies in the streets we had the normal hop scotch games and ball games etcetera

relievo and things like that

oh yes yes we did and then we used to go down and swing on the trees you know we used to play what we used to call a jungle we used to have ropes from the trees and swing on them you know and climb them

yes

it was very good you know we had caves we used to dig caves out of the bank side our type of cave like (laughter)

(laughter) yes that sounds dangerous

well oh no it was just eh w it's a little hollow you know we used to snuggle in into one one each each person had his own hollow what we would call caves but it was really it was really good you know doing things like that whereas kiddies nowadays when they have gardens in these semi detached houses the kiddies are more or less cut off from the other kiddies

I think yes that seems to be true

mm-hm

a lot of people have the impression that eh children just don't play the way they used to you know

no

I can never decide whether it's really true or whether we just don't see it you know (unclear)

I would think it is I mean if I pushed her out I wouldn't dream of putting her out at the front because of the busses going up the street and I would push her out at the back but she's by herself whereas when I was pushed out I was in the street you know you're pushed out of the door and you're in the street there and of course you couldn't help but play with the other kiddies you either sat on your own or played with them (laughter)

yes ehm (pause) can you remember what you used to call eh a very simple game where one of the eh kids used to have to chase the others to try to touch them

we used to just call it chasey let's play chasey

and ehm what did you used to say about the one who had to chase he you know he's

well if we used if we touched a one you know s say we you're on

that's right yes

and that was it

yes I was just interested in whether you used the word on for that

you're on yes

eh and ehm what did you used to say when you wanted to eh call a halt in a game for some reason did you used to eh cross your fingers and say anything

no

no

not that I know I don't remember

(unclear) the word for it (unclear) if you wanted to tie your shoelace and you want the game to stop and didn't you used to say skinchers or anything like that

no I don't think so ehm we used to have certain places which meant that if you went u there were some steps at the end of the street and if you went up onto the steps nobody could touch you up there

aye that's right yes

you know and if so if you wanted to do anything like fasten your shoelaces or you know put your hair away you just went ran up on the steps and that was it

but you didn't have a skinchers word

skincher no no I don't think so no

that's surprising that I thought that I was under the impression that all kids had some sort of truce word for you know

I've heard of it I've heard the kiddies in the play yard say that but eh I don't think we ever used it

oh you would remember it if you had (unclear) (laughter)

definitely I think I would yes skinchers you know

and eh what what do you call eh the things that boys flick along the ground

marbles

that was what you called them

yes (interruption) play marbles yes we used to play (interruption) we used to play marbles

(interruption) you didn't have a (interruption) you didn't have another word for them did you

mm no no we didn't

you didn't call them liggies or allies or ehm pinkers

no it was just playing marbles yes

ehm (pause) some more words could you tell us just what your normal word is for each of the rooms of this house please

this one's the living room there's a dining room the kitchen ehm the staircase bathroom bedroom well we have two bedrooms that's all

quite a lot really you haven't got a (interruption) passage or anything

garage no we haven't I would use it a a (interruption) passageway I'd call it

you would call it a passage if you had one

yes

ehm (pause) and eh (unclear) eh if you haven't got the right sort of back door but to get out of my back door you have to lift the (pause) what do you call it

lift well we have a knob on our door (laughter) you know we just say lift the sneck lift the latch (interruption) sneck

you would call it a sneck if you had it

eh i it just depends I think what type it was if it was a one with a little hook on it I think I would say lift the sneck

that would be a sneck (laughter)

yes lift the snick mm-hm yes

ehm

because a latch is something like a yale lock I would say you know that was a latch

yes yeah yes eh and eh again if if you had a coal fire what would you call the thing you stand in front of it to get it going

the bleezer

yes

yes (laughter)

and you'd talk about bleezing it up

yes bleeze the fire up yes

ehm and what do you call eh cleaning the plates and things after a meal

washing up wash the dishes

both of those either ei either or both

yes yes either do the washing up or I'm going to wash the dishes (laughter)

yes eh could you tell us please just eh how you like to spend your spare time presuming you ever get any

lazing around (laughter) oh well usually at night you see when I get the baby to bed after I've tidied up and done the washing up etcetera and usually I put the television on and I get the (pause) evening paper and I get my feet up read the paper and then usually I have myself an hours nap (laughter)

exhausting (unclear)

well the baby isn't a very good sleeper you know and you're up two or three times at night and then when you're up at half past six seven o'clock in the morning

necessary precaution

yes I usually do end up having a sleep

(laughter) yes you don't eh presumably you don't go out very often

not v no very occasionally eh oh (pause) I think well February was the last time we were out my husband goes out two or three times you know with the boys out for a pint

a and you haven't got any special eh hobbies or like collecting stamps or anything (laughter)

we do collect stamps (interruption) yes

do you ahh good heavens

yes both of us yes we do have quite a substantial ca eh stamp collection and eh I like doing dress making

aye yeah

which when I have the time and the cash (laughter) I eh I like to make a you know a dress every now and then I think it's quite quite good

eh eh do you think there are any any things that eh you wish you could have done but that you've never got round to or you never had the chance to do you know any special

no not really woodwork I like I'm interested in woodwork but of course that's beyond my scope altogether (laughter) I would love to be able to do something like making a sideboard or something like that you know (laughter) but eh I know I don't even know the first thing about it

(laughter)

but I just think it would be nice to make a sideboard

yes

I don't know why just because

I I I strangely enough I I I was interviewing an old woman the other day and I asked her this question and she said eh she was about sixty you know and she said I would love to ride on a fast motor bike (laughter)

(laughter)

people have the oddest unfulfilled desires (laughter)

(unclear) oh that's never bothered us that (laughter) no

what do you think you would do if you won a very large sum of money tomorrow you know if you won the pools or something do you think it would change your life very much

I don't think it would change it all that much because I would probably bank it I would maybe buy a slightly bigger house and a new car and that but I would bank it because I think really when you win a lot of money you if you want to buy a great big house and you know really live in like posh surroundings you you have to have the right kind of job and you have to move in the right kind of circles to mix in with that type of people you know your neighbours etcetera and (interruption) eh

it's not just a matter of money is it

no I don't think it is no not just having the money

yes

so I think I would probably probably move across the valley to Low Fell in just a slightly better area than this

yes is Low Fell a better area than this one

pardon

is Low Fell a better area than this one I mean (unclear) and all the rest of it

eh it's yes it is yes Lobley Hill isn't a very good area

I wasn't quite sure when I came up here I thought this was a more discrete sort of area from Low Fell

mm-hm eh just depends which area in Low Fell of course you live

(unclear)

it has its (interruption)

oh it's got all the very poshest houses without a doubt but

parts of it has yes it's like Gosforth really you know

mm

they have the posh areas and the middle class areas and the poor areas

yes

really I think I would live in the middle class I wouldn't like to live in the really posh area

mm you wouldn't be a valley drive sort of person (laughter)

no no (laughter) I like that type of house but eh I don't think you see I don't think we would really fit in with the neighbours

aye

there you know you get consultants and everything living there you just you just wouldn't fit in

yeah

so I think it's it would be just a waste of money spending all that much on a house there I'd rather save it and then like go abroad for your holidays every year or something like that

mm-hm

really enjoy enjoy your life

yes

with the money that you won

mm yes a lot of people think of travel I think

mm-hm

but you couldn't see it actually transforming your your sort of ordinary ways of (interruption) living (unclear)

I don't think it would no definitely not it wouldn't transform mine very much anyway not very much

yes ehm (pause) eh these are just a few questions about your opinions on some ordinary matters ehm what do you think that parents should do when their children misbehave

well I think they should sort of scold them if they take no notice the first time threaten them and if they take no notice then smack them or whatever you threatened them with (laughter)

(laughter)

if you threaten to smack them really smack them you know I definitely would agree with that carry out your threats

yes but it wouldn't be sort of a a clout for every eh misdemeanour (interruption) (unclear)

oh no I don't think so I think if if you have certain rules and regulations that you set down and if you tell a child that you know like if this one my child goes to the television I say now that's naughty you mustn't do that and if she goes again I say now if you do it again I'll smack you and then if she does go again I do smack her and then she knows but I wouldn't just hit her the very first time that she went because she obviously she doesn't know right from wrong yet so I think you must tell them what's wrong first

yes

and then once they know then you can wallop them I mean every time she goes after that she'll get walloped (laughter)

very systematic eh do you think that eh a young person of say sixteen should be more or less allowed to do as they want or not

within reason (laughter) eh obviously a child of sixteen I'm saying a child that's because I'm older you see they ehm they they're allowed to leave home now I wouldn't have liked to have been allowed to leave home when I was sixteen

you wouldn't like to have been allowed to

no even if I'd wanted to you know I I eh I don't think I would have been able to survive

yes (interruption) you think you would (unclear)

because as I say I was as green as grass when I was sixteen year old and of course you can get into bad company and if a sixteen year old sort of leaves home and wants to go and live in the town you know that's what they want to do they want to go into digs etcetera you're ver very vulnerable to people

so even if you had wanted to you would have preferred to be prevented as it were

I think I would yes yes you know I had certain restrictions I had to be in by ten o'clock and naturally I disobeyed those

yes

I thought oh that was disgraceful you know fancy having to be in at ten o'clock at night but I realize now that they were for my own good

mm-hm yes

I didn't realize then mind course when I was sixteen I knew everything I wanted to do everything but eh I realize now now (interruption) I do

you accept that they were sensible regulations

I didn't then when I was sixteen I didn't but I realized now it'd about nineteen or twenty I realized they were for my own good you know that I sh should have stuck to them (laughter)

mm

eeh what you do when you're young

ehm this is a question that you don't have to answer if you don't want eh due to the secretness of the ballot eh which way do you vote

Conservative

yes and this ehm eh have you always voted the same way

yes I have I've always voted (interruption) Conservative

is that because it's a eh traditional matter in the family or

no no my parents are eh Labour they've usually vote Labour

and what do you think eh changed changed your mind

well I used to listen to both sides when I was younger and eh I always think oh if they vote Labour they don't know anything I'm going to vote Conservative and really I do now I still vote Conservative whether I agree with it or not (laughter)

oh it sounds like you it sounds as if it was just in sort of rebellion against (interruption) (unclear)

I think it was really yes definitely but eh I don't know I always used to admire Churchill when I was younger and eh nowadays you know I still vote Conservative

yes and do you think you're always going to vote Conservative now

most probably unless the Labour party can come up with something really good yes I would eh (pause) I think I would still vote Conservative

ehm do you usually ehm turn out to vote on all occasions (interruption) even municipal elections

yes yes I do yes mm-hm well I think it's everybody's right you've got no cause to complain if you don't go and vote

yes

if you do go and vote you can still complain about them (laughter)