| Description | An interview with Olive PALSER, a widow woman with two sons, two daughters, who is a retired dinner-lady & foster-parent, born in Smethwick and now living in Solihull. Olive PALSER’s father was a Worked in butchers shop, born in England and her mother a Housewife/nursery school teacher born in England. In the interview, she talks about …
'OLIVE PALSER MS2255/2/130 Logged by Lorraine Blakemore
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My name is Olive Palser and I was born in 1920 in Bearwood….and lived there until I was 5 years of age, then we moved to Birmingham. Father worked at John Morgan Butchers in Digbeth, known as the ‘Sausage King’.
1.06 Kept an allotment after moving to Birmingham. Large garden.
2.16 Mother trained as a tailor in Suffolk Street.
2.59 Not allowed to play in the street like other children. Lists some activities participated in: library at Alum Rock, swimming baths at Saltley. Public transport was inconvenient, so the family walked.
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Describes the topographical changes in the area of what is now Heartlands Hospital.
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Variety of neighbours.
45” Olive passed 11+ and went to grammar school, whereas most of the children in the area could not aspire to this.
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I didn’t actually start school until I was 7 because the school wasn’t built….Austin Road School… Returned home at lunchtime.
2.10 Attended George Dixon School….
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Managed to afford grammar school through a combination of a small grant and her mother’s cleaning job.
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Bought books second-hand from a shop in Holloway Head.
21” I left school at 16 and went to do a shorthand and typing course in Queen’s Street…. Olive dreamed of becoming a nursery nurse.
1.08 I got a job with H. Samuel, the jewellers in Hockley in 1938….but I never did any shorthand…I got a job with The Co-Op in High Street and I worked for what they called their ‘education dept.’ and I worked there until the war.
1.50 Joined the land army and after the war returned to office job until 1947.
2.22 Describes working in the land army.
3.55 Felt strongly about the futility of war.
4.24 I was, from the age of 13, a member of the Woodcraft Folk….
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When we moved to Bordesley Green East….there was nothing for anybody to do, no shops, no cinemas…. And my mother met a woman who wanted to run a woman’s guild…They opened…in Alston School once a week….Describes some of the activities.
2.30 Background to joining The Woodcraft Folk.
3.31 Mother opened a group in 1933 and I am now the oldest member in Birmingham….
4.05 Began by meeting in Peace House but too far to travel. Encompassed singing, dancing, games and talks.
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Family have carried on the tradition of Woodcraft groups.
47” Believed that grandmother had a strong influence over her mother and her ideals.
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I went to George Dixon School in 1932…
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Describes the school and the environment.
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Story about meeting her husband.
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Continued.
25” Married in 1944. First daughter in 1947.
55” Husband became more involved in Woodcraft Folk than Olive. He did not have the kind of education experienced by Olive but retrained after the war as a teacher.
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Describes difficulty of coping with 2 small children whilst husband was training in Norfolk.
1.32 Lived in Stechford during the early years in a rented house. Story about securing the tenancy.
4.10 Husband looked after the children on Saturday whilst Olive worked.
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I worked in a furniture hardware shop on Coventry Road, Small Heath….
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Moved to Solihull in about 1960. Youngest daughter born in 1963 when Olive was 43 years old.
1.02 Eldest daughter passed 11+ exam. All the children attended schools in Solihull.
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Still feels that she is more connected to Birmingham than Solihull.
32” Joined a history group at the BMI and a dance group.
2.05 We had to leave the schools. The Woodcraft Folk had to find somewhere else to meet. The council closed schools, the lettings at night….Somebody said to me there’s a meeting place at the church…
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Minister’s wife opened a ladies group.
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Sent to Sunday school as a child. Anecdote about eating on the way there. Describes the activities.
2.35 Husband didn’t have strong religious beliefs.
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Moved to a Methodist Church in Acock’s Green. Experienced a lot of support from the church.
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How the Co-Op improved the services for people in the area.
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Memories of attending operas as a child.
Public Speakers.
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I can remember when we had to work hard for every penny to buy a tent….We were not accepted as a youth movement by the Co-Op at the time…my mum used to canvas for the Woodcraft Group… The group remained autonomous but enjoyed support from the Co-Op.
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Highlights differences in rents amongst the groups.
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I worked until my first baby was born…and we talked about what I should do…Both my husband and I thought a mother should be with her children and I became a housewife…
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Details son’s illness. Attended speech therapy.
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Considered fostering a child as a companion for her youngest daughter.
The authorities supplied a little boy and he was black…and this is Solihull. You can imagine what we went through, even with the police. Every time they wanted somebody they would come to my door and ask me. They saw him one day in Acock’s Green…he went to a school in Birmingham and they’d got the day off, but Solihull children hadn’t. The police car stopped, picked him up and brought him back, asking me why he was here. I’ve had lots of problems…. because he was picked up innocently….
2.01 Returned to the home in Stechford a couple of times due to difficulties.
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Her foster child experienced an attack in a white area of Stratford Road.
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First foster child was a girl whose mother was Irish. She remained there until age 3.
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Story about minding the baby of a work colleague until she was pregnant with her own child.
1.15 Had to specify on the fostering application form whether or not there was any objection to the child being non-white.
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Changes to Birmingham City Centre. Thinks that certain buildings do not blend in with the surroundings.
1.11 I find that, personally, the people have changed a lot with the buildings…Explains why.
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Continued.
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In the 70s when the children were growing up….Details her time working as a dinner lady/supervisor for 11 years.
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Continued.
ENDS. |