大象传媒

This story (Part 1 of two) was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by a volunteer from Northumberland on behalf of Mrs. June Blair, the widow of Maurice Blair, who related his recollections in August 2001. Mrs. Blair fully understands the site鈥檚 terms and conditions, and the story has been added to the site with her permission. The recollections are written in the first person.

I was nine years old when war broke out. I lived in the village, next to the 鈥淲hite House鈥� and the 鈥淛oiner鈥檚 Arms鈥�. The house I lived in had one end, and an old room joined into it. We had no water or light. Water was carried from a well down the field. We got two pails and a square guard. This kept the pails off your legs. The well was whitewashed out every year. We had an oil lamp and candles for light, and a big coal fire, a pot to heat water and an oven for cooking. Five of us were in the room, which had two beds and a settee. For a bath I used to come home at dinnertime and get into the wash tub [known locally as a 鈥減osser barrel鈥漖, after the clothes had been washed. It was wonderful getting warm water, as everything had to be heated in the pot or in the pans on the fire. I think the soap we had was red square blocks called 鈥淟ifebuoy鈥�.

We had hens up in the top garden. I used to feed them every morning, if I had time. Our clothes were always neat and tidy. Darning elbows and heels of socks, and patching trouser bottoms, was constantly done, after they had been washed and dried. An iron was put on the fire, to heat it. Then, the ironing was done on the table. Starch was used to make the collars of shirts stiff. One or two people used to be washing at five or six o鈥檆lock in the morning. They put the clothes on the nearby gorse bushes, to get dried. In winter, they hung them on a rack from the ceiling.

Most men worked on the farms or were fishermen or they worked in the quarry at Embleton, to reach which many had to walk across the fields and, after braking stones all day they returned to their homes by the same route. Some people were more fortunate and had bikes to go to and from work, or to dances. Cyclists used carbide lamps worked by putting carbide in the bottom, then letting water drip onto it. A match was put onto the jet and ignited to set it alight. A lot of times too much water was let in and killed the light鈥檚 flame. The local policeman was always on the go. He was always on his bike. A clip around the ear was a general punishment if you got caught doing anything wrong. The postmen also used a bicycle to deliver letters twice a day. It had a big carrier on the front to put parcels and his letter bag into. They always seemed to be whistling and singing. One song I remember was 鈥淲heezy Anna down where the water melons grow鈥�. At Christmas a big red van sometimes came round.

The weather was pretty fine in the summers but in winters we got a lot of frosts and a good bit of snow. Snowploughs had to go first with the wooden plough behind. The wagon often got stuck if there was more than two or three inches of snow. They were not the big wagons we have nowadays. I can recall some were driven by coal and had little chimneys behind the cab. I bet they were warm in winter! The name on them was 鈥淔oden鈥�. When the ponds froze we used to slide from one end to the other. The bog at the Church and one at Risemoor were the main slides. When my mother was cleaning the school, if it was frosty I used to put water on the school yard, to let it freeze ready for the morning.

The rag and bone man came round once or twice a year. You collected any clothes which were worn out and he gave you a gold fish; comb; a little bomb with caps to make a bang; telescope; sherbets; or little toy cars; just to keep you happy. My cousins came around to our house once or twice a week, to play cards or dominos. They were very simple, but happy, nights.
Cousin Les [Blair] lived next door. He had an older brother and three sisters. Les and I used to play on the common with our dog, called 鈥淪pot鈥�, who used to catch rabbits, which came in handy because money was in very short supply. We used to hide in the long grass and helm locks. We sailed home, making boats to float down the cundy [ditch], which ran by the roadside.
I got comics 鈥淐hips鈥� and 鈥淐omic Fun鈥�. We used to exchange with each other for 鈥淩adio Fun鈥�, 鈥淒andy鈥�, 鈥淏eano鈥�, 鈥淎dventure Wizard鈥� and 鈥淩over鈥�. At nights we played kick the block, rounders, hide and seek - we used to change coats so as not to be caught - and hop, skip and jump. We skipped even if there were just two of us, the rope tied to the gate and one of us at the other end twirling it over.

About twenty-five children attended school. We started singing 鈥淎ll things bright and beautiful鈥�, played on the piano. The older ones went into the next room. Our teacher was Mrs Adams. We stayed in the little room until we were ten years old. Reading, writing, sums, English, history, geography, and poetry were our main subjects. When we got into the big room everyone had to read a verse out of the Bible. If anyone did wrong, you got the leather strap or had to write one hundred lines. We had a good netball team and, also, played rounders and stoolball plus football, in the yard. We had a third of a pint of milk at playtime, went home for dinner at mid-day and returned to school for one o鈥檆lock. We finished school at 3.30 p.m. When we got home, there was nothing better than a thick slice of home made bread, with butter and jam. I remember five or six tins of bread sitting on the old fender ready to go into the oven next to the fire. At school I really enjoyed happy days, companionship, games and sunny days. We mostly had nicknames 鈥� Rabbit; Cabbage; Skinny Banana Legs; Fatso; Scattie Bobby Shaftoe; Snotty Noddy 鈥� if you fell out with anyone, these were the names we used. We had to use short trousers until the age of thirteen or fourteen. Girls had skirts and frocks, plus navy blue knickers.

In 1940 evacuees came and people took them into their homes. One whole family, about six of them, came and stopped in the 鈥淥ld Hall鈥�. The father was in the Army. Most evacuees came from Newcastle but they found Newton too quiet and many left after a few months. It was great for us, as everyone had to go onto half-days at school. We all got on quite well and enjoyed the company and sport they supplied. Everyone was made to carry gas masks. We had to carry them to school every day. We got a lot of telling offs from the teachers for making funny noises out of the side of them!

Mrs Slater, over the road, had a little tin shop in the trees and sold toffee and toffee apples. Effie Wright was the village post-mistress. The Post Office was on the site where 鈥淒oray鈥� [a holiday bungalow] now stands. It had one room, with a bed, desk, table and chairs. Her brother lived up the steps in the loft. Many times in the winter, if it snowed his bed was covered in snow. The Post Office had a pan-tiled roof, which was not too safe.

The Cooperative Wholesale Store was in Embleton, where we got groceries, meat, and clothing. Dividend was two shillings and six pence [in July 2005, twelve and a half new pence, in spending power equivalent to, perhaps, 拢3.50] in the pound. Every time you purchased items you got a check. They were all counted up at the end of the year and you got your money in the New Year. Our number was 108.

At Easter, we got new shoes, trousers and shirt, sometimes a jersey if we were lucky. We used to go around the village for eggs, sometimes an orange or an apple. We used to bowl them down the hill. Often we threw them up in the air and they broke on the ground. Easter Sunday was a day most people went to the Church down the road. It was always well attended. In 1939, I remember two missionaries, Captain Gigi and Captain Wright, showing lantern slides of Africa, with lions, tigers, mud huts, and waterfalls. It was packed out. We had never seen anything like it before, all for a halfpenny or penny, old currency that is.

At Christmas, we had two parties, one from the managers of the school and the other from Mrs Scott at 鈥淣ewton House鈥�. There were sandwiches, cakes, jelly, fruit, and a present for each one of us. We had a lot of games to finish off the afternoon. On Christmas Day we got an apple and orange, chocolate soldiers and one toy, maybe. We had a duck for dinner, with homemade cake and pudding with custard. One year, either 1942 or 1943, I got a horse made by my cousin in the stable at Low Newton. It had a pit prop for its body, wheels made from a fork shanks, horse hair for its tail and mane and little wooden cart with string to tow it with. My Grandfather shot two pheasants, so we had a good Christmas.

Rationing started in 1941. We all got identity cards with our name and address on them. My number was GDBA425. Sometimes we had to walk up to Embleton for rations. We didn鈥檛 own a bicycle then. Food got shorter towards the end of 1942. Tobacco and beer were not rationed but were in short supply. A bottle of Scotch, which cost twelve shillings and six pence in 1941 cost one pound, five shillings and nine pence three years later [equivalent, today, to 拢17.50 rising to 拢36 per bottle].
One persons鈥� ration for a week was:
Bacon and Ham 4 ounces
Sugar 8 ounces
Butter 2 ounces
Cooking Fat 8 ounces
Meat one shilling鈥檚 worth
Tea 2 ounces
Cheese 1 ounce
Jam 2 ounces

I can remember dried eggs and powdered milk but there were no bananas, coconuts, oranges, nuts or grapes. Onions, even, were in short supply. Spam came from America. We had to eat a lot of carrots, which were supposed to give you good eyesight. We did our bit by digging for victory. We set the garden behind the school. Potatoes, onions, carrots, peas, lettuce, beetroot, and sold them to pay for spades, rakes, and forks. It was great getting an hour or two per week to do the garden.

We started feeding a pig in the summer of 1943 and had it killed in the winter. We scraped it in hot water in the tub, then hung it up, then halved it down the middle. At night it was cut up, then put in the tub and salted for a week or two. Then it was taken out and hung up to the ceiling, on hooks. In summer, muslin was put round to keep the flies off. It was wonderful just to take it down and cut great lumps off it. We kept jars of lard, had spare ribs, and made pig鈥檚 cheek sausages. The only thing not use was the hair and the pig鈥檚 squeak!

Clothes coupons came into everyone鈥檚 home. Everyone got sixty-six coupons for the year. A man鈥檚 three-piece suit cost twenty-six coupons, a tie one coupon and two handkerchiefs, also one. Utility clothing came with no pleats, double-breasted coats, hemlines raised, all to save cloth. Times were very hard between 1942 and 1944.

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