大象传媒

as an 8 year old my first recollection of a war was when it was declared. I remember seeing people gathering on a piece of land and my mam and lots of the women crying, in those days women wore long pinnys (aprons) and were used this day to wipe away lots of tears, this made me frightened because you didn't know what to expect. The wireless became a major information and entertainment medium expecially listening to children's hour with Uncle Mac and Aunty Mabel. My dad worded down the mines at Blackhall and our terrace house had a front garen where he grew vegetables and flowers. At the top end of the village he also had an allotment and fruit trees, raspberries, strawberries, gooseberries and blackcurrants, these made fruit pies and jam.

One of the many mottos during the war was dig for victory - careless talk costs lives. We all had ration books, also clothing coupons and because i had big feet and was tall we were given extra clothing coupens. Clothes were handed down and collors on shirts turned out from shirt tails. Sheets when worn in the middle were cut and the outside of the sheets sewn together! Socks were darned as was the rest of the clothes - make do and mend! Sweets were rationed and on our way to school we used to scrape carrots on the brick walls, eat oxo cubes, liquorice root and locust beans.

Our gas masks came in a brown cardboard box with a string to carry it. Blackout curtains had to be used and windows were taped to stop glass flying if bombs dropped. No street lights, bus windows painted with a bluetint, torches had to be dimmed. If a light showed from a window just a small chink the air raid warden would knock on your door and shout put that light out. I slept on a mattrass or shaky down under the stairs at the top end of under the stairs was where we washed and cleaned our teeth - no mod cons! We were posh and had a tap in our yard instead of using a big cast iron water supply which people used to get their drinking water from. A rainwater butt was kept in the yard and that cooled our bath water, which was a tin bath in front of a big coal fire.

We had a modern school at Hesleden, built 1931 with windows down to the floor and when the siren went we lined up to go to the air raid shelter to the school field. I carried a lamp, we all sang songs till the all clear went, if the siren went on a night we would run into the dene near by, it was very frightening when the searchlights lit the sky looking for enemy planes and hearing guns being fired. The enemy planes had a drone to their engine.

Later i went to Preston-under-Scar to stay with my Aunty Nellie, i went to school at Wensley for half a day and children from another school (evacuees) from Sunderland went the other half of the day. We had Horlicks at playtime and learned lovely embroidery and sewing. My cousin Eva lived in Wensley just over the road from the school, she would regularly darn my black tights after i regullarly seemed to fall over. The school was quite a way from the village and we walked. At Preston each household was given an identity card i can still remember my number JHJB49-4 as there were 4 people in the house. The next place i went was the farm which i loved at Skeeby and walked over three fields by myself, the food there was good, having hens, cheese, homemade butter, i was even allowed to milk cows and had a lovely cart horse to ride on, with the help of my cousins.

1941 I made a lovely friend and if the sirens went we would go to her anderson shelter. 1942 We went to Bellerby to a large house and big field and garden. My dad worked at the diary at Leyburn and used to bring home lots of cream. Another school to go to and my friend Nancy Greggs mam made bread and cakes, which you bought from the house, they also made dinners for the auction mart at Leyburn, her dad used to ride in on a pony and trap and we helped serve the dinners and wash up all for 1 shilling and six pence.

My father went back to the pits at Blackhall (1943 about) and moved to a different street on the spare ground opposite the back door we kept hens so we had extra eggs, not constituted powder from America. My dad had a gun so we enjoyed rabbit pies.

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