Surname
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Sharman
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Forename
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Ivy
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Date of recording
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Sep 2008
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Year of birth
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1913
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Place of Birth
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Aldeburgh
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Occupation
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Retired
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Fathers occupation
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Fisherman skipper
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Present Address
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Thorpeness
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Location Interview
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Thorpeness
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Interviewer
Summary |
Colin Fletcher
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Duration
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95 Mins
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No of tracks: 15
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Detailed Contents (times in minutes and seconds)
This recording consists of 15 tracks. Track 1 [17 secs] Introduction by Colin Fletcher interviewing Ivy Sharman at her home at Lakeside, Thorpeness on 16th September, 2008. Track 2 [10 mins] I vy Sharman was born at 33 King Street in 1913. Mentions she had one sister who died at the age of 21 and had another sister who is now deceased. Describes how her parents rented the cottage from Clifford Butcher. Her father died during the war and the family continued to rent the cottage. Mentions that when she got married her husband had the shop where the Chinese is now and they lived above the shop. Describes the cottage at King Street having four gas lights and they had to use candles upstairs in the bedrooms. Describes how the gas lights worked. Describes the layout of the cottage - a front room, that was rarely used, a kitchen/living room which had a black range cooker and a scullery off the kitchen where there was a sink. There was also an outside toilet and one further toilet upstairs. Describes how her mother used to boil up a copper in the scullery to do the washing. Describes cleaning the range with black lead and polish and the range as having a coal fire on one side and an oven on the other with pots on the top. Mentions that they did not use the range in the summer as they had a gas cooker in the scullery. Mentions that her mother, who came from London, was a good cook and had been a cook before she married. Describes her father as being a local man who fished for sprats in the winter and in the summer months was skipper on a yacht owned by Mr. De Quincy, who lived in a house called West Hill which is now Garrett House. Mentions that her father used to sail down to the Isle of Wight and take part in the Cowes Regatta, (shows Colin a silver replica cup that was given to her father). Mentions a boat named Gemma. Track 3 [10 mins] Describes how her father used to wear a uniform, a turtle neck jumper with the name of the boat on it, when he was skippering the yacht with the yacht's name on it. Describes how she used to help her father with the sprats in the winter and would 'skud' the sprats - shaking them out of the net. Describes how her father also caught herring and would come home in the morning and say to Ivy "there you are, you've got to sell those before you go to school" and Ivy would go round knocking on people's doors and sell herring - 7 herring for sixpence. Mentions that her father had cancer of the liver. Describes how she used to help haul the boat in at about 1.00 in the morning. Describes the winch and how it was very hard work as the winch did not have an engine. Describes her father's boat being by the South Lookout tower and before that up by Lady Latimer's. Describes 'pritching' for eels in the river with her father. This involved a long pole with 'eyes' on the end and this was stuck into the river bed and the eels would get caught up. Remembers bringing the eels home and putting them in the sink and her mother would make an eel stew, which used to upset her father but he still ate it. Describes skinning the eels by attaching them to the door knob and pulling the skins off. Describes sailing a model yacht on the yacht pond which was towards Slaughden, just past the river wall but before the quay. Describes how she was close to her father and loved helping him with the fish and how they used to go to football together, supporting Aldeburgh Town. Describes how she would help her mother in the mornings with the housework and then go off with her father in the afternoon. Remembers Aldeburgh Town playing on a pitch that is where the caravan park is now, remembers it was called North Fields and also had grass tennis courts. Remembers the trains going by. Describes herring and bloaters and how a Mr. Lee, who lived in Lee Road, down by Mr. Burrell's, had a smoke house in his back yard. Track 4 [6.50mins] Remembers going to the pub with a jug to collect stout for her mother. Describes having a bath in a tin bath in front of the fire once a week. The copper was lit to heat the water for the bath. Describes shopping in Aldeburgh and mentions Butchers, the International Stores - where Baggotts is now, Freeman Hardy and Willis - a shoe shop, an ironmonger, a butchers - Aldridge, Hallis the fruit shop, two bakers, Ward's garage, a cake shop owned by Mr. Cullum which also sold ice creams, this is where Fat Face is now. . Describes how the High Street has changed. Remembers Timothy Whites and a drapers shop, Hillands, and also a toy shop, Eades. Describes buying milk from a man with a cart who ladled the milk into a jug, also sold eggs. Track 5 [ 10 mins] Remembers a man with a horse and cart who sold vegetables. Remembers there being two dairies, one at Church Farm,where the doctor's surgery is now, and one at the bottom on the hill, Moutells. Describes how the doctor's surgery used to be cow sheds and the dairy was where the bungalow is now. Remembers 'patting' butter on a marble slab with two wooden spatulas. Describes her father, who was coxswain of the lifeboat and he received a Vellum from the Prince of Wales for services to the lifeboat. Describes going to the rescue of a boat called the Cullmore, a steam boat, which sunk, losing all crew, where her father was strapped to the mast of the lifeboat as he could not swim and the sea was very rough. Remembers this being in the winter time and there was a terrible wind. Describes only seeing the top of the boat's mast between the waves as it went off. Remembers the local paper had a front page story on the rescue. Describes another rescue off Sizewell Point where a boat went aground and the lifeboat crew managed to rescue all the crew who could not speak a word of English. Describes how the rescued crew were housed in Aldeburgh for a short time until arrangements were made to ship them home. Remembers the day war broke our the Abdy Beauclerk was launched and also remembers Aldeburgh had a smaller lifeboat, she thinks was named Lucy Lavers and the coxswain of this boat was George Chatten. Remembers going to the naming ceremony of the Abdy in the prescence of The Duke of Kent. Describes 'flauterers' who were men who helped launch the boat and these men were each given a ticket, valued about £1. The crew of the lifeboat was mostly fishermen. Remembers an occasion in the middle of the night when men were running to get their tickets and they only had their pants on and their wives were running behind with their trousers, they were so eager to their ticket. Track 6 [2mins 33] Mentions that her husband was a mechanic on the lifeboat. Describes an incident where her son, John, was helping hauling the lifeboat up onto the beach when the chain broke, describes how he leapt on board the boat believing that Billy Bottrill had also jumped on board with him, and steered the boat away from the groynes and back to shore then realising he was the only person on the boat.. Remembers he was paid £5.00. Describes how after this event her son was on the television programme Blue Peter. Describes trips to London on the train from Aldeburgh for 5/-. Track 7 [10 mins] Remembers going to a small private school run by Miss Butcher behind Oakley Square. Describes leaving there and then going to Aldeburgh School which she found quite different. Remembers Miss "Diddy" Whiteman, a very strict teacher who was in charge of the girls. Mr. Witham, the headmaster, was in charge of the boys. The classes were seperate, boys in one and girls in another, although they did mix at playtime. Remembers Miss Whiteman being very strict and would sometimes use the ruler across the palm of the hand as punishment. Describes how she enjoyed handwriting and was not so keen on arithmetic. Remembers having exams at the end of each term and taking reports home for her parents. Describes her uniform as a brown gym slip with a yellow sash. Describes PE lessons in the playing field near the gas works, where they played hockey. Also remembers the school had some allotments and the children used to do some gardening. Describes how they celebrated May Day by dancing round the maypole and they also celebrated Empire Day. Remembers having cookery lessons and also lessons in laundry where they would wash clothes and iron them. Remembers her mother being a good cook and her favourite was steak and kidney pudding. Briefly describes Christmas but they did not celebrate as they do now as money was quite short, remembers only having nuts and perhaps an orange in her stocking. Mentions that in those days you only had chicken at Christmas, not all year round as now. Track 8 [6 secs] Not included Track 9 [10 mins] Describes leaving school at 13 and working in the North Laundry for 10/- a week. The laundry was owned by Miss Pettit the laundry and going to work at Butchers, looking after their books and occasionally helping out in one of their three shops. Mentions there was a shop by the Black Horse public house, an outfitters in the High Street, a grocers opposite and another by the station, run by Mr. Wright. Describes how she would help out in the grocers by weighing out and filling blue bags with sugar and also weighing out fruit. Mentions that she worked from 8.30 in the morning until 6.00 at night, with an hour for lunch, Mondays through to Saturdays with half day on Wednesday. Remembers that she earned 17s. 6d. a week and she was 17 years old. Mentions the Butcher brothers, Owen and Clifford. Describes going to dances in the Jubilee hall and also at the 'hut' which she later mentions was near Watsons Garage in Victoria Road. Describes going to the cinema, firstly in the Jubilee Hall and later at a proper cinema, and watching silent movies. Remembers the seats were 1s. 3d. each. Describes Aldeburgh as being very quiet before the war Track 10 [1min. 54] Describes the 'nobility' in Aldeburgh, the people who had lots of money and the distinction between them and the ordinary people. Describes how everyone was treated fairly. Describes having a gramaphone at home. They did not have electricity then so you had to wind it up. Also remembers having a radio which was run on batteries and the family would sit and listen to it after tea. Track 11 [10 mins] Remembers listening to Neville Chamberlain on the radio when war was declared. The lifeboat was also launched that day. Mentions that her sister married a Jack Clark from Leiston, on a Wednesday, he went away to war on the Thursday and she never saw him again. He was killed in Singapore. Describes how her sister worked at the International Stores and eventually married the manager, Joe Steward who had been in a Japanese prisoner of war camp and later died. Mentions she was married in 1933 and had two children, Pauline born in 1936 and John in 1939. Describes how they were evacuated to Shenfield, Essex and how they had to close up their grocery shop and lost everything. Describes how the Germans started bombing London and they came back to Aldeburgh. She remembers the rent on the shop was 30/- a week and she only had 10/- but somehow she managed. Describes the bombing of the Street. Mentions that Horace joined the air force and was involved with the barrage balloons over London. Remembers many soldiers being billeted in Aldeburgh, and they used to buy rabbits and pheasants from the soldiers, a rabbit was 1/- and a pheasant 2/6d. Remembers asking the soldiers how they killed the pheasants as they had not been shot. The soldiers told how they used to sprinkle whisky over some fruit which the birds then ate and became drunk and it was easy then to wring their necks. Describes how the beach was cordoned off with barbed wire, because of mines. Describes how the mines were kept up at Aldeburgh Lodge and also in Oakley Square and remembers the explosion in Oakley Square where apparently one of the soldiers dropped a detonator and the mines exploded. Remembers the Post Office being bombed. Describes where the hospital was in the High Street, previously a grocers shop, Hill and Reading and now Warwick Court, and mentions that it was a nice little hospital where she once had a tooth removed. Track 12 [3 mins 48 secs] Continues describing the hospital and mentions that it was mainly for first aid. Mentions that most babies during that time were born at home unless there was a problem and then they were delivered in the hospital. Describes how they used to pay for the medicines as there was no National Health then, and there was a dispensary behind the doctor's surgery. Describes how they had a Morrison shelter inside their house but only used it once. Describes the doodlebugs that came over from Germany and how they made the house shake. Describes that they were o.k. but if the engine stopped they were to take cover very quickly. Describes the end of the war and Horry coming home in his de-mob suit and a new trilby hat. Track 13 [10 mins] Describes how there were quite a few houses built after the war and the council houses were built in the 1950's. Describes having their first car before the war, a citroen and mentions that she learnt to drive later but stopped driving when she was 75 as she thought her reactions were not too good. Remembers her husband had a motorbike, a Brough Superior which had a sidecar. Describes how her husband used to run a taxi service and she would run the shop. Remembers they used to get their petrol from Ward's garage in the High Street, and there was also a garage, Carter's up the top of the town and another where MCT Electrical is today. Remembers getting their first television although the signal was not very good. Describes the 1953 floods and tells how the shop had about 1 foot of water in it, and that it did not dry out very well as it was sea water. Mentions Dr. Nora and their friendship. Mentions that her father taught them to sail. Remembers that Dr. Nora and Dr. Robin used to live in a caravan up where the asparagus farm is now, but they moved into Lee Road and lived behind their surgery. Remembers that there was no warning when the flood waters came and she was playing cards when her husband told her they were going to be flooded. They had to take as much as the could upstairs. Remembers in the morning how everything was covered in mud. Track 14 [10 mins] Describes how they were flooded again the next day and remembers boats being rowed down the High Street. Remembers that Canada sent over some carpets to help out and they had one of these, but did not get much help from anyone else. Describes how the floods were caused by the strong NW winds and a very high spring tide. Describes the Carnival when she was a small girl, and May Bottrill and Clifford Butcher were the Carnival King and Queen. Remembers that after the Carnival there was always dancing in the High Street. Remembers the Regatta and taking part in rowing races in the sea with David Day. Describes the fair that used to come to Aldeburgh, and mentions that as well as being on Fort Green it used to be along Brudenell Street as well. Describes the circus that used to come as well, which was on Hammies Field on the marshes and remembers there being lots of animals, elephants etc. Describes how her life is much easier these days and she is very happy and appreciates having modern equipment in her home like washing machines and microwaves. Compares this with many years ago where she would have had to struggle. Mentions that children do not play hide and seek or hopscotch outside after school anymore, as they have televisions and computers. Mentions that her grandchildren showed her how to work the computer. Track 15 [1.06] Describes how she loves living in Thorpeness and how it is a lovely place to live. |