大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People's War site by Emma Hart from the AGC Museum, Winchester, on behalf of Peter Moody, and was added to the site with his permission. Mr Moody fully understands the site's terms and conditions. This is a continuation of his story.

School for me was now in a tin chapel at the top of Queens Road, where it met King's Road in Loughborough. This building was given to the evacuees so that both locals and evacuees could resume fulltime education. This was to be the last school I would attend, and it was here that I left to start work. I was now 14 years old. From this makeshift school I was sent to the Education Offices in Ashby Square to pick up my Leaving Certificate. I had no other certificates, as during the whole of my schooling, I had never sat an exam. I don't ever remember anyone asking me how I was getting on at school!

Armed with my Leaving Certificate, I went to the Labour Exchange with no idea in my head as to what I would like to work at. Nobody had ever asked me or made any suggestions. Having no qualifications of any kind, and looking as though I should still be at school ( I was only 4ft in height with no weight behind me), finding a job was no easy task. Still, the clerk behind the desk came up with a job in a very small bakery in Duke Street, just behind Nottingham Road. The work was from 8am to 5pm and 8am to 12pm on Saturdays, all for 10 shillings a week. I took it - 5 shillings for me and the other 5 shillings was to send home to my mother.

It was a small bakery. The staff consisted of Jessica (who owned the bakery, a small cake shop -cum - cafe in Nottingham Road, and also ran a stall on Market days), and one big 16 year old girl (well thats how I though of her). She was certainly much bigger than I was. We made pastries, cakes and doughnuts - never any bread - and at night we used the ovens to cook chutney.
Next door to our bakery was the local chimney sweep, Mr Onion. I found it very amusing that his wife, Mrs Onion, was always asked to peel the onions for pickling and chutney!

I did enjoy working at the bakery, but didnt care much for Saturday mornings, as this was when all the cleaning was done. The foor was brick, so just like at Headcorn, I was on the floor with an old knife cleaning off the old pastry, which had been dropped and trodden on during the week. The cakes and the other goods we produced were sold in the shop and on the market stall.

We had a 3-wheeled cabinet type of cart to transport the goods from the bakery, and I was the pusher. When the front of the cart was opened it revealed sevearl racks of trays. I would load these trays with cakes, sponges, baps, pies, trifles, doughnuts and anything else which had ot be transorted, then close the doors and off I went. From the bakery I had to run through a narrow 'jitty' or alleyway, where I would stop, run round to the front of the cart, open up, take out a hot doughnut or bun, close up and continue down to the shop chomping away!

Christmas 1944 saw Mrs Johns take Lewis back to Wales. Having lost her daughter and her son (Ray) she could not face Christmas, so it was up to her other daughter Betty, and myself, to make sure that the family had some sort of Christmas. We even managed to get a turkey! It was an Irish one and had been fed on fish, and it tasted like it! When Christmas was over Lewis and his mother returned.

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.