Sound Recordings, Bedfordshire

Description

Alf Odell, recorded in Gravenhurst in November 1959; describes the process of thatching a haystack/rick; his working clothes and the tools used [ Bert Kefford and Doris Kefford join in]; Mr. Kefford asks Alf Odell about the technique for rick thatching, his first job and who he worked for; talk of Alf Odell's schooling; the names for the implements used in rick thatching, and for the parts of the rick; wages; working with two other men (known as ?yarmers); talk of a local house and tunnels running to Ampthill Tower. [Tr. 1] Beccy Hare and Bertha Cherry [? Bertha Hare], recorded in Shillington on the 31 December 1959; talk about local Gypsy Traveller communities; steaming straws in a box of brimstone to colour white, used to make plaits; BH talks about breadmaking at home, baking at a local baker's; yeast dough dumplings, lard cake (fatty cake), onion wigs (suet dumplings with onion); BC recites a plaiting rhyme; banding plaits (easier, for those learning); thoughts on past times, childhoods; talk of Shillington village (changes, road names); collector refers to the local legend of the Devil putting the church on a hill; the growth of the village (and others); children's games - jinx stones (five stones); New Year's Eve and ringing in the new year (church bells); discuss chapel (goers) in the village; discuss husbands and BH's son. [Tr. 2] Ernest Day, recorded in Shillington; talks about the excavation, washing, sifting, processing of, and uses for, coprolite; describes its appearance; wages for the men who dug it (piece work); housing for the foreman involved in such work; [daughter, Vera Simons, joins]; talk of local footpaths, rights of way, Mr. Day's jobs, wages, setting potatoes by hand. [Tr. 3] Win Norman, recorded in Potton in November 1960; talks about a flower show in Sandringham; cockle picking at ?Heacham in Norfolk (describes the route by car); general conversation (shopping in Bedford, local elderly people, Win Norman's neighbour). [Tr. 4] Ralph Norman (Win Norman's son) and his wife, Jean Norman, recorded in Potton; general conversation; discussion of some of the collector's other informants [very low recording level - barely audible in places]. [Tr. 5] Harry Larkins of Potton talks about hurdle making - names the parts, tools and wood (ash) used [his son, also Harry Larkins, and daughter, Mrs. Percy Clark, contribute]; Mr. Larkins describes a stuffed hurdle (one with straw in between); the construction technique [draws a diagram] for lamb hurdles; taught by his brothers; choosing the wood; buying/selling the wood; hurdle construction (dimensions); shepherd's (wheeled) hut; describes making cribs and ladders (latter for use in thatching haystacks); describes how to make a thrail (for threshing corn). [Tr. 6] Tape 5. [5 of 8].

Metadata

Identifier qlsjgk25
IRN 414801
Class Mark LAVC/SRE/A750r
Level Item
Type of Record Archives - ISAD(G)
Peristent Link http://prototype1.library.leeds.ac.uk/qlsjgk25
Collection(s) Leeds Archive of Vernacular Culture
Category Archive
Parent Record Audiotape Sound Recordings
Creator(s) Shaw, David H
Date 1959-1960
Size and Medium 1 x 17.8cm open reel spool, Duration: 124' 40".

Related Records