Originally deposited as a CD-ROM.
Includes the recollections of Ted Duffill, Gwen Byass, Ken Grantham, Tom Lazenby, Peggy Dunn, Maurice Barr, Gerald Wilson and Geoff Dunn who have spent most or all of their lives in North Dalton village. With information relating to shops and trades, water supply, home life, school, church and chapel, farm work and wartime. Also includes the 'Jolly Ploughboys' traditional folk song sung by Peter Fletcher.
Timing:
1. Introduction
Opens with a verse of a folk song, followed by a series of short reminiscences about past life in North Dalton
(00:49) They remember having good times even though their parents had not got much. When they were children, in 1936, they went anywhere to get a penny or two
(1:00) No-one ever said they were bored. They stayed at home and played in Well place; football, cricket anything they wanted.
(1:36) A woman, laughing, says her mother thought she would be back home in 6 months as she was a 'townie', she didn't know anything about farm life. When she came to North Dalton she had no idea that there was no running water
(1:55) The women got up at 5am, when they black-leaded the fire place. Kindling was used to heat 3 eight pint black kettles. The water was needed for the men's breakfast at 7am. Once the men came in, the women went to make their beds.
(2:20) A man who lived at the pub remembered his mother and father moving to Driffield, but he didn't like it, so he came back to live with his grandma and granddad
(2:38) The squire and the farmers went to church, whereas the tailor and shop people went to the Wesleyan Chapel. The farm men, by and large, went to the Primitive Chapel.
(3:00) A man remembers 'Mr Oxenbury's grand little shop' and how 'he was a grand little fellow'. On the way to school they could get 5 toffees for a halfpenny and 10 for 1 pence. Pocket watches were sold at the shop for 5 shillings, along with arrowroot stick, liquorice and 'all them fancy things'
(3:331) Another excerpt from the folk song
(3:54) The last man discusses how listening to the memories of the others makes him realise how everything has altered in the village; for example there used to be three shops. Thinking back made him realise how life had changed. 80-90% of the men used to work on farms; they wore hobnail boots. Many went to chapel on Sunday nights. Up until the 1930s, milk was delivered in a horse-drawn milk float from Middleton. The village post man walked to Middleton every morning to collect the mail, bring it back to North Dalton, sort it and then deliver it round the village. He would knock at the door with his walking stick, as not many houses even had letter boxes. Lots of farms had 'men' living in 'hind houses'. One he knew had ten men living there. The 'womenfolk' had to bake bread and make pies to feed the farm workers; they scrubbed floors, as they had no vacuum-cleaners. He finishes with the observation that 'no end of things had altered so much'
2. Shops and trades
Men describing the shops and trades in North Dalton
(00:01) There was a shop near the blacksmiths run by Mr Oxenbury and Mr Thompson ran the post office. Harrison Dixon was the postman and cobbler. He put his leather out into the pond on a piece of string attached to a sleeper. He used a bicycle for his post round, starting in the village, then he'd go up to [Wrights], Tenants, Summit, [Blanch] finishing at lunch time.
(00:49) Three men talk together about another cobbler's shop called [Airer's]. This cobbler had a bad leg. They go on to discuss Reed Scott who had a bicycle shop at the back of the old blacksmiths. He had very bad rheumatism and could hardly move. His hands were twisted, but he could still mend bikes and punctures, put in new spokes or replace a tyre and deal with small fiddly screws. He always kept a good fire going.
(02:00) Jock Scott was the blacksmith and the boys would watch him shoeing horses. He used to get the horse's leg between his legs and calm it by singing 'Oh beau, oh beau, steady beau'. He'd also use the yard to put new hoops on wheels
(2:23) When it was conker time the blacksmith would leave the door open so the local boys could go in and take a nail each. They would use it to make a hole in the conkers. They only took one nail which would last all summer.
(2:39) The blacksmiths was at the back of the chapel and was always busy. It was run by two brothers, Johnny Scott's dad, David, and his Uncle Jock. One was a blacksmith and the other a tinsmith. David made pans, kettles, steamers and fire shovels. Once the shovel was worn, you kept the handle and he'd replace the shovel
(3:22) There were two tailors; Ronsons was run by one of the men's granddad and his uncle. Their first house had five bedrooms and a large place downstairs, where they sat on a big table and sewed. They employed some apprentices. There used to be a sign that said 'Ronson tailor and breeches maker'. The other tailor was Stonehouses, who had a big wooden shed.
(4:12) One man had a job as a milkman, it was the second job he had after he left school. He had a horse and milk float and would go around Middleton and then to North Dalton. The float had a big ten-gallon container of milk. He also had a tin that held about two gallons, oval shaped with a lid, that had a pint, half pint and gill measure inside. He'd carry the two gallon tin up to the house, where jugs were left on the doorstep. Some people brought their jugs to the float and he would measure the amount they wanted with a little drop for luck.
Memories of three men:
(4:58) It was difficult to make a living at the pub, so Granddad Brody used to help part time at harvest time and muck lading
(5:12) There were two pubs. The top pub was the darts pub and the bottom one was for drinking. Sometimes they played dominoes. When the pub was owned by Don Grantham, he refused to get up to serve you if he was playing dominoes and he had a good hand
(5:36) The tap room was on the right hand side as you went through the front door of the pub. It had big forms around the sides with a spittoon containing sawdust. The spittoons were cast iron and the sawdust was changed every day.
(5:55) The pubs used to run raffles, one week in the top pub and the second week down at the Star. The prize was a joint of beef and the money raised could be used for Christmas parcels or to buy bags of coal for pensioners.
(6:20) People would come in the back door of the pub and watch what was going on in the kitchen, when it was at the back. There was no privacy. Some people wouldn't sit in the bar; they'd just sit in the kitchen.
(6:40) The two pubs in the village always left empties (empty glasses/bottles) outside. The local lads would creep down at night, get a couple of empty bottles, then take them to the other pub and get 2 pence for returns; this would buy a packet of crisps. They would then go to the other pub, 'pinch two bottles' and do the same again.
(7:04) Until the late 1930s, drinking water was carried in buckets from wells. Then the Water Board laid water into the village and got taps in the street, which was a big improvement.
(7:22) There was no water or electricity in the pub, just water in the kitchen in the side boiler. The water ran off the pub roof onto the washhouse roof and into a red tank in the back yard; this was used for washing and if you wanted a bath there was a copper in the kitchen
(7:53) On Saturday, after all the 'mucky' jobs were finished, you got changed and put a clean shirt on. It could then be worn for chapel or church, hence Monday was washing day
3. Water supply
Conversations about how the houses in the village were supplied with water.
(00:01) Opens with a woman saying that there was no running water in the village; Alf [her husband] pumped water up into the roof. The drinking water came from Bainton by horse and cart. They had a galvanised tub. Everyone else had to go to the well for drinking water
(00:50) A conversation between several men about going to the pump for water. Once the pump was primed everyone went with their buckets as it took 'a bit of priming'.
(1:13) As a boy, one of the men would fetch four buckets of water for his granddad to wash the separator and butter churn. He used a wooden Dutch yoke to carry them. The yoke was shaped to fit his shoulders and had two chains, one at either end that could be altered to regulate the length. He would steady them with his hand to stop them swaying.
(1:54) Some of the men played round the well as boys. There used to be a pole on the well with a cog in the middle where a harness could be attached. This would allow a horse to walk round-and-round to raise the buckets. The top was high enough to put a water cart underneath. However, the men can't remember seeing it working with the horse; they never saw anyone get water that way
(3:00) Two men talk about another well, where there was a big wooden structure over the well itself. It was a pump with buckets, but you couldn't see all the workings as they were hidden inside. There was a cut-out with a hand wheel in it and depending what position the wheel was in, the water would come out of the top or bottom. There was another pump outside Elsie's house, which had a chain where you could hang a bucket. The bucket was lowered to get water and hoisted up on a winch. There was a similar pump on West End, called the 'green man', with a big wooden roller which had chain wrapped round it. It held wooden buckets, as one went down empty another came up full of water. When it reached the top, the bucket tipped sideways and it filled the bucket brought by the person sent to fetch water. One winter it froze and the belt broke when they tried to force it
(5:13) The village had a number of water pumps. There was one was at Foxton's and another in the back yard at Mill Farm. His mother used to go to Mill Farm for a wash and he would pump water for her. There were other pumps at Ken Bates' yard, in Ransom's Row behind the tailors, at Carr Lodge through the gate, at Connor's near fold yard, at Caley's? in the back yard and yet another at Elsie's corner. They were all cast iron pumps. There was also one at the Old Vicarage where they must have had a tank, because they went to fill it on Sunday night and got 6d
(6:01) Another man remembers that they were putting water up the footpaths when he started school. There was no water before that; there were just pipes with ordinary sized taps on top. They had a wooden frame round the pipe which was stuffed with straw
(6:30) Water was finally laid to houses and they then had water closets and 'you thought you'd got the moon'
(6:40) There were new bathrooms, toilets - you didn't have to got to the toilet up the garden. That was a relief as it was so cold; the wind would blow under the door in winter. The garden toilet had one advantage; you could sit down and read the paper. Newspaper would be ripped up and hung on the door to use as toilet paper, but it couldn't be used in the new water closets
(7:03) Some of the earth toilets were built next to the ash pit, however for the majority of people a bucket had to be used. You went out at ten o'clock at night, sometimes later in summer: into the garden, hoping no-one was watching and buried it
(7:25) Ronson's had a three holed toilet; big, medium and little. Mrs Betts? Would go to the toilet and he would ask if he should sit on the other seat to hold her hand. She would say 'don't think you need bother lad'
(7:40) The front could be removed from some of the earth toilets and the bucket would slide out, then a hole would be dug in the garden and the contents buried. The speaker said he never saw any one do it and no one ever saw him
(8:02) Oil lamps were used. One of the speakers went to bed with a candle so he could read a bit but then his mother would shout 'Put that candle out, you won't have a light tomorrow night'
(8:19) It was into the late 30s before there was electricity in the village. Before that houses were lit with candles and paraffin lamps. Homes were heated with coal
(8:40) The wireless was run on batteries. They had a big accumulator, which was very expensive. They also had a whit? battery. You had two batteries and Lees from Pocklington came round with a van. They'd bring one, take the other to get charged and bring it back the next day. It cost 6d to charge. The family listened to the six o'clock news in the evening. It was in the 40s, about 1943, when the electricity was introduced
4. Home life
Discussions about how families provided and preserved food
(00:04) Begins with a man talking about how everything was special, because they didn't know anything better, even the jelly for Sunday night tea was a luxury. Everything was homemade, pastry and bread. Rabbit pie was tasty and cheap to make as they caught the rabbits. Families relied on such food
(00:46) A woman explains that when she came to the village from the town, she had no idea about how things were done. There was a big sheet oven that was fed by wood underneath and was where bread was made. In another room there was a great big churn which she was told was used to make butter, so she had to learn these new skills
Several conversations about the practice of pig killing in the village
(01:45) Lots of cottagers killed pigs which provided a staple part of their diet
(01:54) If you hadn't got a pig you would often give swill to a pig owner to help feed the pig. When it was finally killed, the owner would give you part of the pig as a 'fry', for example the liver. There was an understanding that if one pig owner gave another a 'fry' then the plate was given back unwashed. It was thought to be unlucky to wash it. Then when the second pig owner killed his pig the 'fry' would be given back
(02:38) A woman remembers how the pigs were killed and how salty all the bacon was. Her husband used to salt hams and she thought they tasted awful. She reckoned this showed the difference between a country person and one from the town
(02:56) Sometimes a chap would be employed to kill several pigs. Tommy Jackson would come 'to do a whole lot of 'em'. He would hit the pig over the head to stun the pig and then cut its throat and let the blood out. Boys would find out someone was pig killing and ask for the bladder to make a football. The bladder would last a long time; there'd be 'hundreds of lads in the square kicking the bladder about'
(03:50) Once the pig and hams were cured they could be kept for months on hooks in the ceilings of cottages. Sides were cut from the pig, cured separately and then hung. A side consisted of a side of bacon plus a shoulder. Pieces were cut off as they were needed. The side would keep for months and although it went brown it was still good to eat and provided a good source of food. People often had large gardens or allotments where they grew vegetables like potatoes and often kept chickens
(04:50) Jack Barr had a small holding; it's now Smiths. He used to make pig potatoes in an open boiler outside. If you were sat in school and saw the chimney smoking, it would be his copper. He used to grow potatoes and 'small 'uns, not washed, was pig taties'. They were covered in bits of soil, straw and muck, but the dirt all peeled off and they tasted really good. School caps were filled with them, 'red hot taties, put 'em in your cap' and eat them with a bit of salt
(05:59) Jack Barr had a horse and cart and used to deliver coke for the school boiler. He would load the cart at Middleton in the morning and then deliver it to the school. The horse would be left with a nose bag near the coke house, while he went for his dinner. After dinner, another load would be collected. The kids used to help unload, to tip out, and would be 'mucked up to th'eyes'. If they couldn't get a go with the shovel, they'd use their hands
5. School
Men remembering their school days
(00:01) There were about 120 children in the school. There were three rooms; a little room, a middle room that had a sliding screen and a big room
(00:13) The infant room was up the steps straight through the porch. Through the door was the middle room with a sliding partition that divided it from the big room. Miss Atkinson was the infant teacher in the small room. Miss Stockdale was in the middle room and Mr Freer was in the large room
(00:41) Mr Freer was a good teacher, but he had a thick signet ring and he would flick your ear and catch you on the lobe with it. It really used to tingle
(00:54) Some children had a few problems with Mr Freer. He had a daughter in school and would say 'Valerie fetch my cane'. When you heard him say that you knew you were in trouble.
(01:28) There were three school teachers, one took the children aged 5-6, another the 7-9 year olds and the headmaster took those aged 9-14. The headmaster was Bill Geld, who retired in 1925. He was a 'grand chap' and only used the cane when it was deserved
(02:02) The bell was rung and if you were not there in 10 seconds, you were late. There were two other teachers; one came with the evacuees from Sunderland. There were quite a lot of children in school at this time
(02:15) They learnt arithmetic; the most advanced being multiplication sums. At least they could add up their wages. They also learned to read and had history and geography lessons
6. Church and Chapel
Going to church and chapel and some of the main events of the year
(00:01) On Sunday you went to church twice, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Then you went to chapel in the evening
(00:20) In general the Squire and farmers went to church, the tailors and shopkeepers went to the Wesleyan Chapel but the farm men went to the Primitive Chapel. The Primitive Chapel was up The Walk and opposite the cottages. It was big enough to hold about sixty people, with a stove, an organ, a pulpit and a confessional rail in front of the pulpit. Occasionally Evangelists came on Sunday nights and a lot of single men from the farms attended the meetings
(01:45) Children didn't get many new clothes, but if you got a new suit you'd wear it at the Anniversary, which was in May. The boys would wear lily of the valley in their buttonholes; it was quite an occasion. Sunday school children would learn recitations and all the family would come to listen; aunts, uncles, mothers and fathers, all proud of their children
(02:29) A woman remembers people were very poor at this time; she used to take soup to the cottages
(02:52) Doctor's bills were a problem for families. If a child was ill the doctor was sent for, but if adults were unwell the doctor wasn't necessarily called. Most of the villagers paid a penny or two a week into a club and then if anyone fell on hard times they'd get a bit of money out of the club to help them. They used to meet regularly in a club room at the Star Inn. They used a room that was later converted into the bedrooms. On Saturday nights they used to hold 6d hops, where someone would play the melodeon; 6d for a dance or 1 shilling for a dance and ham sandwich
(04:22) They celebrated the Club Feast, when Corrigan's came with their steam horses, swings, coconut shies and hoopla stalls. It was an exciting day for the children, who would be able to see the arrival of the engine with its smoking chimney, from the classroom. Corrigan's arrived on Friday; then on Saturday morning the older children went to help put up the stalls and stands. They were rewarded with free rides on the steam horses on Saturday night. It became known as the Dalton Feast and was held on the school field, with Monday being the main day.
(05:25) The main event of the year was the outing to Bridlington. Four or five East Yorkshire double decker buses transported children and families. They sometimes didn't know whether they could go until the last minute. Don Grantham drove the first bus and Mr Baker was another driver. They'd all cheer when they first saw the sea. They didn't know where Bridlington was and would start looking for the sea as soon as they left Driffield, often confusing it with the sky
7. Farm work
Discussions between men and women about their different roles on the farm
(00:01) Tractors and combine harvesters were unknown on the farms. There were five horses with beautiful brass martingales, polished for Martinmass
(00:31) The horses were called Duke, Boxer, Smart, Rosie and Cobby and the bullock was called Royal
(00:41) If a man was looking for work, he would stand in the market where the farm foremen would look out for men to engage for the following year. They would get 10 days to a fortnight off. The hiring market at Driffield was on Thursday. About a month before Martinmass, decent workers were approached to see if they would work for another year and if it wasn't a good place they would refuse. If they accepted the job they were given a couple of bob in hand as a fastening penny?, they were then fastened for twelve months at so much a week; they got paid the following Martinmass
(02:00) Foremen would take in single men and board them, especially the horse lads, so that they were always available first thing in the morning. It was called 'hinding'. At one time all the labourers would live in for a month around harvest as part of their agreement. The men learnt which were the best farms with a good 'meat house', good food
(02:50) The daughter of a local farmer explains that there were normally twelve men at the farm, but sometimes they housed up to eighteen. They slept in one room with six double beds. The kitchen table was twenty four feet long
(03:00) Two men talk about their sleeping arrangements. One man slept with a 'little piggy bloke' (Turner or Tenner) and the other slept with [Joe] who was nearly always drunk
(03:45) Women were up at 5am, they black leaded the fireside and then put three eight pint kettles on the fire made with kindling. Breakfast was at 7am while the women went to make the beds. After breakfast they would come down, do the washing up and start to prepare the dinner
(04:15) The lads would get up early for the horses, the farmer's wife would use the poker on the ceiling to wake them up at about 6am
(04:33) There were no casters on the double beds, so there were tramlines where they'd been pulled across the floor. Lady Prin-Smith? decided this was 'disgusting' and bought single beds. She also bought white towels with different coloured borders; two for each man. Each one had to last a week by which time they were very dirty. There were no mats beside the bed, only sacks
(05:08) Women had to be up early, as they had the kettles to boil and to light the fire for the men coming in for breakfast. They used oil lamps or just the fire light
(05:34) 1927-28 The men would get up at 6am, or earlier if it was harvest. They would go down stairs, their boots were at the bottom but they had no time to lace them. There was no electricity, so they used a stable lamp when they went to feed and muck out the horses. The horses would then be taken to the pond for a drink. The foreman called them for breakfast and at seven they started work again
(06:33) Breakfast was cold meat, pie and bread and butter. Each man had a dinner plate and a pudding plate with a mug; originally they had basins
(06:50) One of the worst jobs for the young stable lads was putting collars on the horses. It was awkward because the boys weren't very big and the collars were large, shaped wider at the bottom. The head of the horse was shaped the other way, so they had to be put on upside down and turned over. Some horses would bite
(07:32) The women used a twelve inch pan and two steamers on the fire, the bottom one would have turnips and the two top ones potatoes. There were no electric ovens or lights
(07:53) Young stable lads got the worst horses, really old ones, whose fetlocks itched when the traces touched their legs, so the horses would start kicking and the traces would fall off. The first day of ploughing was exciting for a young lad, it was a nice easy job once you got used to it
(9:10) At tea time the men would have bacon cake and big apple, plum and prune and raisin pies; cut into 4 or 6. If there was cold meat, roast beef or ham, it would be eaten with bread and butter. Sometimes they'd boil two dozen eggs
(9:40) Women would occasionally go out to work. One man's mother went 'digging dockings'. A two-tined fork, a docking prod, was used. It had a step for your foot, so the dockings could be dug out. Women also went gleaning at harvest, gathering corn for chicken feed. This was called 'loaking'
(10:12) The blacksmith biked from Driffield every week and would come for dinner at the farm. Lunches were also provided for the shepherd, Ernest Body, when he was working with the sheep
(10:26) The sheep were clipped by hand. Hundreds were clipped; it was hard work, but very satisfying. You could clip about forty a day, but sharpening the shears slowed the work. At one time the sheep would be washed, so they were warm and greasy and then the shears would run well and cut cleanly. Sheep weren't usually clipped in cold weather as the shears wouldn't run. If the sheep were laid comfortably; the first side could be clipped and you could reach over so there wasn't much left to shear on the other side and you could then move quickly on to the next. It was a difficult job for older men. Younger men were coming up who could do all types of work including driving tractors, so the older men were left without jobs; they weren't as flexible, as they hadn't had experince with tractors and machinery
(12:15) One man went to work with cows, he used to take them up Huggate Road. One day he was bringing the cows back and was being followed by a car, beeping his horn. The cow stopped so the car pulled up and the cow sat on the bonnet
(12:45) Quite a few people had cows, including Harry Toulson. In fact some people had cows that didn't have any grass. They employed a lad to look after them during the day. He would take them to the pond for a drink and then drive them up Huggate Road. He'd make sure they didn't go through any open gates and brought them back at about 4pm. The 'lad' was generally about 65 years old
(13:39) At harvest the women had to provide a hundred lunches a day, fifty in the morning and fifty in the afternoon. They'd make cheesecake or ground rice. The woman's mother used to bake all harvest as well as carry on with her other work. She made bacon cake every morning for lunch, then in the afternoon there would be jam and ground rice, curd or fruit pie. Two dozen lemonade bottles were filled with tea to take into the fields and cans for the yard. There were also 300 chickens to be fed three times a day
(14:22) Sometimes Irish labour was used and later prisoners were provided; Italians and Germans. The German prisoners were good workers. One seventeen year old had been taken prisoner at the front. He was a good lad, could have been a mate, in fact he was better than some of the men they normally worked with. The prisoners were brought by truck and were swapped about regularly; they never stayed long in one place. At the farm her mother was told not to give the prisoners anything, but to make them work. Her mother used to remark 'but they're someone's kids'
8. Wartime
Reminiscences about the effect of the Second World War on the village; the bombs, evacuees, soldiers and prisoners of war
(00:01) Fifteen people were boarded, for many weeks, at one house.
They included evacuees and service wives after the aerodrome was bombed
(00:34) According to one man, war was fun; boys had no fear at eight or nine years old. An air raid siren was set up in school by the headmaster, Mr Freer. If it went off, the children were sent home and they could see the German planes flying over. It would probably have been safer to keep them in school
(01:03) During one night, bombs were dropped across the fields and a landmine exploded at Tithe Farm, not far from the farm house. That field is still called bomb hole. The search lights and anti aircraft guns at Haywell? were also strafed on the same night
(01:27) All the boys choose a plane to call their own; sometimes they only saw them once. Mr Atkinson, an RAF pilot, would fly low and they would wave
(01:55) The sky was often black with bombers. One evening at about 15:30, a man heard a plane crash about a mile away from his house. It fell in the field at the left hand side of Middleton Road. He was in the Home Guard so he decided to take a look. He got to about fifty yards from the site, but the rescue force had already arrived and they wouldn't let him get any nearer. He remembers seeing a number of fur lined flying boots lying on the ground. Five people were killed and were buried at Stanford Bridge. A woman represented the village and took flowers to the funeral. The man also remembers that he only spent one night in their air raid shelter, which was in the garden. It was a big hole with a chicken shed inside, covered in chalk and with seats to sleep on. There were a lot of incendiaries and land mines near Tithe Farm
(04:25) The grandfather of one family bought farms in the West Riding so they would be safe. Three children were sent with their nanny to stay for six months
(04:45) The Army Services Corps came to the village from Dunkirk. Soldiers arrived in furniture vans, bits and pieces of regiments. Arrivals also included bren gun carriers. At a later date Northhants Yeoman arrived with big Centaur tanks
(05:33) Because an invasion of the East Coast was expected, people built trenches in their gardens and put beds in their cellars. Leaflets were dropped in the fields
(06:06) Buildings down by Tithe Farm and past the village hall up to the cemetery were requisitioned. The top floor housed beds and the bottom floor stores with cooking facilities
(06:25) Carr Lodge was the officer's headquarters. Soldiers were billeted in other places and everywhere was full. Fields had tents, cowsheds had cook houses and the lanes were full of tanks and bren gun carriers. Ramps were built to enable the tanks and carriers to be washed in the pond
(07:20) The NAAFI canteen was run by local women, they made sandwiches. The soldiers in the village joined in with local activities; tennis and football. Highlanders in kilts would pipe in players
(08:43) The pub became very noisy with soldiers playing the piano and singing. It was difficult to sleep at night with all the shouting and fighting. Some of the doors are still cracked where they were hit in brawls
(09:10) The pond was a shooting range where a 25 pounder would shoot at a target, so the Walk was closed
(09:44) There were about 20 Home Guards in the village. They were issued with uniforms, rifles and ammunition and were trained by regulars. They went on courses and practised at the shooting range. They would go out on patrol at 4 or 5 o'clock in the morning, in case there were any landing craft
(10:30) Farmers were paid for wasted crops because it was a big training area. The tanks were heavy and noisy and rattled along the main road. The eastern end of the church was damaged because of the tank movements. The stained glass windows fell out and the glass shattered. Much of the glass was retrieved and glaziers from the Minster put the windows back
(11:52) Home Guards on patrol towards Summit? saw a long line of flame along the skyline after an air raid on Hull
(12:30) Evacuees came from Sunderland and Hull. Miss Powell a Scottish teacher came with them. Two evacuees were housed with one of the women and they came with labels and gas masks. She also billeted a number of army people
(13:18) There were a number of Free French in the village (General de Gaulle's supporters). After France was overrun by the Germans the French people in Britain formed the Free French Army to help the allies to retake France. They lived very well and had bat men acting as their servants. They sent delicious food to the Manor
(14:26) One soldier was said to be signalling the Germans and he either committed suicide or was shot. People wondered what the next day would bring
(14:50) After the war village life had altered completely. Life on the farms changed; tractors took over from horses, combines took the place of reapers, so not as many men were needed. Large shops opened in big places like York and Hull. These then spread to smaller towns like Beverley and Driffield. Goods were bought in bulk so they could be sold cheaper than in local shops, hence the demise of village stores. Gradually the local shops closed, the last one to do so was the Post Office. The two blacksmiths went out of business because of the introduction of tractors, so there were no horses to shoe and wagon wheels were no longer made. Cobblers disappeared as men no longer needed hob nail boots. Boots were cheaper to buy so they didn't need mending. Tailors were trying to compete with 50 shilling tailors, a suit could be bought for £2.10p. Local tailors just couldn't compete
(17:05) People worked together and understood their fellow men, but nowadays they don't seem to care about their neighbours. Thinking about the past has brought back a lot of humour, but perhaps people would think it was a hard life. A final comment from one of the speakers is that he is happy to live in Dalton, he loves it, finds it sociable and has good neighbours.
The disc finishes with another excerpt from the folk song about 'jolly fellows that follow the plough'.
Public access copy available in Audio-Visual Room.
