大象传媒

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Home Life

Friday night we would say to each other 鈥渨here we going tomorrow then?鈥� ! I mean then it was a pleasure sometimes as I say to go to the pictures on a Saturday, sometimes you went to Newport to the pictures because there was a better picture on, me and Charlie. And we鈥檇 go out we鈥檇 go to Newport, and we鈥檇 come back and we鈥檇 have tea. You know go in the morning come back and have tea at his place, and I鈥檇 stay and then go home. And every weekend he was my mate, we were going out together. As I say, what could you do on one and four a week

There were certain people who came on certain days. There was people like the old oil man Tom Lewis and his uncle, it wasn鈥檛 his father. Tom was a great guy, a great guy, you see they鈥檇 drive out to Shirenewton, the old man would get off, in the bar at the card table. Tom did the round on his own, come back to the pub see my Mother, see what she wanted and then he鈥檇 probably have a cup of tea. But Tom was a very well regarded respected man. Yes, and of course he took over after the old man died look. But the old man used to play crib or nine card don with my father, and a bloke from up at Earlswood, a very old, quite an old man, but he used to walk down every day and walk back.

The Five Bells at that stage was a fully licensed inn, with Stroud Brewery, we were at that time the only pub with a full licence. We could sell spirits and beer, the Tredegar Arms could only sell beer and cider, The Tan House could only sell beer, I鈥檓 not too sure about the Cross Hands. If somebody came in and asked for something to eat she鈥檇 get them something. There was enough sugar in Mother鈥檚 cupboard upstairs to keep the village! I don鈥檛 know where it came from. And I mean let鈥檚 be honest about it, Irwin the policeman, always had a rabbit in his pouch, and he used to knock on the door on a Sunday morning and come in and give us a rabbit and have a pint. But he wasn鈥檛 coming as a policeman, he was coming as a friend. Sometimes you鈥檇 get a pheasant,when they鈥檇 been shooting and he had more than he wanted.

Home Life

Bert Benjamin I used to work for him, well work for him in the sense that I went round with Raymond, delivering meat up through the Glyn, up to Devauden. I was probably oh probably fifteen fourteen. There was there was no such thing as controls, I never collected any coupons. There鈥檚 a farm, we used go with a big piece of meat every week. At night when I went back, after finishing the round and sometimes it was quite late when we鈥檇 get back he would say here you are Peter, two eggs. More than enough, I mean I didn鈥檛 expect payment, I went because I enjoyed it. Bert Benjamin always gave you something. Even when there was haymaking time and Raymond and I and probably somebody else would be the boys fetching the cider, from the little room next to the barn on the right. You鈥檇 go in there and get the cider and take it back up, but of course you never did that without having a swill yourself! By the end of the day, you were worse than the men!

That鈥檚 oh I don鈥檛 know there was an atmosphere then about, I mean because let鈥檚 be honest about it, the Five Bells at that stage was a fully
inn, didn鈥檛 have any water supply there therefore didn鈥檛 have any flush toilets, didn鈥檛 have any electricity, or gas. When my Father was alive his first job every day was to clean the glasses on the lamps. And the lamp on the dartboard was a parrafin lamp which was shielded by a tin, a piece of tin round it to stop the darts in. Occasionally if one came off the wire and hit the glass, you鈥檇 break the glass. There was no electricity, there was no water, the nearest water was around just by Benjamin鈥檚 at a tap; which you had to pay for the top of the tap that fitted it to get water, not very much but you鈥檇 pay for it. We also had a pump in the kitchen, but the water there wasn鈥檛 fit for drinking, but perfectly all right for washing up and washing like that; an underground tank there somewhere, but we never drunk that water at all. So if we wanted any fresh water we either went across the square to the pump, or we went to the Spout. Mainly we went to the Spout, because it was better water or tasted better. My sister used to come when she used to carry one jug I鈥檇 carry two and it was just something that had to be done. It鈥檚 like the toilet facilities wasn鈥檛 it? with the old bucket!

Home Life

Football was more my line, and tennis, sport was my life. And that鈥檚 how it worked I mean as I say I was playing football for Shirenewton in those days, and I was playing tennis for Shirenewton, I played cricket for Shirenewton. Do you know we鈥檇 get on our bikes and go down to Caldicot to play, with the stumps across the top, and things like that. You know we used to travel quite a bit, and sport was my life.

This lodger was one of the construction engineers building Dinham. He actually helped to to plan it and build it, right at the beginning. And he came there and he stayed with us, he became one of the family in fact. Well he was with us sort of two and half years, I think the marriage came about when all of a sudden he was being transferred to Hirwaun. He went up to do some I鈥檓 not sure whether I think it was an electrical place up there, and so they decided they wanted to get married so they got married. And she went because, that was when they left us, they went together.

I can remember it as a place of I don鈥檛 know it was just one of those places that you belonged to. You belonged to, I mean it wasn鈥檛 that you just lived there, it was part of you. I mean you knew everybody, you could trust everybody that you knew. You knew their difficulties, their problems. I mean some of the things we got up to, and some of the people who we met. I always remember one particular Christmas when we were Carol Singing, and we鈥檇 been down to Cae Pwcella, and then to the house below that at the top of Red House Lane. Stan Stanley Webb was with me and a few others, and they gave us home made wine! I got home all right, but Stanley Webb spent the night in the church yard! Yes we were drinking potato wine and parsnip wine and all the various other ones, oh we鈥檇 had a good time.

But I remember going home the first week and walked into the house and my Father said to me 鈥渨ell Son, brought your wages home?鈥� I said 鈥測es Dad鈥�, he said 鈥渉ow much?鈥� I said 鈥渢hree and ten鈥�, three shillings and ten pence. And he said to me 鈥渨ell鈥� he said 鈥測ou have two choices鈥�. He said 鈥測ou can either give me two and six of that and I鈥檒l save it for you, or you can promise me you鈥檒l save it, and put it away every week鈥�. And I said, 鈥淚鈥檒l do that Dad鈥�. And he said 鈥渁nd you can spend the other one and four pence鈥�. It鈥檚 true, and I did, I put that away, and I spent the first of that money at the age of twenty five to buy furniture after we got married.

Home Life

Black market yes there was a bloke in there, a coach builder Ted something or other who kept goats, and occasionally he would kill one and he would bring the meat into work. But generally speaking he brought it in for people who he knew was going to buy them. I always used to have the leg of the kid to take home, it was really beautiful meat. Always remember it because my Uncle from Somerset, he was there with my Mother鈥檚 Sister who he married. Mother was in the bar, and they were staying for the weekend. And on the Saturday he poked his head around the door and said 鈥淢arie鈥� that鈥檚 my Mother, and he said 鈥淥h Marie where鈥檚 the meat for lunch?鈥�. And she said 鈥淥h it鈥檚 in the fridge in the cold room鈥�, which is in the back of the place. Well she didn鈥檛 tell him what it was, and he went out and got it and brought it in and carved it and everybody had food except my Mother. She had hers when she came out of the Pub at three o鈥檆lock. And I always remember this when he said 鈥淥h Marie鈥� he said 鈥渢hat lamb was beautiful!鈥�. 鈥淟amb鈥� she said, 鈥渨e didn鈥檛 have any lamb!鈥� It was in fact kid, and he was a butcher!

The Town

Next to the church (Methodist) was a sort of a big canteen, I went into that. Well generally speaking it had half a dozen land army girls in there, that鈥檚 probably why we went in there. They served sandwiches cakes buns stuff like that.

Saturday at the Gaumont, that鈥檚 where I spent my one and fourpence, used to come into the afternoon matinee, yes they had a matinee on a Saturday. You weren鈥檛 into girls then obviously. Oof, girls they were a waste of time. Not true but I mean no we weren鈥檛. There again you see, you know the whole damn thing is has changed. I knew quite a number of the Land Girls because we used to go dancing to Llanishen in the crowd you know, in the back of Raymond Benjamin鈥檚 van. Our social life was dancing mainly, we used to go to Llangwm, Llansoy, Itton on occasions it wasn鈥檛 a regular thing , and Shirenewton of course always.

We always used to come in especially for Hospital Whist Tournament. Then of course there was the Hospital Dancing Cup, where you had to qualify to enter. You held a sort of dance, a big dance in Shirenewton, and there鈥檇 be people there judging, and you鈥檇 get the first three in one dance would then be eligible to go to Chepstow to the final. The funny thing about it was it didn鈥檛 matter where you were, if you failed in Shirenewton, you went on to the next one to try again! You could see the people who had failed last time at the next one, and all round the different places.

Travel

To get to work I started off by cycling from Shirenewton, down through Mounton, up to the road up the top here still there the lane, and then down through past Phil Prices鈥� (High Beech Farm). I remember coming down there one day, got down as far as Mullins the Rhewl, a stick come up hit my front wheel, over the top of the bars straight into his wall!

Voluntary Organisations

I don鈥檛 know why John Bailey was Commandant, because he knew nothing about the army, he hadn鈥檛 been in the army, he knew a little it about it, but I mean no more than just ordinary knowledge; but he had the manner of doing it and, he did a good job actually, very good job indeed

It was it was one of those things wasn鈥檛 it? you felt like doing. Home Guard was there, you were fit, you wanted to serve your country, not in a romantic sense. But it was a job that somebody had to do, and I mean there wasn鈥檛 many of us who who could march properly, let alone anything else. We had rifles and we learnt how to use them, we used to go down the shooting range at Portskewett. And we used to take part in sort of challenges from different sports, like throwing the the mills bomb, it was a hand grenade. There was one event that was rather funny there, although it wouldn鈥檛 have been funny if it had gone wrong. We were representing our Company in the Mills Bomb Throwing Competition, it was taking place in the grounds of the racecourse, old racecourse where the gates are just inside there somewhere. And the team consisted of a couple from Shirenewton, a couple from Earlswood, and a couple from Newchurch West. And we were in this championship and we were throwing the mills bomb from the prone position, that was lying on the ground. And aiming for a target in front of us, we had a sort of a buffer so that you could throw the bomb and get down below that. It was my turn to go, and I got there got down, picked up the grenade, pulled out the pin, threw my hand back, and the back of my hand hit my heel of my shoe, and the mills bomb rolled out. The release of that was four seconds before it went off. I strangely enough I didn鈥檛 panic, I went back like that threw, it dropped down it exploded and hit the bull! And we won the championship! I always remember it, I looked round picked it up and just swung it

Voluntary Organisations

You also got involved in putting bottles filled with stuff at various intersections which you could explode if you wanted to. They were full of a petroleum substance we buried them, sometimes with bottles sometimes with drums. This particular one was at the handpost, and I don鈥檛 know whether, it must have been taken away from there, but I can never remember them being taken away.

Don Banfield, was a friend of mine, he used to come on my duty with me. We slept in the Institute when we were on duty, we slept in the Institute on top of the billiard table, that was our bed. Generally speaking we just went round to the various road checking that everything was all right and telling people to put their lights out or pull your curtains or do something. We used to go quite a way, down past the Tan House, out towards Itton and to walk back and then you know you鈥檇 walk for about two or three hours slowly, always two of us together. There were no plans, I mean you were never told where to go. You just found out that this was the area that you went to, and you went the night before and you write in the book that you鈥檇 done that part of it, and I suppose the next one should do the next part of it like that. Whether they ever did I don鈥檛 think anybody ever checked up.

We held the stores in The Five Bells you see, the guns rifles and stuff like that and all the kit the clothing and stuff like that. For anybody who wanted new clothing we had to fit them up from there. It was where the old football teams used to change. Security? well we had an ordinary lock on the door that鈥檚 all, there was never any fear of somebody going in, you know it was a different it was a different country, a totally different country. They would be told to come at a such and such a day, at a such and such a time, you know, because John would have to be there to issue them out. So it would be in the evenings or weekends and stuff like that like.

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