| Description | An interview with Desmond HUGHES, a married man with two sons, three daughters, who is a retired Foundry manager/pubs/security, born in Ireland and now living in Birmingham. Desmond HUGHES’s father was a Commercial traveller, born in Northern Ireland and his mother a Housewife born in Ireland. In the interview, he talks about …
'Desmond Hughes M52255/2/135 Logged by Helen Butcher
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“I was born in 1935, the north side of Dublin.” Father was a commercial traveller, mother was a housewife. 1 of 9 children.
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Description of his house. Sleeping arrangements.
Brought up as a Roman Catholic.
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Talks about Christian Brothers. Very cruel.
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Talks about the area where he used to live. And more about his house.
1:14 grew their own vegetables in the garden.
Father was alcoholic.
4:14 vague memories of the Second World War.
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Talks about the death of his two brothers. One from TB, the other from drowning.
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Left school at 14. Talks about first job. General office boy.
1951 family moved to England to live with sister.
3:16 the problems of moving to England, how they were treated by the English.
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Talks about the Irish social life in Birmingham. Dance halls. The Albert Hall, Witton Road, Witton Drill Hall, St Teresa’s.
1:25 found it very strange that everything finished at 11 o’clock.
Talks about the smog he experienced in Birmingham.
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Talks more about the Albert Hall. Slow dances.
1:28 Talks about finding ways to bet.
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Dancing in the city centre. The Shamrock in Hurst Street, The West End.
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Dance halls had no bars, men got drunk before they arrived.
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First job in England. A clerk in a water-fitting company. Stayed there for about 6 months. Got a job as a bus conductor on the trams.
1:52 Went to live in London. Got a job in market as a dispatch clerk. Stayed there for 18 months then moved back to Birmingham.
2:17 met his wife in Tony’s Bar in Hurst Street.
3:39 Went to do 2 years national service in the Royal Army Medical Core.
Parents had returned to Ireland, he continued to live with his sister.
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Married in 1958. Went to live with his wife’s parents. Went to work at a place called Bromford's Tubes. Explains his job.
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Boom period. Problems having his hours cut at work. Went for a job as a clerk at the railway. Wife fell pregnant. Bought a house in Fredrick Road, Aston. Then moved back to live with wife’s parents. When the baby was born they moved back to Aston and stayed there for about 3 years. Then decided to move to Sparkbrook, Eton Road. Then moved again as the family got bigger to a house in Sparkhill where they have stayed ever since. Moved to work in a factory 1963-1967. Discusses what work he had to do at the factory.
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Moved on to another company James Barwell in Great Hampton Street. Taken over by Delta Metal
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Became member of the trade union. Discusses what actions he took as member.
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Changed unions.
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70’s. Company was becoming bigger and taking over the smaller companies. Talks about the closing down of his factory.
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Decided to start running pubs. Moved to live at the pub. First pub was The General Woolf on the Aston University Campus.
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The pub was knocked down. They moved to another pub in Meridian Street. Talks about UB40 coming into the pub.
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Ran the pub from about 1983-1990. Offered a pub called The Fighting Cocks in Moseley. Talks about the problems they had in the pub.
1:22 Moved to another pub, The Hiker, in Chelmsley Wood. Turned out to be a bad pub. Finished working in the pub trade in 1991.
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He got a job as a cleaner with his wife. Then went on to do library security. Talks about that.
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Talks about the changes in society he saw.
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Continues talking about the changes.
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Talks about how the area where he lives used to be mostly Irish it then started to become multi-cultural.
Talks about what his children are doing.
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Talks about the Birmingham bombings. They were ignored at work people didn’t treat them the same.
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More about how they were treated after the Birmingham bombings.
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Talks about his job on the tram.
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Continues talking about the trams.
ENDS |