Thank you to all those hardy souls who turned up, despite
the snow and cold, for our meeting on Friday last, 1 February - all 16 of
you. I did have a few apologies in
advance as well, so thank you for that.
I think you will agree that a good time was had by all and
we made quite a bit of progress in getting our project started. We had two hours of chatting and remembering
amid laughter and amazement that some of the things that came out were even possible. A few new people came along as well, which was
great, some of whom had agreed to act as scribes.
You will note I have highlighted
some bits in red below. Pease take note
of these and let me know if you are able to carry out what you thought you
would like and be able to do when we first met.
The afternoon was spent by people filling in their memories
or anecdotes on 20-odd sheets of paper which had been spread around the room. Each sheet had a different topic heading to
prompt people to remember different aspects of their lives.
A couple of interviews were begun with scribes doing the
prompting and writing. I was thrilled to
receive the following day a very full, beautifully typed-up page and more, of
an interview with Maurice Dent from Carol Rees, which is absolutely fantastic
(and she told me she had nothing to offer us!).
She tells me she will continue his story next time we meet.
I have since spent a day and a half typing up all the
comments from the sheets of paper so that their stories can be continued at
future meetings or in individual interviews and these will be circulated to the
individuals concerned for checking and adding to. (NB Having got to the point of sending these out, I have discovered I only have emails for two people, so I think you will have to wait until the next meeting to receive them. Sorry about that.)
We have a long list of people wanting to be interviewed and
their memories will play a large part in the book that is produced at the end. I hope those who
offered to do interviews at our first meeting are still up for it as we will
need you. Do get in touch if you are
still willing.
We agreed that we should meet monthly and this will take
place on the last Friday of each month until April 2020
in The Stables (please note change of venue), by which time we hope we
will have enough to information to make the book both interesting and
informative. Why not put these dates in your diary today so that you don’t
forget.
Meetings are open to anyone interested in sharing or
learning about the history of Sprotbrough Village from 1925 to 1965, so do feel
free to come and meet other enthusiasts, as well as telling others about
it.
We appreciate that some of you might not be able to get to
meetings as you now live too far away, but that doesn’t
mean you can’t contribute. I am
copying in below the page of interview prompts which might get you started and
you can then send them in to me.
Several people also signed up to do
research, so if you were one of these, you can use the list of prompts
to choose what might interest you. Just let me know so that we don’t have more than one
person doing the same topic and wasting time.
For information, the address for the
SOH Blog, which provides all the news about this project, can be found as
follows:
Or just by searching for Sprotbrough Oral History
Do look us up and follow our activities.
NEXT MEETING: Friday
22 February 2019 at 2.30 pm in The Stables (next to the church hall).
Liz Reeve
4 February 2019
Contacts:
Liz Reeve, Tel 01302
313030; Email: soh.lizreeve@gmail.com
NOTE TO INTERVIEWERS
Before arriving for
the interview, please start the tape with:
·
your own
name,
·
the date
of the interview
·
the names
of those you are going to interview.
On starting the interview, ask your interviewees to introduce
themselves with:
·
their
name,
·
date of
birth (or decade born if they don’t want to)
·
when they
arrived in the village
·
where
they lived
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
These are just
suggestions and should be thought out before arrival according to the age of
the person being interviewed and when they arrived in the village.
Don’t impose your own lifestory into your
interviewees memories.
Prompt, Listen and Record.
·
Village facilities – what was it like? shops,
pubs, clubs, post office
·
The War years: Home conditions – do you remember
the war, what was it like for the family, warm/cold, lighting, water, sanitary
arrangements, decorating
·
Schools attended – Village, Richmond Hill,
Mexborough Grammar, Percy Jackson Grammar, Woodlands Secondary Modern, Other? -
which attended, when left, classes sizes, conditions, segregation of sexes
·
Play time – games: marbles, two ball, tag, etc
·
Entertainment in your youth – dances, pictures,
where
·
How did you meet your partner?
·
What family did you have? Were times hard? Was they easy to bring up?
·
Activities in the home: rug-making, knitting,
dress-making, preserving food, etc
·
Shopping – shops, eg groceries, milk -
deliveries,
·
Food – at school or home, visiting others –
special likes or dislikes
·
Clothing styles at different ages
·
Work – age started, type done, eg in service,
office, industry, business
·
Friends known – boys, girls
·
People – characters, personalities, loved,
feared
·
Death - funerals
·
Entertainment – Radio/TV, Dancing - other:
where, what type
·
Sport - 4
min mile, conquest of Everest, Cricket/Ashes 1952, St Ledger/Prince Honolulu,
Wrestling,
·
Churches – baptism, marriage, funerals, Sunday
School, whether regular attender
·
Music: church choir, concerts,
dancing/styles/where?, big bands, rock and roll
·
Trips out – buses, railway
·
Footpaths
·
Weather memories
·
National and International events
·
Decimalisation
·
Man on the Moon
·
Photos of village or people to copy for display
·
Death of the King – Coronation of Queen –
parties
·
Death of Churchill
·
Politics –parties, elections and budgets, did it
interest you?
·
Radio & TV
·
Famous people in the village
·
Anything else of special interest?
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