Did you have a Job?
My mother used to be in Hall Russell’s – shipbuilders – they had to work making the ships because the men were all away at war.
Some of them were in HR’s and some of them were in other places but they had to do the men’s work and they came home at night to look after their families.

So what was your mother’s job?
Now …a plater I think she was; learned to be a plater at that time. They had to weld steel plates on to … - so they had to be learned all this before and they got the jobs … so… it was a hard life at that time. My mother in law was there as well and she had 5 children, so she had to come home and look after 5 children after her days’ work was done.

Were you interested in your mothers work?
Came time - Yes, once I grew old enough to realise – to know.

What School did you go to?
Commerce Street, Hanover Street and Frederick Street and they are still the same today.

What was your favourite pastime?
Elsie: Just playing outside-- beddies and skipping ropes. Beddies was hopscotch-you drew squares and you had a stone and you threw it and you’d to hop—and get further until you were finished… we called it beddies.
Martha: You put a ball into a stockin and thump it up against a wall--lift your leg put it under yer leg. We were outside all the time. We had no television or nothing like that in the house—a radio kept us in reach with the outside world.

Were you evacuated during the war?
No.

Was anyone you knew evacuated?
I had 3 cousins they had to go down--they were taken out to the country—it was like Portsoy- because their father was a coastguard and they were then out there to stay.