Cultureshock

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Video transcript

My birth certificate was issued on 22nd April 1937. What's unusual is the stamp in the corner. It’s of Prince Edward…in line to succeed the throne...but as later revealed he never was crowned king...making my birth certificate I think, a rare commodity.      I lived in Spital Tongues, Newcastle. During air raids people in the area used the Victoria Tunnel for safety. The entrance was situated  on the edge of the town moor and runs underground through Newcastle to the Ouseburn on the quayside.     There was bombing around Newcastle, as along Scotswood Road there was a munitions factory. For safety, when I was six years old, I went as an evacuee to Wallington Hall. Sir Charles and Lady Mary Trevelyan had opened their doors to evacuees.  I stayed there for two years and have very fond memories.  I was one of the youngest children there. I shared a bedroom in the hall with three other girls .There was a four poster bed, but we slept on camp beds. We had our meals in the Main Hall. Each morning the girls would assemble for breakfast, any post or parcels were put on top of the piano, we all hoped there was something for you.  After dinner in the evening, occasionally Lady Trevelyan would play the piano and we would dance around the maypole in the centre of the hall. Neither wonder my mother used to say I had ''too many high and mighty ideas'' I wonder why.    The river Wansbeck ran at the edge of the estate and Lady Trevelyan used to take us swimming there. I can clearly remember her in a black knitted swim suit.    I also remember sitting on the lawn shelling peas for cook and having them for dinner in the evening.               Christmas 1944, I spent at the hall with three other girls, everyone else had gone home to spend Christmas with their family. The four of us had Christmas dinner with the cook and her staff. Then after dinner we each received a box of sweets that had been sent from America (a treat in the war years). We were then entertained in the afternoon by Lady Trevelyan's grandchildren, they were staying at the hall for Christmas.   They performed a pantomime put together by themselves. In all it was a Christmas to remember.

I honestly believe my time at Wallington, for me, was character building and I've always been confident and able to stand on my own two feet.