Cultureshock

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Video transcript

Neil: What we’ve found out is that some of your memories are good, but you’ve got one or two which are not-so-nice memories of the War, haven’t you?

Annie: Aye.  The War was on.  Masks – we had to have masks on our faces.

Neil: And can you remember doing that when you were a little girl?

Annie: Yeah.  We had to do it.  The War was on.

Neil: And what was it like breathing with one of them on?

Annie: It was horrible, you couldn’t breathe…Ration book!

Neil: And who used to have the ration book in the house?

Annie: We all had one.  I love this ration book.  Look!

Neil: Is that bringing back fond memories?

Annie: Yes… castor oil, orange juice and baby powder, Cow & Gate.

Neil: And is that what you used to get on your ration book?

Annie: Aye.  Nowt else.  That was your rations.

Neil: Can you remember which shop you used to go to with your ration book?

Annie: With these?  The clinic.

Neil: The clinic?

Annie: Aye. …The Cullercoats Co-op, it was. You've got an identity card! Never!

Neil: Did you need to have the identity card with your ration book?

Annie: Of course, whey aye!

Neil: So, Annie, what would happen if you went to the shop with your ration book but you forgot your identity card?

Annie: I would go back and get it! (laughs)

Neil: You wouldn’t be able to get any food?

Annie: No (laughs)

Neil: So you’d be in trouble if you lost that identity card?

Annie: Aye, you’d get wrong!  Wouldn't you? You’d get into trouble, you would.

Neil: Where did you live during this time?

Annie: I was in Cullercoats.

Neil: In Cullercoats?  And can you remember the name of the street?

Annie: 29 Hood Street, Cullercoats.  We lived above the shop.

Neil: You lived above the shop?

Annie: Yes.

Neil: And was that with all your sisters and brothers?

Annie: Yes.  My Mam had nine children.

Neil: And were you one of the youngest or the oldest, do you know?

Annie: Oldest; I’ve got two brothers and four sisters. I'm probably the oldest, and then there’s Sheila, Christine and Margaret.

Neil: Can you remember what you had for your breakfast?

Annie: Aye, porridge and an egg.  I’d sometimes have cheese – cheese and bread. Oh, a bread tin - to cook the bread in, in the oven; flat-cakes and all that. And washing their clothes - that green soap – they’d wash their clothes with green soap and a scrubbing brush and hang their clothes on the line.  I remember the old fashioned iron, on the fire, to iron your clothes

Neil: Why did they put the iron on the fire?

Annie: My Mam would iron the clothes on the ironing board. Ah, I remember money!   I remember all of them – half crowns, pennies, tuppences, hapennies, three-penny bits, sixpence, shillings!  (laughs) You can’t spend that.  I wish I could!  You can’t spend that on bread, you would get hoyed out!  You’d get hoyed out the shop. “Get out!”  You can’t spend them!

Neil: And you know when you said you lived in Cullercoats? 

Annie: Aye.

Neil: Has Cullercoats changed much?

Annie: It’s changed altogether! 

Neil: What was it like, Cullercoats?

Annie: It was alright; in the back lane somebody had a horse – two horses – down the back lane.  A big black one and he had a black little pony.  We used to feed them.

Neil: And were there any shops in Cullercoats that are there now?

Annie: No, they’ve all gone I think. 

Neil: Can you think of any of the shops that were there, in Cullercoats, during the War?

Annie: Ah, there was a butcher’s, the baker next to me and the fruit shop was next to me.  I remember the Co-op. 

Neil: And were there any pubs in Cullercoats then?

Annie: There was one called Redburn - a lot of pubs down there. It's been a long time. I've finished!

Neil: That's brilliant Annie.