ehm well eh to start at the beginning eh could you tell us whereabouts you were born please

Ballymoney just outside eh well between Port Worth and Belfast

aye

Northern Ireland

aye and eh whereabouts else have you lived you know since then how long did you stay there

eh (pause) I was there till about I was twelve year old then we moved up to Belfast I lived in Belfast for a while and then we moved from there to a little place called Suffolk eh it's a village just outside Belfast it's a new housing estate they'd just started building at the time

oh I see yeah

and from there I joined the army trained in the army as a boy soldier and came across here

yes that was what first brought you to England was it in fact

yes I joined as I say I joined up with the army as a boy soldier

how long have you been in Gateshead you know

eh let's see now we've been married fifteen year now haven't we fourteen year we've been married how many years is it we were married slightly after I think about twelve year we've been here now

yes yes what do you think of this this area as a place to live you know do do you like it

oh I like eh (pause) the area in general's quite good you know I like li living round in Gateshead and Newcastle my life's here now I couldn't see me going back to Ireland at the moment

no

very (unclear) holidays yes but for to live no

yes

everything I've got's here is here now so

yes

from what I've seen the rest of England like especially when I was serving in the army I don't think I would fancy living anywhere else

aye

I like living here

yes

because I know the well I know all the people here I suppose

yes

(unclear)

yes do do you find eh Tynesiders very different from people from other parts of the country you know

well I've found eh myself when I first moved here that Tyneside people make you they try to make you a lot more welcome than they do down the south there not specifically the south itself eh any parts even eh well even when I was in Scotland for a while the the people don't seem to go out of their way they don't try to make you make friends with you

yes

well up here if you if you're pushed for a friend or anything at all if you go in a bar for a pint of beer you I should think inside five minutes somebody'll be talking to you

mm yes that's true aye yes I've heard that from lots of people you know who don't come from here like you know (unclear) what about eh Gateshead itself as a place to live you know do you think Gateshead's a reasonable place or

well a lot of it the two places between Newcastle and Gateshead eh I would pick Gateshead to live in really eh

mm

Newcastle (pause) well I I don't know there's parts of Newcastle where I would like to live but eh there's more parts of Gateshead I'd like to live it's simple as that so I think Gateshead's the best of the two

yes yes

that's what I think like

yes what's eh what's this estate like you know is it eh would you say you're very friendly with the people round here or not

oh yeah the people round here are even the people I don't know myself personally know me

mm

or they know one of the kids or the wife

yes

and ah people just walking down the street and people say hello Paddy and I nine times out of ten I don't even know who they are

yes yes

the wife knows them more than what I do and I can

aye

I know most of them maybe by first names if I go in a bar or picking them up in the taxi or things like that you know

yes

so yeah they're quite nice people round here

yes ehm whereabouts were your parents born were they born in Northern Ireland or

yes both my mother and father were born in Northern Ireland

yes

both came from the same area

yes and eh what was your father's occupation

eh my father was a herdsman

sorry

herdsman

yeah (unclear)

(laughter)

(laughter) yes eh and eh what how old are you now just for the record

me eh thirty two now

(laughter)

(unclear) you'll be thirty three in October

thirty three aye

oh (unclear) get it right anyway (unclear) and eh does your wife come from Gateshead

yes she's (interruption) from around here

Mount Pleasant

eh eh whereabouts do you work at the moment

I'm a taxi driver

are you eh who who for

eh Marlborough Taxi

oh down near the t high level

yes that's it

aye aye what s what sort of job is that you know do you enjoy it

interesting she doesn't like it very much you know (laughter) but eh

I don't actually mind it (interruption) eh I tell you I don't actually mind it since I started part time work you know

it's the hours you know

aye

I work three nights a week and that gets us out a bit otherwise I would have been just stuck here watching the telly because he doesn't like us to go out on my own

mm

and he's the boss

(laughter) do you quite often work eh funny hours like you know you

well no I just come in really eh I start work at four o'clock in the afternoon and that's mainly for the contract work we've got for the lasses from the estates and different factories and offices and things like that

yes

eh (pause) I finish at eh roughly four o'clock in the morning just after the nightclubs finish you know but I mean eh there's some mornings where there's nothing on there's just quiet so you can get away early you know I mean

yes yes

it's you're not really tied that's why I like the job you're not really tied to any set hours you know if you can make money you can work as many hours as you want if you cannot make money well you can go home if you want you know

yes yes

so

but four till four is fairly regular is it

that's that's roughly what the regular job is four till four yes

eh yeah what eh what other kind of jobs have you done in your life you know what did you do when you first left school for instance

eh well I joined the army when I left school

aye that's right yeah

was a boy soldier and I come out and I came over here and I worked as (unclear)

(laughter)

I (unclear) he was (unclear) mind (unclear) I'm standing (unclear) cleaning windows the other day and he chased us out of there (laughter)

(laughter)

eh when I first came out I wo I was working in a brickyard for a while

(unclear) (interruption) bad job that isn't it

that (interruption) was a hectic job

it was a sickening sitting and drawing I was sitting and drawing

(unclear) (unclear)

oh hey I've I've been a drawer for three it was terrible

yeah oh it was dreadful

where was that like I liked it

oh God I thought it was the most abominable job

(laughter)

we used to have to go into the you know the the kilns like when it was (unclear) the day they opened them up oh

yeah (unclear) terrible hands

oh aye yeah (unclear)

terrible hands

I worked for (unclear) for a while setting and drawing

is that Birtley (unclear)

uh-huh

(unclear)

and eh I worked on the buses for a while

yes

and after that I was

he was at Dunlop's

I was at Dunlop's for a while I was at Dunlop's for a couple of year two and a half year (interruption) (unclear)

was that on the Team Valley

yes and then I worked at eh demolition

aye

then I worked at eh (pause) what did they call that firm I worked for (unclear) wasn't it

oh aye aye

I was up at Gretna Green putting a new road through at Gretna Green laying the tarmac

mm

then taxiing (laughter)

(laughter) aye which which job did you like best you know

well let's see I think at the time I was working at all the jobs I was doing I liked them

yes that's nice (laughter)

you know I liked the jobs I was doing at the time it wa they were interesting they were different you know the jobs they well except for the buses like I mean that's but I mean setting and drawing I knew nothing whatsoever about brickyards I didn't know I didn't believe in I had no idea exactly how bricks was made till (unclear) you know so that was interesting then eh well every job I've had Dunlop's was interesting because it was making rubber and all the rest of it and you found out exactly how it was processed and all that you know

aye

and eh demolition well I got a few surprises on that job I liked that because it was something similar to what the taxis are you worked your own sort of hours you know

aye where was was that in Gateshead

yes it was for Macbridie's shifted to Dudley now like so it was too far for me to travel so I I packed it in and went on the taxiing

yeah yeah

but it was eh interesting job you know

yeah

you were always doing something different and the eh if I had to pick any of the two jobs I like best it was either demolition or the taxiing mm

yes eh it sounds as if eh you know you sort of like to move round from job to job you know what I mean eh you like something different every now and then

well you eh let's see it's not so much I like something different but if I can find a job where I'm going to get more money

aye

if I can make better money at another job regardless of how many hours I w would have to work I'm not really bothered about that I'll take it

aye that's true yeah yeah

it's eh I dare say I'll stick at this for a long time like taxiing because I've so far it's about the best job I've had so

yes

I'm quite content at it

yes mm eh

that's if she's (pause) lets us like

(laughter)

what a cheek it's the other way round

(laughter) aye

I've just told him he can go out seven days a week if he wants to

mm ehm how old were you when you left school

fourteen

mm do you think you were glad to leave school at the time

yeah at the time I was

yes

ehm (pause) just before that just before I left school I took the examination to go to the technical high school at the time

yes

and I always remember I went for the interview and eh I hadn't a clue you know I took the exam I passed the exam but I mean at that age I wasn't really bothered about what I was going to do anything like that

mm

and when the interviewer asked us he says ehm what would you like to be when you grow up well I'd never even thought of it you know

mm

I thought first thing that come into my head I said electrician

mm

I remember one of the other ones said to us well how do you fix a fuse I hadn't got a clue I hadn't got a clue you see (unclear) I just said oh I said I don't know

(laughter)

so that was it like a couple of weeks later I got a letter to say that I hadn't been accepted for the technical high school you know

(laughter)

I've always said to myself well if I had have if I had have known you know if I had an idea of what I said what I wanted to be well I would have I suppose I would have thought about it you know if I had an idea to answer some questions but I think I I've of I've often wondered if I had of just known how to fix a fuse would I now have been an electrician

(laughter) yes

instead of joining the army as a boy soldier

aye do you think you would have been glad to do that you know do you th did you want to get that eh

well no I don't really know I think it was the first thing that come into my head at the time you know I mean I as I say I hadn't eh I hadn't thought it out in any way I didn't expect to be anything to tell you God's honest truth so I've often wondered about that

yes eh w would you say that you know looking back on your education like would you say that it had been worth very much to you in your life since you left school you know

well it's the education at school not really I mean it's I haven't ever really used my brains or anything I've got there in any of the jobs I've had to do

mm

it's just been eh sort of repetition somebody shows you how to do the job and after a while you get better at it

that's right yeah yes

ehm it's not like a job with a clerk in an office or something like that you know

yes

where I've had to use any anything I've learned at school I didn't have to so I cannot really see where it's helped us or anything well I dare say it has in the sense that it's made us wey more responsible in my jobs what jobs I've the jobs I've had like but that's about all

yes what about sort of you know outside your job in your own private life you know do you ever you know do you ever think it's been useful to you in any way outside your job

not really ehm (pause) I don't really have any what you call hobbies

mm

I'm useless in the house eh anything that's gets done in here she does it or the lad next door (unclear) does it

(laughter)

but he's a typical Tynesider he should have been interviewed I tell you

(unclear)

he is a typical he is a Tynesider

he's broad Geordie you know

mm

it's a pity you hadn't have got his name and interviewed him

mm-hm

he's got an accent even I can tell

oh I get plenty of them anywhere like (laughter) yes eh ehm what do you think about eh you know education oh you you have some children don't you

well I've got four

aye do you think education's fairly important for them like you know would you would you rather see them stay on at school for instance you know

I would because eh now now well even I suppose when I was a kid education was coming more and more into it than what things were when I was a kid I really expected to follow my father you know just I didn't expect for to move away from Ballymoney for a start

aye

I didn't expect to live in Belfast and I certainly didn't eh the last thing on my mind was expecting to live in England or any other part of the world except Ireland and I was expecting I was old enough for to go with my father you know and go as a herdsman with him

aye

but eh nowadays eh the jobs that's going nowadays for the kids now well they've got to have the education because they need damn good qualifications because half the jobs you apply for now whether you've got the the sense to do the job let's say not the qualifications but if you've got the sense to do the job if you haven't got five or six O levels and what have you you just don't stand a chance regardless of whether you may a the better man for the job

yes that's right it's true

so you've got to have these things so eh yes I think the kids should stop at school for (interruption) as long as possible

you'd encourage them to do it in fact would you

well the eldest girl she's had her mind set on either being a teacher or an air hostess

yes

when she gets older well I'm all for it I'll encourage her all I can

yes how old's she again

she's eh (interruption) fourteen thirteen maybe fourteen

thirteen

yeah

I think she'll plump for being a teacher to be honest she seems to be more the type than an air hostess I couldn't see (NAME) being an administering angel for some bad tempered old (unclear)

(laughter)

I seen some of the girls up at the airport you know and eh she's told us that when she gets a couple of year older they'll I can take her up you know and they'll take her round the airplane you know show her the job let her have a look see what she thinks of it you know

aye

so I don't know she might

she's very interested in in foreign languages you know she's done very well at school in fact she's she's had to drop one subject physics which she was absolutely useless at

yes

and she's taking German in its place and the teacher said wey it's just as well because there was no hope of (NAME) ever pulling out in physics

yes yes not many people are very good at physics I don't think

(interruption) she hated it

I'm saying nothing I couldn't even attempt to spell it

last week the teacher the teacher says to her eh you'd ask her a question and she'd give an absolutely ridiculous answer which she knew was ridiculous because he had getten broken off in his train of speech and her train of thought just went she says I knew it was a ridiculous answer before I give him it

mm

so they've got a doorstopper which is a sandbag he says (NAME) come and pick that up so she picked it up he says put it on top of the door and leave loose sir she says it'll fall he says yes and I fall heavier you either get hit with that or you get hit (laughter)

(laughter) eh

oh dear

yeah ehm these are just eh a few questions about eh the words you use for various things like ehm f first eh what do you call each of the rooms of this house you know what's your normal word for each room

this room well we just call this the living room kitchen and the bedrooms passage way

the dining room which is not used very often the dining room

yeah we never use that like

eh what do you call eh you know the thing you have to lift to get out of an old fashioned back door what do you call that

latch

yes mm mm eh and what do you call if you've got a coal fire what do you call the thing you stand in front of it to get it going

fender

no like (interruption) the sheet of tin mm mm

oh bleezer bleezer

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

cleaning them after a meal

yes yes

just scraping the plates clean

no I mean actually putting them in the sink and you know washing them

oh you better ask her that that's something I've never done

(unclear) (laughter)

dish washing

wash the dishes

dish wash we use I'm going to dish wash

do you

yes

yes eh eh can you tell us eh just you know what sort of things you like to do in your spare time like you know I mean how you spend your

oh on telly tell the truth go on

(laughter) well let's see (unclear) eat sleep and drink that's what she says what I do

that's it he does and when he's not doing that he's lying down reading somewhere

yes

I read a lot like I like reading

aye and eh what kinds of things do you read

oh anything eh favourite author's Dennis Wheatley

oh aye yes

got all his books

yeah do you buy books for yourself do you like I mean

oh yes I buy them I'll go in a shop or if I see a book that I like or even if I'm reading the paper the Daily Mirror I usually have a look at the tell you what the different books is coming out

oh aye

and if I see a one that I think I could fancy I just go get it

mm-hm what about the library do you go to the library

used to but I I found out that it's hardly worth it really it's just it's well I like you see I like to keep a book

mm-hm

when I get a book I like to keep it

aye

and then after about six months a year I go back and I read it all over again you know

aye

I mean I don't read a book just once and that's it finished and done with

yes

I mean eh the Dennis Wheatley books now I've had eh all of his and after about another three or four month I'll s go start I'll go upstairs and have look through them I'll say oh I think I'll read this one again I'll bring it downstairs and I'll sit and I'll start reading and if I start reading I usually read until I've finished it

yes

I'll go right through it again

what ehm w why do you particularly like him you know what eh

Dennis Wheatley

yes

well he writes eh the sort of stories that I I enjoy to read eh I he writes they're not so much thrillers as he writes about things that wey you don't expect to read about

mm

and he writes about them in such a way that you can actually think to yourself well that could possibly happen even though you know it's fiction or eh in a way you could say to yourself now he's even these let's say ehm The Island That Time Stood Still (unclear) th th that book of his now you know for a fact that it's utterly fantastic but the way he puts it over you could say to yourself oh it could that could quite possibly happen

yes

and they're in a stupid little desert island thousands of miles away it's just possible

sounds (unclear) yes

eh yes that's that's one reason I like him and H Rider Haggard now he writes possibly in the same style I like a lot of I've read a lot of his books

yes

he writes a bit in the same style

yes mm mm you like to sort of eh actually believe in the thing as being possible (interruption) when you're reading

it's possible yes well I mean eh even wi even science fiction I like to read I sometimes like reading the science fiction books not all that eh all that often but some of them eh I like reading because some of them you can believe in even even well they're so outlandish it's stupid

yes

you say to yourself it's not possible and then a couple of minutes later you'll say oh I wonder if that could be possible that oh that's

(laughter) yes yes some pretty good science fiction written now I think aye yeah yeah ehm do you think there are you know in the way of like recreation activities do you think there's any eh any things that you wish you you know that you would like to have done but you've never had the chance to do or you never got round to doing or (interruption) anything like that

yeah stock car racing (laughter)

would you

yes

do you drive in fact

pardon

do you drive in fact do you

drive

oh of course you do (interruption) yes you drive taxis

(unclear) a (unclear) cab (unclear) I drive hackney carriage you know

have you have you got a car of your own

no

no

never managed to get enough money for to went for one of them takes her all her time to pay her bills at times you know

mm-hm

because he drinks

(laughter)

I had to get that in

(laughter) yes aye do you what do you think eh what do you think would happen if you sort of won won a large some of money tomorrow you know if you won the pools or something

(laughter) (interruption) we'd go berserk

eh (pause) well I don't know first things first I suppose but eh (pause) let her have everything she wants keep her quiet for a while

buy a house (unclear)

and eh other than that I don't it would be much different a few things I would do I'd want to do

yes

eh first thing I would do would be get my own taxi licence buy my own Newcastle taxi licence for the future just in case (laughter) ehm when you talk about a lot of money I'm taking it for granted that you mean round a big jackpot win

yes quarter of a million or something

oh well I don't know I don't think I would fancy having (unclear) no I'd like to win if I did win I'd like to win say roughly about twenty thousand

yes

that I think would just I'd say put us over

it's enough to sort of set you up

oh it would I mean eh I would still have to work

yes you wouldn't you wouldn't like to give up work

no but I I'm the sort of person if I won a hell of a lot of money like that like eh a quarter of a million pounds or something like that I would say well to hell with it that's work finished and eh I just divn't think that I would fancy it after a while

yes

probably for six months or so I'd be all right but after that I think I'd get bored sick

aye (unclear)

so I'd rather just win enough for to make us take a s say a month off you know I would take a month off

yes

do the things I wanted to do in that month

yes

and then have to come back and go back to work know I would have to go back to work

do you think it would sort of change your way of life very much you know your style of living and that or do you think you would still do more or less the same things

well that's hard to say eh (pause) I think it would change us in a way because we cha we've changed in the last ten years for what we done ten year ago and we done five year ago

mm

what we done two year ago and what we do now are completely different things

yes

ehm two year ago I wouldn't have I would never have dreamt of going in a nightclub

yes

whereas now on my night off if she feels like going we go to a nightclub

yes

and we go across the town for a meal eh two year ago even I wouldn't have thought I would never attempt going and paying about ten eleven pound for a a meal for two people I mean that's ridiculous

yes (laughter)

but eh now we do it eh so I suppose naturally I would change

yes

eh it would change us it would have to

yes eh what about eh do you watch television very much or just you haven't really got any time for it have you

well I don't eh it's mostly sports with me on the television

aye

eh Sunday afternoon if a picture's on like that you know

yes

that's about it eh divn't really I don't really have much time to watch it

yes

eh sport on a Saturday I like to watching that the racing

aye is it usually on in the house of an evening time you know

oh yes (unclear) children you know I

yes

I like eh eh a picture perhaps and I like these historical things you know and these travelogues I I'm interested in them

aye

but eh not much else really I'm not a television you know

yes

I'd rather switch it off and have some company

yes

the kids'll watch it from it starts to it finishes if you give them the opportunity

aye I think all kids are like that you know (unclear)

you've never told him what you like best on the television funnies

oh comedy aye

yes (laughter)

mm

when I can watch it I only usually watch it on a Monday afternoon like

at one time you know at one time well when we first got the television he used to be sitting glued to the set and the Tyne Tees would be on and it would break off for the commercials and the kids would stop talking and go shh and everybody had to shh because dad was watching a commercial

(laughter)

I think it was just a habit shh (laughter)

aye ehm these are just eh a few questions about your opinions on some things you know eh what do you think that eh parents should do when their children misbehave you know how do you think they should check them

give them a damn good hiding

aye quite quite often

no (interruption) not (unclear)

that works more for (unclear)

mm

now I'll give an instance (NAME) there not so long ago that's the boy eh I have a habit when I used to come in of a night time or early of a morning from work I used to put my money on top of the mantelpiece and go to bed now when the kids got up in the morning they would go to school they just took what what money they wanted for the bus

aye

well gradually (NAME) was taking a sixpence and then a a shilling and then one and six wh which was my own fault you see and he was buying stupid little things at the shops you know and hiding them in his wardrobe you see well I was saying of a morning when I was getting up I'd say you know I'm a couple of bob short here you know have you took some money for the gas or the light or something like that no I haven't took it and then we found the little daft things that he had been buying you know stupid little plastic toys that he didn't have to buy for a start because he's got plenty of cars and (interruption) things you know

cars

aye

but there's things that he must have thought he wanted so he he thought to hisself well oh well my dad's not checking his money he's letting us take the bus fare or a tanner and he's getten away with a tanner and he would get away with a shilling and two bob you know I found him out so eh I give him a lacing give him a damn good hiding eh couple of days later there's another couple of bob missing so I got hold of him again and he admitted he'd took it so I give him a lacing and I put him to bed and I stopped his pocket money and eh after that there a few times I caught him doing different things and I never touched him I just said bed

yes

I just put him to bed and wouldn't let him go out kept him in stopped his pocket money or I didn't actually stop it I I wouldn't give him it on a Saturday I'd kep keep it till the Monday or something like that you know

mm

and eh now he just doesn't bother

yes

so whether putting him to bed and keeping him in and stopping his pocket money or whether the the couple of lacings I give him I don't know

yes it quite often works when you sort of deprive them of something

(unclear)

eh I cannot see me chastising them one way a damn good hiding I think to myself if you catch them doing something wrong give them a damn good hiding for catching them doing something wrong but it's no good giving them a hiding because they've got a bad report from school or something like that

aye

eh I'd rather turn around and say to them well look here there's your books get away upstairs and you spend two hours up there and I'll do that for a couple of days and if that doesn't work well I don't know what will work

(laughter) yes

I couldn't I don't think I would ever have swotted for two hours if my father had said here upstairs and swot for two hours I don't think I would have done like it might make him work harder at school like if he thinks he's going to get sent upstairs

aye

I remember my brother when he first come home from the war I eh I could do practically everything at school well enough average except for mathematics

mm

adding subtracting things like that you know and he decided that he was going to teach us so of a night time I used to come in from school used to have to sit straight down do my homework and then he'd come in from work of about seven o'clock at night and he used to check my homework and if it was wrong he used to say now come here and he'd bring us across and he'd say now this is wrong and he'd tell us why it was wrong you know I'd say oh yes it is and he'd say now hold your hand out and (unclear) us a damn good crack

(laughter)

and say well go away and do it all all over again so I used to go and I'd sit down I'd do it again and I'd bring it back and he'd check it again and he'd say no you look you've made the same mistake again now look here and he'd explain why I'd made a mistake you know

mm

and well gradually I got the hang of mathematics in the end

aye

it ended up as my best subject

aye oh that's good

but eh I think it was because he took the bother for to sit down and explain it to me now (NAME) as the wife says is bad with physics well it's a waste of my my time I would like to sit down with her and say now look this is where you're making a mistake here but I couldn't do that for the simple reason I don't know

mm-hm

she's very intelligent you know she's really intelligent

you see so eh as I say give them a crack and that's it eh sometimes and other times it's put them to bed or there's no special way for punishment I don't think

yes ehm going on to something different and this is a question that you don't have to answer if you don't want because some people don't which way do you vote

actually I don't

do you not

I've never voted since I came here

yes why is that

I don't know eh really to tell you God's honest truth I'm not really it's not that I'm not interested in the country or what goes on but I the way I look at it r regardless of what party gets in eh you still have to pay your same sort of taxes you may pay a little bit less or a little bit more regardless of what party's in eh you still have to pay the same for your foodstuffs

yes

it'll not make all that much difference really to my eh my way of life

yes

possibly if I was a person with money and eh I'd invested in different things I would be interested enough for to find out then but at the moment eh for myself personally just regardless of which party's in in government makes no difference to me

yes you don't have any sort of ehm ideological commitment to any party you know you don't really believe in (unclear) no

no no the nearest I got to being anything to do with a party was eh the Orangemen when I was in Ireland as a kid

aye what do you think about eh about the you know present state of affairs (interruption) in Northern Ireland that's a touchy question (laughter)

(laughter) well I don't know eh let's let's say it like this if I had anything to do if I could do anything about it I would get the the British army the press and the television to come away from it altogether

aye and just leave it

because it's th that problem this problem's been in Ireland for hundreds of years and it'll be in Ireland for another hundred years eh any man who can sort this out he he'd have to be have to have a brain of Solomon you know you just there's no one man could sort the Irish problem out it's as simple as that

yes

eh it'll always be there Roman Catholics and Protestants will always fight and argue in Ireland

mm

but nine times out of ten that's all it'll be arguing

yes

maybe a few fisticuffs but that's it

aye

I mean this has happened for years the the profits and land possessions that the Protestants have (unclear) it's just like eh the Durham miner's gala here really it's just the fact that it's two different religions whereas here this is your trade union (unclear)

yes even at the Durham miner's gala you still get some some minor punch ups

well that's it but I mean in Ireland when when the Protestants have their march on the twelfth of July it's just like they they march with their bands and their banners and they go to the field and they have side shows and all the rest of it but (unclear)

(unclear)

if eh if all the Protestants are marching who's looking after the side shows the Roman Catholics now on Saint Patrick's day the Roman Catholics have their march and if all the Roman Catholics is marching who's looking after their side shows the Protestants naturally

mm-hm

so pardon what do you want

(unclear)

if ehm as I say that eh defeats the argument when eh when you see the riots and all the rest of it I mean I've seen as much trouble outside the Oxford

yes

I've seen nearly as much on last Friday night there in the Bigg Market with the daft kids well that's all it is is really daft kids

mm

eh it is you know there is one or two people like Paisley and Bernadette Devlin which I think personally myself should be put in a dark room and let them fight the damn thing out theirself you know and that would be it

yeah yeah but you don't think most people in Northern Ireland are as inflamed as that I mean (interruption) ordinary ordinary people in Northern Ireland are usually

well I mean in Northern Ireland and even in Southern Ireland the whole of Ireland eh ninety odd percent of people are peace loving just the same as any other part of the world you only get two percent who are worky tickets who look for trouble and want trouble and eh it's not so much that they want trouble or look for trouble they want their name in the papers they want to see their face on the television and they don't care how they do it

yeah

if they've got to shoot some poor bugger to get their name in the the paper they're quite happy

yes

they think it's great they think they're going to be made a martyr in Ireland because if they get about twenty years jail well they're not the people are just going to say stupid bugger and that's it you know I mean eh

I was over late September and I was telling him I actually knew more about what was going on in Belfast than my sister in law does in Donaghadee

aye yes yeah

no it was because of the television

because of the television aye

they didn't know down there actually what was happening in Belfast unless they went up and it's very quiet little place you know and people just don't wander there like s there sort of thing not many people have (unclear) they were really (interruption) shocked when they heard it you know

it's a problem (unclear) just couldn't get it sorted out you know

yes

you divn't mind if I carry on getting ready (unclear)

it's nearly opening time

eh

it's nearly opening time

(unclear) bank first like

to the bank mm-hm

eh if we just go on to talk for a little bit about eh you know what we are most interested in like that's the way you talk and w what you think about the way people talk ehm do you think that you ever change the way you talk according to you know ehm the person you're talking to or company you're in or any other sort of circumstances

yes I think you would (unclear)

aye in what kind of situations you know

well eh everybody tries to impress another person don't they

aye

I mean I I don't eh as I say I'm a taxi driver so if somebody comes in my taxi I don't eh go around and say come on you daft shite get in the car

(laughter)

I mean I don't that's the way would talk normally I g I go to them I open the door and I say eh good afternoon sir where're we going sir put them in the car and what did you say sir right sir fair enough now and away we go I talk to him on the way talk about the weather talk about football talk about owt

yes

eh I'm doing it to impress him

mm

I'm not doing it because I like him because I know more than likely nine times out of ten I've never seen him in my life before

yes

I'm doing it to impress him I'm calling him sir yes sir no sir he's right regardless of what he says

yes

simply it's to eh to impress him to make him turn round and say to me well instead of giving you a shilling t there's two bob

(laughter) yes

so there's that way eh (pause) there's other times when you meet people who let's say they're not better than yourself but eh they've got a lot more than you

richer (laughter)

yes so y y you talk to impress them

aye do you think that's

to show how how big you are

mm

and you know possibly there's a bit jealousy in it I don't know

aye yes

you know but you try to say to yourself well I'm as good as what he is so I'll I'll show him that I am (laughter)

do you think if y y you talk do you think you talk differently in fact you know I mean say say somebody gets in your taxi and he's like obviously a just a working bloke you know

mm-hm

I mean do you think you talk different to him than what you do to somebody who's sort of (interruption) very well dressed up

oh no no

it's the same for both is it

yes if he gets in if he can afford to get in my taxi he can afford for me to give a little bit well what we call the taxi drivers we call slavver

aye

I can give him all the slavver he wants

aye

if he doesn't want slavver from me he'll tell us to shut my mouth if he tells us to shut my mouth I'll shut up you know

yes

you're talking (unclear) now the only people really a taxi driver doesn't try to butter up is the kids because the kids you can't butter up a kid he comes from the Oxford or the Mayfair he's been out he's enjoyed hisself and he he's no damn intentions regardless of where you're taking him of giving you a tip he might give you a shilling or something like that but eh you're wasting your time buttering up because the kids just don't take it you know

yes

whereas I another man who's been to work or even if he's got his work clothes on

yes aye

you give him the slavver and the patter

aye

(unclear) it's as simple as that

aye yes

but eh you don't make any distinction between him and say John Banks eh the racehorse owner

aye

I've picked him up a few times from the Grey's Club I still call him Mr Bank

aye

well here's another thing you pick people up like from the Newcastle football team John Banks y you get to know the the ones who are important you know

aye yes

so they've never seen you in their their life before

aye

and you are supposed to have seen them y you've seen them around the town and football matches and things like that so you pick a one up and you'll say eh hello Mr Davies hello Mr Davies how are you keeping how's your leg and all this fair enough John Banks you pick up hello Mr Banks how's that horse of your getting on

aye

eh he he's quite he's even though they've got money they're they're they've got a little bit more than you they love to say to theirself oh well I wonder how he knows me and naturally they start feeling better theirselves

mm yes

(unclear) that's the way I look at it like it's just the same if I'm I'm out in the street and even though I'm a taxi driver and I'll come out with her and somebody'll say hello there Paddy how are you I'll turn round and I'll recognize them vaguely from carrying them in the taxi you know but it makes me feel good that somebody I don't even really know could say hello Paddy how're you doing or like you know so

eh what do you think about ehm Tyneside accents you know I mean mm (interruption) (unclear)

(laughter) I think I've got as much Tyneside accent now as I've got Irish in there

yes it's it's odd listening to you actually because every now and then you sound like a perfect Tynesider and then you know just a little bit later you sound like a perfect eh Ulsterman you know

(laughter)

you should hear him over the car radio he really sounds Geordie you know

uh-huh yes

he he used to come in when we first come over here and he used to come in and try his best with the Geordie language and he used to say to me (interruption) I'm ganning going out

(unclear)

I'm nearly finished now it won't take us very long

I'm ganning going out you know the two words he'd say

(laughter)

eh Geordie language the Geordie accent eh of all the accents I think it's about the nicest one to listen to

aye oh yes I talk to quite a lot of people who are Tynesiders themselves and they think it's terrible you know I've talked to a few

now I'm Geordie born and bred

well you see a lot of people Tyneside people don't like to hear the Tyneside I don't know (interruption)

I don't like ordinary eh everyday I tell you what I like to hear the very old people

aye aye

the really old man and the old woman wey I s I'll tell you the expression I love I'm (unclear) away hinny I'm (unclear) away I think that's really great you know I I don't think the younger generation knows the true Geordie language really

well it's changing quite a lot really

eh not the language the the accent they haven't got the dialect you know

do you ever eh you know do you ever correct your children about the way they talk you know if if they say if they talk very broad do you ever do you ever tell them to you know to talk properly or anything like that

I do I say to them don't say that and I tell him what he said and about five minutes later I say it exactly the way they did you know

yes

and then they look and then they say well what's the sense in telling us father you've just said it you know

aye I I've found this from lots of people like that even if they talk very local themselves they nearly always correct their kids for it you know

I think it's just (interruption) a habit

maybe that's how the dialect's getting lost

yes

I think it's just (interruption)

I think that's how it's getting lost

parents parents like to think their kids all talk like news commentators

like Robert Dougal yes

but eh (pause) wey really to check them I think it's just a habit with them it's a habit with me to check them I just automatically check them if I think they're doing something wrong

aye yes

if I think they're saying the wrong thing I check them but

yes

eh it stands to reason they're bound to have some of the Geordie language and that

yes yes what do you think about this sort of newscaster's eh accents you know do do you think they're I mean do you think they're nice to listen to f for example

yes well they are I mean eh they have they have to have the voice they have to have the speech for everybody regardless of which part of the country they live in or whether they're a Yorkshireman Lancashireman

mm yes

whatever they are so as everybody can understand them and and I don't think there's anybody who's any well there's no chance whatsoever of taking any words what they say the wrong way

yes

whereas here eh if you had a real had an old Geordie on there reading the the news I mean (unclear) you'd expect somebody down in Suffolk for to understand him it would be be ridiculous wouldn't it

yes

it would be just the same if you had one of them

aye

from eh Suffolk Somerset that area sitting on the television reading the news you know people'd be up here saying what the bloody hell's he talking about you know

aye yes do you think I sort of i in everyday life you know do you think it would be a good idea to imitate that kind of (interruption) speech

no

no

I don't think so

think you would miss the sort of local dialects if they were to die out

well every every different every district's got their own eh accent and that's part of the attraction for for all the districts

mm-hm aye

I mean people go eh down to the Somerset the Cornish Riviera down along that area they go there for the sun and all the rest of it for their holiday but they also go because the people talk different it's as simple as that

yes

I mean you can kid yourselves in a way you're we're miles away from home even if we only go from here to South Shields the the people talk different they're away from home it's something different

mm-hm yeah yeah eh can you t can you usually tell ehm you know the differences between different places on Tyneside I mean between here and South Shields for instance

well I can tell I say I think I can tell better than what the the wife can

aye (unclear)

her belonging here and with me being a stranger here

curious aye

and also on my job well I'm meeting all different types of people I get to know I learned the the accents of eng I couldn't mistake a man from eh say up in Burradon the pit villages up round that area

no no

Burradon Crammlington all those as soon as they open their mouths I I say to myself ooh we've got a pit yakker here or wonder whereabouts which one he's from you know

mm

eh the same as Hartlepool's and people that come from that round there

yes

you can tell as soon as they open their mouths you know that they don't actually belong to this area they belong to the area but they're out away from Newcastle and Gateshead

aye yes yes s some people are very you know like very convinced about the difference between here and South Shields things like that you know

oh aye

I I'm never quite sure about it you know do you think you'd be willing to guess about somebody coming from South South Shields

eh not Shields I th I say I could tell people that come from Durham and people that come from Northumberland I can make that distinction but I couldn't pinpoint the area they were from

I can even even now I can there's parts I pick up in Newcastle and North Kenton