CELIA COONEY |
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Surname
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Cooney
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Forename
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Celia
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Date of recording
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February 2012
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Year of birth
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1922
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Place of Birth
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Aldeburgh
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Occupation
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Fish and chip shop owner
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Fathers occupation
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Sailor
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Present Address
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Aldeburgh
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Location Interview
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Aldeburgh
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Interviewer
Summary |
Doreen Bartlett
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Duration
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51 mine
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This recording consists of 7 tracks.
Track 1: (17 secs) Introduction Track 2: (10 mins 02) Speaks about father who worked with his father for Garretts (Snape Maltings). Seafaring - working on barges. Pre WW1. Crewed racing yachts for gentry during summer visiting Cowes etc. Herring fishing during winter from Lowestoft and around coast following Herring Girls. Saw Titanic sail from Southampton. Worked on minesweepers during WW1. Sprat fishing after WW1. Sprats transported to Lowestoft by train. Worked as grounds man at golf club and then at Thellusson Lodge until he died. Describes various houses in Aldeburgh where she lived both before and after marriage. Includes time in flat above GPO Repeater Station. Describes schooling - she left at 14. Early work in chemist and grocers before WW2. During WW2 worked on land picking potatoes whilst caring for young family. Mentions membership of local clubs and societies mostly connected with church. Crusaders, Brownies, Guides etc. Talks about outings to Leiston Abbey, summer time on beach. Learning to swim. (phone rings). Track 3: (7mins 20) Features Whispering Tom (Ward)- CCs grandfather's brother. Explains origin of nickname. Worked in cod smacks most of working life. Interviewed by Leiston Gazette. Talks about local nicknames e.g. Sky Diver (Vicar). Describes gatherings of retired seafarers smoking clay pipes in/by North Lookout. Notes rivalry between North and South Lookout communities. Mentions membership of British Legion. Describes card game euchre played by "old boys". Memories of teenage years: social activities included cinema, dances at Jubilee Hall. Walking/cycling to dances further afield at Snape and Thorpeness. Taxis to Framlingham on special occasions. Track 4: (10mins 02) Memories of High Street - pubs, fishermans'cottages. Bombing of Post Office - and life as a postal worker. Internment of German dairy owners at outbreak of WW2. Memories of courtship and marriage to Horace, a GPO engineer. Bomber pilot during war - trained in USA. Worked at Repeater Station after the war. Description of circus coming to town - elephants in the sea. Tents on recreation field near railway station. Mentions other annual events including the carnival and fun fair. More memories of schooldays - talks about interhouse rivalry, prefects and war casualties. Discusses air raid precautions - sheds etc. Track 5: (11mins 34) Describes opportunities for scholarships and further/higher education. Leiston grammar school. Mentions lending libraries based in business premises (tobacconist, haberdashers). Whispering Tom's passion for reading westerns! Recalls Reading Room at Jubilee Hall. Life after the war - buying plots of land and building houses (Reades). Creating a market garden and smallholding and supplying flowers and produce for local shops. Bringing up a family. The story of the fish and chip shop - an unexpected enterprise! Mr Cooper, the eccentric former owner. Receiving smoked salmon by post from Yorkshire. Smoke house in Aldeburgh. Mr Cooper bans local young miscreants from shop! Cooking in lard as opposed to oil. Track 6: (9mins 36) Recalls skating on Thorpeness Mere - without skates! Remembers childhood toys - hoops, tops, ropes. Bouncing balls against the wall. Recalls more about fish and chip shop. Range of products. Student help during vacations. Uniform worn. Division of labour in the shop. Customers including festival performers in costume. Celebrities including an entertaining tale of Russian composer Rostropovich. Queuing - and an opportunity to forge friendships. Reflections on why business remains so successful. Track 7: (2mins 33) Amusing tale of cleaning out the boating pond. Mr Cooney's work as a Town and District councillor. Mentions informal constituency surgery at the fish and chip shop. |