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Recorded by Pamela Brown

I was 14 when the war broke out and had just left school to work in Sutton and Torkington hat works.
I was just a ’run about’. I remember the ‘follow-me-lads’hats they made which had a crown and trailing bow down the back!
A slump came and so I then went to work in a factory that made shirts for the army. It was a kind of conveyor belt system each one doing our own bit to the shirts. We were paid about 7 shillings a week. It was not piece work which was just as well because we spent quite a lot of time in the cellars when the sirens went. We worked until 1.30 pm on a Saturday.
The wage was not a lot be we didn’t expect very much and were more contented in those days.
We went dancing to Bradley’s a lot, that is where I met my husband. He was not 100% fit and was sent down the mines so was not in the forces. When we married it was because of this that we could not get a house as we did not have enough points. I remember that we had to get a permit to have a wedding cake.

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