eh

(unclear) what are you doing research into in fact

well it's it's a kind of mixture between a a a linguistic survey you know a dialect survey and a sociological survey it's really concerned with the connection between the two you know what I mean eh this is where the interview really you know concentrates mostly on kind of facts about the people who we're interviewing you know where they were born and the kind of job they do that's the sort of thing you know

mm I see

but eh it's it's a we're based in the English department you see so it's really mainly a linguistic thing you know it's mainly a (interruption) (unclear)

the sociology is a sort of a addition to it

yes the sociology is ehm you know mucked up none of us are professional sociologists it's just eh

you're just you're just having (unclear) added on

that's right

what are you taking in fact y y y you're now doing research you're finished your BA have you

that's r that's right yeah I did eh I did my BA there actually in that department you know so I'm doing a PhD now

what year are you on

eh this is the ehm middle of the second year so that means I've got about a year year and a half

and have you decided what you're going to do then

oh well actually I think (laughter) I think it might take me another eh another year after that to finish it you know because the collecting of this stuff and the eh analysis of it is taking rather longer than I thought it was going to you know

so it may take you four years to finish (unclear)

so I might have to be searching round for some more money from some other generous body you know to ehm support me for another (interruption) year

aye another problem like a cup of coffee

yeah please

fine I'll just ehm get that done before we start then

good idea yeah but eh there's really two of us who are working on it part time there's one bloke eh he's teaching in the department now you know so he doesn't actually get a great deal of time to to devote to it you know not to the fieldwork (unclear) but actually you know the Gateshead bit of the survey is really my (unclear) my area you know (pause) seeing as that I've li I live in Gateshead like you know and eh

that's my (unclear) of course

yes yeah actually ehm my wife reckons that you went to school with her at Carr Hill did you go to Carr Hill school

that's right

yeah (NAME) (NAME)

(NAME) (NAME) that name does ring a bell

aye used to live on Broadway

I used to live on Broadway too

yeah

eh (NAME) (NAME) whereabouts on Broadway did she live

fourty two

no four and we were twenty six (NAME) (NAME)

you know two twins

that's right yes yes I do remember (NAME) that's right she's perfectly she's perfectly right

yeah

yeah yeah I do a small world as they say

(laughter) well yes Gateshead's a small town I think (pause) it's surprising actually how many of the sample that I've drawn on in some sense known to you know either her or me or my family and you know

here we are just help yourself to milk and sugar if you want (unclear)

just sugar

there we are

ta (pause) how long have you been living over here in (unclear)

ehm about eighteen months since I got married in fact

yes you must have just just about been on the census eh you know the electoral eh

uh-huh

register (pause) because I drew the sample in (pause) January last (pause) y y when was it (pause) it was certainly yes it was round about February last year which was immediately after that electoral register had been out you know so I thought that most of the people who were on it would still be actually there you know

just help yourself to a biscuit if you want one

yeah ta

make yourself at home

whereabouts were you born (unclear) were you born in Gateshead

mm in Low Fell

were you

mm

which which street in fact

Dean Street

yeah off Kells Lane

that's right

it's recording by the way so (unclear)

is it fine you haven't you haven't got to make notes that's the way to do it

eh

that's the way to do it you haven't got to make notes

yeah eh whereabouts else have you lived since then you know h how long have you lived here

we ehm I was born in Dean Street and I (pause) lived there until I was about these are approximate ages about mm five or six and we moved to Lobley Hill ehm Greenwood Avenue and I was lived in Greenwood Avenue until I was ehm ten and moved to Broadway

yeah

and then I lived on Broadway until I was about (pause) thirteen we moved along Hadrian's Hadrian Place which was a cul de sac off Broadway

yes

and eh I was there I I was a student so I left home for a while

yes (unclear)

ehm (pause) and ehm when I was finished eh my studies I came back up here eventually

yeah

I had I had a job down

whereabouts were you studying

I worked at two I was a student at two places I ehm initially went to what's now Newcastle Polytech it was then the college of commerce for two years and then I went for a further two years after that to what is now well w what was then Salford University in Lancashire

oh yeah (unclear)

so I was a student in total for four years and ehm I worked for six months (pause) for a company Turner Turner Brother's Asbestos in Rochdale after that and then came up here living initially at home and then when I got married over here

oh I see yeah which ehm which place of all the places you've lived you know which did you like best

(laughter) (pause) in terms of the environment you know

well yeah let's let's split it up in into say the physical features of the (interruption) environment and the (pause) the sentimental (laughter)

the physical part of it (pause) ehm (pause) (laughter) I think in terms of the the area itself probably ehm Hadrian Place when I was at that point in Gateshead during that part of my life

yeah

but ehm that's in terms of the area

yes

but you know if you take other factors into account probably my choice wouldn't be that I mean in one sense whoops the one sense I suppose ehm I prefer this place to ehm (pause) to Hadrian Place in Gateshead

mm

yeah I think it's I mean if you're looking at the amenities I suppose it's even better here to some extent

what about you know getting on with the neighbours and things like that do you get on with people round here very well have you made many friends since you (interruption) (unclear)

ehm (pause) we have made some in in ehm you know the flats next door here

yeah

ehm reasonably close but they're older people here and my wife's a sister at the RVI and she was involved a lot at the weekend with the woman next door who was ill

yes mm-hm

and things like that so we we tend to look after somebody y and help them out

yes

it just so happens that the woman next door is also a friend of ehm is also the mother in law of a friend of my wife so that's how in fact we got to know her initially

yes are you are you basically the sort of person who ehm you know who does mix in a lot with the people who live around you or do you more or less keep to yourself you know

I think if you're talking about here I think it's more keeping to yourself I mean I I think I'm a gregarious person generally

yeah

but I think I've taken ehm (pause) a circle of friends which I know up here which my wife has and ehm I've regarded myself as being transplanted here until we get a house you know we've been here eighteen months we hope to get a house later this year so I haven't really bothered developing a community spirit ehm because there's really no need I've got so many friends around the area from Gateshead and other places that it hasn't been an easy

it hasn't really made a difference

no it hasn't no

what about ehm you know you sort of have lived in eh Salford you know do you find that people up here are very different from people in other parts of the country you know Tynesiders are very (unclear) as a group or

well I I think I know ehm the people in Nottingham and Derbyshire quite well because my wife comes from there and I naturally spend a fair proportion of the time down there

mm

and I know the people in man Manchester naturally I was there two years and here so I can contrast three sets of people ehm strangely enough in many respects they're very much the same ehm (pause) I can also draw limited comparisons with the southerner from staying with friends in London

yes

and ehm (pause) I would I wouldn't like to say in terms of friendliness or neighbourliness I would I my own view is that there's not a lot of difference between the the three communities

yes

I would say that eh I've found the Lancashire people to be friendly characteristic of them and to be approachable and easy to talk to willing to help the same way I found the North Easterner

yes

ehm and I also find I've also found that the people round the Nottingham area have been very approachable and very friendly as well the southerner I've found you know like most people I think to some extent you know the usual hack saying that they tend to be a little aloof and a little concerned this is the Londoner particularly in the southerner to be concerned with their own lives and not wa really wanting to get involved

yeah

and my I don't know them as well as the other three areas but that that that is a an opinion I think I hold

a lot of people certainly think that Tynesiders are a lot more friendly than than other people but I'm not sure whether that's just I suppose it's part of the you know the traditional character that Tynesiders are meant to have (unclear) probably probably (interruption) (unclear)

and how much how much proof there is of it

mm

ehm I agree with you I don't think ehm (pause) I I can remember when I was younger there seemed to be a lot of this community spirit around I would say definitely that it's (pause) it was more prevalent ehm (pause) in past years in the fifties and so on than it would be say now I couldn't I can remember in fifty three in Gateshead when the the coronation whoops the coronation and all the neighbours used to go to other people's houses someone was nominated to have the coronation party and so on

mm-hm

I can't somehow imagine that necessarily going on as well now

(laughter) yes yes

I think more people have retired into their castles ehm (pause) than they have that's the old story of course of social grouping isn't it

mm-hm

is the is the neighbourliness a phenomena of the social class

yes

and a product of the community the nature of the community and with new developments and so on you know better than I do of the new developments the new high rise flats and so on

yes

does it does this tend to destroy the existing community

(unclear) yes I think sort of sheer hardship has quite a lot to do with it as well actually you know that the more depressed an area is ehm you know the more neighbourly it tends to be

well I I must admit I can recall in Gateshead when actually the same neighbours used to come and borrow (pause) sugar ehm tea and so on do you want any more just help yourself there's some in the pot

oh yes thank you

I'm sorry I don't know your christian name

(NAME)

(NAME) mine's (NAME)

yeah (pause) do you ehm do you eh do you imagine that you'll eh stay in Tyneside now you know eh say for the rest of your life or or will you you know (interruption) (unclear)

I don't think I can say that I think ehm (pause) certainly for the it's very possible in the say the next five ten years that I may have to be mobile

mm

(unclear) I've already worked at one point I've already lived away from home and indeed worked away from home in the sense home being the North East

mm yes

and (pause) while there are disadvantages personally moving you know one's parents are here and so on I recognize that I may well have to do this and ehm I would be prepared to do it I wouldn't reck I I haven't got a strong allegiance to the North East as a place

no

ehm I must admit if I ehm ac in fact I to some extent prefer the Nottingham area

mm-hm yes

ehm in terms of an environment but you know yet when you asked me to choose environments before it was where I'd lived permanently I've only spent you know at the most a couple of weeks in Nottingham at one point in time

but you do you have ehm any other you know kind of personal attachments to here you know I mean would you would you lose a lot of personal links as it were if you (interruption) ever moved

yes I think I'd lose friendship links yes although I tend in fact inevitably because they're my wife's friends and she's as I say she's a she's now a sister at the RVI

yes

ehm her friends have gone married and gone to various parts of the country my friends particularly friends who were students have ehm moved about the countries

mm

s so why not suppose the (pause) majority of our friends are up here if in fact we moved to many places we'd always find some friends

yes

so there would be somewhat loss of personal attachment

yes it it it is quite a problem actually trying to keep up your various relationships in the mobile you know situation where people just keep moving away every couple of (unclear)

I mean you're unusual in the sense I suppose that you come from Gateshead and you were a student in Newcastle

yeah I've been pretty stable but you know like as with you like my friends have moved around you know (unclear) I mean that that makes it quite difficult as well you know

mm

eh whereabouts were your parents born were they

they they were born in Gateshead as well yes

yes

well my father was born in Gateshead mother was born in ehm well this is a question my mother died actually my father remarried that was when I moved from Lobley Hill when I moved to Lobley Hill my mother died there and my father remarried some years later that's when we moved back into ehm back at Broadway in Gateshead

mm

so ehm my actual mother was born in Gateshead I know that my other stepmother now was born in ehm oh outside of Gateshead where's the place (pause) I can't remember it's oh dear me it's gone Sacriston

yes

Sacriston I'm sure

but not very far away

not very far away no

yes ehm and what was your eh father's occupation please

fire service officer well a fireman

mm

he's now retired from that they have to retire at fifty five

yes and eh how old are you now

twenty six

and on what eh on what basis do you occupy this house you know do you rent it

this is rented yes

from a private landlord

from private landlord (pause) who lives in a farm in Durham he's got about twelve of these around drives around a Rover two thousand

has he (laughter)

(laughter) dri it's a woman that does quite well

mm ehm and eh where did you say your wife came from again

she comes from in fact Nottingham

from Nottingham

ehm (pause) I think yes I think it was it was Nottingham area and it was we say Nottingham I forget it's it's one of the you know the suburbs like Gosforth is to Newcastle

yes

I forget which one it was that she was born in because they moved round quite a bit in the Nottingham area

and eh have you got any children

oh no

no I didn't see (unclear) (laughter)

not not n not as yet peace and tranquillity what about yourself

yeah same with me actually

and y you're all right at the moment

been married about the same time as you know same amount of time as you

oh about eighteen months ago

yes

ah yes

mm ehm (pause) (unclear) eh whereabouts do you work at the minute

Northern Gas Board

and ehm what eh what what exactly is your job there you know (unclear)

well I'm in the marketing department eh domestic marketing and ehm my title is retail sales officer and I'm responsible for the operation of the board showrooms throughout throughout the area

yeah

do you want do you want to know more of what that entails

well you know what what's it like do you enjoy it (unclear)

oh yes I I'm very happy there the the industry as you as you probably probably are aware is ehm (pause) I I took an MSc in marketing management eventually which is hence the link that's why I'm in marketing and ehm (pause) the industry I I feel personally is is the kind of thing someone at my age would like to get into because of course it's gone through this traumatic change in natural gas ehm the need to achieve tremendous sales objectives and (pause) a very unsophisticated marketing organisation so it's it's had to go through the the process of restructuring itself reorganizing itself dealing with (pause) large scale advertising and so on things it's didn't really do in the past and of course it gives me an opportunity to learn a tremendous amount

mm

w eh which which you can only get the opportunity when an industry is going through the change it is so I'm quite happy (pause) in what I'm doing

c yes course you've actually got very little you haven't actually really got any competition (unclear) what what does marketing amount to (laughter) in this eh

in in in the (interruption) board

or have you I mean

well we have ehm (pause) if you I would say our our our competitors are the different fuel ehm the the other fuel interests you know like the electricity and coal and oil and central heating

mm

and ehm (pause) to to that extent of course we've got fairly strong competition

that's true yes I I was looking at it from the point of view of anybody else making gas cookers and things like that you know

well it's true eh course this this is interesting y you're quite right in to the extent that y y y you drew an interesting ehm fact we differ considerably to say electricity in that the electricity boards have their showrooms and you've got people like c Civic and Lloyds and so on then you've got other any any virtually of all the range of companies selling electrical appliances as well in competition with the electricity board but when you come to the gas board we've got a virtual monopoly w there's some independent retailers setting themselves up now to sell appliances but you're quite right this is a significant difference

I wonder why it's worked out like that in fact is it because of the

well partly because of the size of the electricity industry ehm (pause) there's a considerable obviously a considerable number of electrical appliance well over twenty million ehm the figure I've seen but you know they vary according to the definition of electrical appliances but there's a tremendous number of electrical appliances sold mainly from light bulbs to televisions radios and shavers you name it washing machines refrigerators

yes

and so there's there's a a lot of opportunity for other people to engage in it

yes

with gas there isn't there's not as many appliances sold and also there's a greater feeling of the necessity for installation service to be done by a a qualified body

yes that's right

anybody can in sense put a plug on a electric eh fire and that's it

mm

you know you plug it in and it goes

yeah

but you can't easily run a pipe to a gas fire yourself

yes

and I think this is partly been the reason it's partly been this question of service (pause) partly been because of efficiency there's been nothing legal to prevent people doing it it just happened this way

mm

although you know we get our criticism for being inefficient (laughter)

(laughter) yes

say the very least it's another criticism we're prepared to deny

(laughter) yes

on the service side anyway

yes is this ehm is this the have you is this the only job you've done in fact since you qualified

no I eh worked in Rochdale for six months

oh yes

and there I was the personal assistant to the sales manager of one of the divisions of Turner Rose Asbestos it was a rubber products division they made conveyor belting fan belts things like that I did that for six months

yes

and then left

and that was that was after your MSc as well (interruption) yes (unclear)

that was after my MSc yes

what did you what did you leave there for did you want to move up here or was it (unclear)

no the the reason was the job I'd already applied before I went to Turner Rose to the Northern Gas Board but ehm at that time they hadn't the authorisation to appoint eh to appoint me and ehm (pause) so (pause) prior pending them making up their minds and getting authorisation I had to get a job of course I couldn't hang around so I took this other job as a second best job anyway and regardless of whether ehm regardless of whether it ehm the Northern Gas Board job had been there I would have left them I was I wasn't happy

(unclear)

it wasn't the right environment to work in (unclear) come on (NAME)

hello

(unclear) introduce (NAME) (unclear) (NAME) (NAME)

pleased to meet you

(unclear)

he's just quizzing me on my background and so on w would you believe it (NAME) wife is ehm girl called (NAME) (NAME) and she remembered me d d do you know ehm I mentioned my parents used to live in ehm on Broadway you passed the place

yes uh-huh

well she her parents lived about the middle of Broadway

oh how funny

yeah it's a small world she remembered my name and I I as soon as (NAME) mentioned (NAME) (NAME) (NAME) of course I remembered and it's when he mentioned twins of course it's it's remembered (interruption) instantly

yes it's yeah

oh she really studies my lists of people and then says I know him there and I'm sure I know him (laughter)

is this eh how you got chosen out of a hat is it

no no it's much more sophisticated than that my goodness me

it's a proper sampling (unclear)

oh I see

(NAME) is going to get a PhD out of this he wouldn't (unclear) get get one of them by taking them out of a hat (laughter)

(laughter)

got to have a proper sampling frame and do it by (pause) the na the correct method and so on

that's right

(unclear)

(unclear)

there may be some coffee left in there if you want some (NAME)

(unclear) eh don't let me interrupt you know just

just press on as if you weren't here

right

no I I (unclear) that that was the reason I left (unclear) I was unhappy with the company and unhappy with the job and in fact I didn't think the prospects were very good

but do do you think that ehm do you think that your present job will be a long term I mean do you usually sort of look for a job that's going to last a long time or or (interruption) (unclear)

I think one I I think one ah well tough (laughter) it's difficult to say I c I could envisage staying in the gas industry but not necessarily the Northern Gas Board

I see yes

and ehm one one is conscious in our field anyway that up to I'm twenty six now up to your thir say thirty thirty two the experience what which one gains during these years is terribly important it fo forms a foundation if you like for your career

mm-hm

so you must always be sure that you're always building on your on your experience and you're always ehm progressing

aye

and ehm if you ever feel that y y you're going over ground which you've already learned about and had experience in before in fact you're standing still

yes

and th that would be the time to move on I don't think I've reached that point in time at the moment

yeah

and I could envisage the strong possibility of staying in the gas industry

yes

because I think there's there's lots of opportunity it's eh it offers a great deal

what's the relationship in fact between the different regional gas boards are they all run like separate companies

they are at the moment each gas board is ehm autonomous with natural gas eh the strength of if you like the headquarters organisation which is called the Gas Council has increased but in many respects it has an advisory role to play (unclear) to the domestic marketing committee it's advisory each ar each area domestic service manager goes to it and there's a national domestic service manager but ultimately he can't say to the to a sales manager Joe Bloggs you're going to do this

mm-hm

it's all advisory through committees and recommendations but with effect from January next year all area gas boards are going to be abolished and the Gas Council and they're going to replace it by British Gas Corporation which would be like the Post Office

yeah

and then we'll have a headquarters organisation and we will now be we will become the northern division probably

yes

well they may amalgamate some boards together as well

yes

and we will just become a division of the British Gas Corporation and then they'll have authority in London to say do this and do that

yes

instead of recommending you to do this and do that which they do at the moment

yes

it's very you know there's a great deal of integration between boards advertising promotions and so on

yes

but each board e you know we all working on campaigns at the same time the Gas Council are advertising this pro programme to to coincide

yes

ehm but area boards often have different offers for example if you had a cooker campaign it would probably be national but we could be offering three pound off or ten pound off cookers somebody else could be offering free free premium offer with a cooker and so on

yeah

there's no uniformity generally speaking ehm in in that way

eh just a bit about eh your education ehm what eh where did you go after after Carr Hill school you know what (laughter)

(laughter) ehm after Carr Hill I went to ehm Whitehall Road secondary technical

yes

which was a selective school in Gateshead as you know not a grammar school

yes (pause) yes (unclear)

that's right the central I passed the twelve plus in fact I failed the eleven and got the twelve ehm which is now it's now called Elgin Road senior high

that's right yes

we just moved there in fact before I left

yeah

then eh that was I was at Whitehall Road stroke Elgin Road nineteen fifty seven sixty two

(unclear)

eh sixty two sixty four I worked I left school after O levels

yes

six O levels and I worked for not for me no thank you I worked for the North Eastern Electricity (unclear)

mm

and did a day release course for the ONC the Ordinary National Certificate in business studies

yes

that was sixty two sixty four I left got a grant did the Higher National Diploma in business studies at Newcastle Polytechnical or college of commerce as it then was that was sixty four sixty six sixty six sixty seven I was at Salford University doing (unclear) management studies and sixty seven eh sixty seven (pause) sixty eight I was again at Salford for a further year doing MSc in marketing management

yes

and that's that's i it in a nutshell

yes eh what did you think of here eh you know your primary and secondary education do you think it's been worth very much to you or did you think it was a good start

y y y you mean my secondary education up to O level

yes

yes uh-huh I (pause) I felt I had benefited a lot from it I d I don't regard it as being a waste of time by any standard

(unclear)

and ehm (pause) I don't feel that I I came out of it learning nothing and knowing nothing I think particularly I don't think my primary education was a great deal of benefit to me

mm

I think it's a question of developers in a sense I suppose I was a late developer

yeah

and I don't think I shined by any standards of the imagination during my primary education but I think I was lucky enough to I I thought Whitehall Road was fine for me

yes

and I I thought I had a good education s fifty seven sixty two but primary education (pause) I don't think it helped me a great deal

yes ehm what do you think about eh the function of schools and things like ehm you know teaching morality and this kind of thing do you think this should be very important for for kids

thi thi thi this is sort of the theory of the good citizen coming from you know being taught at school and so on is that what you're saying

yes mm how would you how would you rate the importance say you know of parents compared with the school influence and things like this

ehm obviously the best situation is one complementing the other

mm

ehm I do regard the school as being quite important to teach basic values ehm (pause) to teach if you like w what is required of a good citizen to make ehm children aware of their responsibilities and ehm conscious of right from wrong ehm now here we're starting to move towards the parent's role as well

mm

ehm (pause) I think (pause) I would like to think that as you say certain basic things are taught by the parents I mean some of the things I've mentioned such as the right from wrong and basic as you say basic morality and (pause) good citizenship and all the things that make up for it but I think the the school should reinforce this

mm

but unfortunately I think many parents don't accept the responsibilities of parenthood therefore they may not teach the children these things and you've got to have the school as a stop

yes

ehm a backstop so it could be argued that the the school teaches these things as well as the parents for the x percent of children who are not t taught this by the parents

yes that's true yes (pause) what about ehm say eh religious values you know have you got any religious beliefs and this sort of thing yourself

ehm I have but ehm in a sense I'm not a practising Christian by going to church regularly I wouldn't say I was an atheist agnostic but I would say I have certain religious (pause) ehm beliefs ehm you know believing in God and believing in the eh the wisdom the value of the teachings of Christianity

yes

ehm I don't necessarily believe that t to to accept these things ehm one has to go to church regularly and so on

yes

I think it's ehm I think this can help but it's not by any means necessary I think schools on religion whether a school should teach religion or not ehm (pause) difficult one (laughter) I think (pause) probably they should probably they should

yes yes I thought the way you know in the way you were talking before I thought you were perhaps going to say that you know you thought that schools have a kind of ehm role for teaching (unclear) you know I mean the good citizen notion and that perhaps parents had some other kind of eh moral role which was I mean say religious morality you know some kind of morality was kind of in the

I don't I don't think it's necessarily ehm black and white situation I think if if if o one could guarantee ehm parents o one could ma make a rigid differentiation say the parent's job is to teach religion the school's job is to teach you to be a good citizen

(laughter)

I don't think one can one can regulate the teaching in schools

yes

because of course you have a y y you can lay down national policy you can't regulate parents

that's true

so I think schools have got to compensate for the weaknesses and ehm (pause) problems of parents not teaching certain things to their children

ehm (pause) eh new subject ehm sorry for the abruptness of (laughter) (interruption) shifting these things

that's okay

ehm what eh what sorts of things do you like to do in your spare time you know (pause) assuming you get any

well ehm (pause) this is interesting fir first of all I eh particularly over the last three years ehm well as a student I I had to work reasonably hard

yeah

in the course that I was on y you could tell so I didn't ehm I'm not a strong sporting person for example