Sound Recordings, Cambridgeshire

Description

[Collector announcement]; George Warby and Olive Warby [continued from tape LAVC/SRE/A667r], recorded in Elm on the 27 June 1974; talk about the Charity Dole for agricultural workers from Elm and Fridaybridge; flour and coal in the past; now five pounds in money; eligibility; originally means tested; GW talks of other charities and the harshness of working/living conditions sixty years ago; molecatching and talk of Arthur Randell; [informants' names and location announced]; skating matches and prizes; Fenland skaters; recollections of harsh winters; cost of living; [informants' names and location announced]; talk of a Gypsy Traveller woman's grave. [Tr. 1] [Collector announcement]; Joe Anderson, recorded in Gorefield on the 28 June 1974; talks about the village; its declining population; the decline in agricultural employment and the shift to factory work in Wisbech and Peterborough; wages and farming costs; lists local firms; wages pre-World War One (doubled by the end of war to 35 shillings); strawberry pulling and plugging - compares price of punnets; potato picking - hours/wages compared, past and present; harvest time; the cost of animal feed. [Tr. 2] [Collector announcement]; Alfred Maddock, recorded in Gorefield on the 28 June 1974; talks about a steam-powered threshing machine; lists different makes; informant operating one 1928-1930; steam cultivator for ploughing (bigger engine described); [informant's name and location announced]; Steam Engine Rallies. [Tr. 3] [Collector announcement]; James Chapman, recorded in Wisbech on the 28 June 1974; talks about pig keeping; baking in brick ovens; working life, fruit growing and gardening; bicycles; first cars in the village; horse and traps; horse shows - prizes for trotting; digging and hoeing the land (one year's seeding is seven years' weeding); [informant's name announced]; informant's house; growth of the town; informant's fruit orchard in Elm; recreation - cricket, swimming, skating; marriage and weddings. [Tr. 4] [Collector announcement]; Edith Mattless, recorded in Guyhirn on the 1 July 1974; talks about working on the land; describes the village [?of Guyhirn]; skating matches on the river; floods; schooling; toys and games. [Tr. 5] [Collector announcement]; Harry Wykes, recorded in Wisbech St Mary on the 1 July 1974; talks about the local railway line, train services and railway station; the closure of the line in 1963. [Tr. 6] [Collector announcement]; William Johnson, recorded in Wisbech St Mary on the 1 July 1974; relates the story of his aunt meeting a supposed witch; talks of (hare, dog) shapeshifting; local horse races; [informant's name announced]; father and uncle's work on the railway (laying and taking up track); the village brick kiln; tunnel connecting two houses in the village; fruit picking and pickers; describes the games of skittles and Five Stones; local blacksmiths; [informant's name announced]; water supplies and village wells; cistern water [collected rainwater]; school on Ash Wednesday - ash in the shoe to prevent bad luck; weather rhyme (Ash and Oak); weatherlore; beliefs associated with full/new moons; objects in the house to bring good luck; corn dollies for good harvest; corn stacking; protection against witches; horseman/toadman and belief in the powers of toad bones. [Tr. 7] [Collector announcement]; Hanna Pearson, recorded in Manea on the 3 July 1974; talks about the village's situation, and the distance travelled to reach a doctor and a school; keeping lodgers; lighting; water supplies; home remedies; illnesses and accidents; the cost of living; house cleaning. [Tr. 8] 4 of 15.

Metadata

Identifier	r5j8mjgh
IRN	414719
Class Mark	LAVC/SRE/A668r
Level	Item
Type of Record	Archives - ISAD(G)
Peristent Link	http://prototype1.library.leeds.ac.uk/r5j8mjgh
Collection(s)	Leeds Archive of Vernacular Culture
Category	Archive
Parent Record	Audiotape Sound Recordings
Creator(s)	Tammivaara, Irmeli
Date	June-July 1974
Size and Medium	1 x 12.7cm open reel spool, Duration: 78' 54".

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