| Description | An interview with Ralph ALLCOCK, a married man with one son, one daughter, who is a retiredbuilder, baker, Merchant Navy, born in Birmingham and now living in Halesowen. Ralph ALLCOCK’s father was a Wholesale market salesman, born in England and his mother a Housewife, cook, factory worker born in England. In the interview, he talks about:
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I was born in the early 1920s at Dudley Road Hospital. Father worked at Birmingham Wholesale fruit and veg. Market, died of TB the year Ralph was born. Mother just 18. Grew up in Smethwick at grandmother’s home. Mother remarried and they returned to Birmingham. In 1924 left the house due to rent payment problem and moved back to Smethwick.
1.55 Description of house.
2.25 Story about stepfather’s accident at work. Ward sister came up and said, "this is not a charitable institution, if you can’t afford to pay for the treatment you will have to go to Dudley Road where there are charitable wards” Mother had a hospital card. Stepfather caught pneumonia in hospital. Mother short of money so regularly used pawn shops.
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Description of pawn shops.
1.08 Mother hit upon the idea of applying for what was known as the ‘Parish’… but not eligible. Went to tribunal, means tested. The first thing they ask her, ”are you married?” “yes”. “Well you’ve got no wedding ring”. And mother said, “I’ve had to pawn it in order to feed the family”. Continues story about preparing for the means test visit.
3.47 “Your son’s academic studies are not very good so therefore he can go to work”…. Chairman had a factory. 54 ½ hours p.w. for 9 shillings for a 13/14 year old. But mother got him a job at bakery.
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Story about making overalls for new job and description of duties.
1.30 In those days punishing children was no problem. Tells of caning at school. Punishment at work was also widespread in the 30s.
2.19 Anecdote about lunch times at school. Some children were without shoes. One of the generous people in those days was the Birmingham Mail, and they used to provide you with what they called the ‘Mail boots’….
4.19 The bakery was called ‘Rags’… also partly a public house. About 20 people worked there. By 1939 also sold horse manure to earn more money.
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Description of cooking Christmas dinner for other people.
1.39 Description of grandmother’s house on the 1900s and the sanitary conditions.
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Description of the house he grew up in. Two up, two down.
56” Story about helping to deliver younger siblings. Because we couldn’t afford to buy cribs and prams and things, we put them in the bottom drawer of the chest of drawers…
2.30 Father came out of hospital. Mother trained as a personal maid but grandmother forced her to return home.
3.30 Story about grandmother queuing for a dyecasting job at William Mills.
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Continues anecdote about the dyecasting job.
4.00 Neighbours used to look after the children (6d. per day). Policeman patrolled the streets.
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Started at Barford Road School. Explains the confusion at school re: surname. Bored at school. Poor health. Barely literate.
4.13 Story about living with grandparents. Grandfather liked to go to watch football. Saw wife in pub, carried her home to cook his dinner.
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Continues story.
1.40 Explains how he came to be in a much younger class at school.
2.39 Reveals Jewish ancestry.
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Story about grandmother declining to move to the States along with her relatives.
4.50 Story about accompanying grandmother to the Bull Ring.
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24” Introduces the ‘Birmingham National Anthem’:
“We’re just a bunch of Birmingham lads that’s all we are, we are.
We work 12 hours a day, and sing the rest away.
Victoria’s happy and glorious, one beer between the four of us.
[continues]
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Anecdote about being recruited for the Merchant Navy.
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3.43 After I finished in the Merchant Navy I was 27…about 1956. I come home and started working at Avery’s as a cook and baker…. Went to nightschool to learn bricklaying (City and Guilds).
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Story about booking a passage to Australia. Needed to wait 6 months. During that time met his wife. Decided against going to Australia.
1.12 Married, went to live in Wales for 3 years running a public house. Returned to Birmingham and had children
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Started bricklaying by going to Crocketts Lane Technical School.
Worked on Aston University site.
4.22 Took a City and Guilds course in cooking. Then went to work for Trusthouse Forte at Birmingham Airport.
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25” Story about self-build scheme.
1.37 Met wife at dance in Hill Street.
2.41 Children and their academic achievements.
4.20 My education was improved by the Communist Party of Great Britain.
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Opinion on Communist Party. [Historical account needs checking.]
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Continues to discuss reasons for joining the Communist Party.
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More about the Communist Party. Formed the Worker’s Brigade in Digbeth.
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I am still a member of the British Communist Party. I pay my dues once a year.
25” Wife is a Conservative. Formerly a secretary of the Young Conservatives Group.
1.37 Christian beliefs. I do believe in a divine spirit…
4.03 Quotes from Gallileo (not directly).
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33” Anecdote about Uncle Joseph and the pawned waistcoat.
2.45 I believe in absolute socialism. Now when I say that I don’t believe in socialism with a free hand… opinion on social security and national health.
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Feels degraded claiming old age pension. Also claims disability allowance. Suffers from diabetes.
4.20 I think that any form of give away or charity is used mainly to destroy people.
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Became a market trader in the 1970s. (Dates need checking.)
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Describes the changes in Birmingham City centre.
4.21 A city like Birmingham that has always been an industrial city needs development, ideas. And you can only get new ideas if you’ve got new people coming in. The people that come in first may not be able to speak English, but the children are going to speak English, and the grandchildren… and they are going to have ideas from their cultures, and we can use them in industry.
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37” Immigrants are very important to any city that’s developing, or wants to develop, to go forward, and I think that’s why Birmingham seems to encourage immigrants…
1.53 Don’t want to live in their pocket, don’t want to marry their daughters, but, as far as I’m concerned, I don’t have to get upset about it.
2.44 I’ve been married 42 years to my wife and I’ve made her life a misery from time to time, but I’ve got a wonderful wife and I love her to bits….. She was earning twice the amount of money I was, but in those days the woman didn’t go to work, the man did….
4.06 Anecdote about daughter’s reaction to his beliefs.
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Acknowledges how difficult it was for the women working in his family.
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Opinion that conditions for women haven’t changed enough over the years.
Pro- abortion.
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Views on entertainment. Loves theatre, ballet and music.
Views on sport.
3.20 Views on the monarchy.
ENDS
Logged by Lorraine Blakemore |