´óÏó´«Ã½

For 6d (2½p today) you got 3 courses of soup, a main meal and a sweet at a British Restaurant. These were all over the country and set up by the government to provide cheap, wholesome food for those living and working in particular areas. I (Audrey) used to go every day at dinnertime and still had a meal cooked by my Mother on a night time. People used to go there from Lanchester school and from the local works. The place was always full to capacity.

You had to make do and mend a lot. But the government always gave handy hints and tips to help you. As the factories were not making pots and pans if you ran out of cups you drank your tea from clean jam jars instead, you could not buy new cups! Also if you burned holes in your pans the government advised you to use a special washer which was secured through the hole and made your pan useable again.

Food was scarce and Canada used to help us out quite a bit. Dried egg came from there and was really nice. Another popular delicacy was whole chicken in a tin which was sent over and distributed to individual families which had a large number of children. During the war seemed to be the introduction of packaged food to Britain, with lots of that coming from United States. Corned Beef came in huge tins to the local butchers which was dished out 2 slices at a time! Those working in heavy industries, especially those in support of the war effort were given extra rations to keep them fit and strong.

People with small holdings were allowed to keep 1 pig and a small number of chickens. The rest of the livestock above that number was given to the government for redistribution. Except the black market prevailed and many people kept an extra pig which was killed secretly and the bits sold off among the community — lots of sausages were made!

My (Audrey) father worked on building the POW camps in the Orkneys and when he came home brought a suitcase full of fresh eggs. He managed to transport them all the way home intact. Fresh whole eggs were precious — the rations for them were hardly enough to allow the whole family to have some. I (Audrey) remember taking my turn and having the top of my father’s boiled egg.

The hospital at near by Shotley Bridge was expanded to house the wounded soldiers from Dunkirk. Additional parts were built and immediately filled.

My (Audrey) father always called us in to make sure we were safe when there was threat of attack. He actually had a plan to turn the gas on in the house and kill the whole family if the Germans landed, believing that would be better than what might happen to us under their rule. However, as kids we never had any fears and were actually really happy most of the time and never felt deprived of anything. But when the monthly sweet ration was due …

Disclaimer: Submitted by Angela Stobbart at Consett Library on behalf of Audrey and Ken Brown

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