| Description | An interview with Harry REEVES, a married man with two daughters, who is a Retired primary school teacher, born in Farnborough and now living in Birmingham. Harry REEVES’s father was a Sheet metal worker, born in England and his mother a Glove maker born in England. In the interview, he talks about …
'HARRY REEVES MS2255/2/071 Logged by Lorraine Blakemore
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I was not actually born in Birmingham….Parents were Birmingham people. I was born in 1918….in Hampshire….
56” Considers himself working class. Father was a skilled craftsman.
1.22 In 1934 father bought his own house….in Hall Green….we resided there until I was called up in the forces in 1939…
2.05 I went to Forman’s Road Junior School….I passed the 11+….and went to Yardley Grammar School….Because I’d gone to a grammar school dad decided that I wasn’t going to go to work in a factory…..Harry applied to the Municipal Bank for a job but was turned down.
3.13 Worked at a furnishing firm called Chamberlain, King & Jones. Story about being conscripted during the war.
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Continued story.
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Story about returning to England during the war.
49” Story about meeting his wife and getting married in 1944.
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Stationed in Holland after the war.
1.30 Sent to regimental training school to teach English and maths. Demobbed in 1946.
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Wife suggested that Harry become a teacher.
48” Trained at an emergency teacher training college in Staffordshire.
1.27 Daughter born in 1946.
2.03 Describes the training course.
2.55 At the end of 1947 or 48 I was accepted for a teaching post in Yardley Wood School and I stayed there until the 1960s, mainly teaching juniors…discipline was stronger….you could give them a slap if necessary….It’s been unfortunate that teachers have lost a lot of respect now…To my mind the ideal number for a class is about 25….I always had a good relationship with the children and the parents…
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Describes extra-curricular sports teaching.
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Inherited love of running from father. Details some of his achievements. Joined Birchfield Harriers.
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Continues to list running achievements.
55” Underwent hip surgery in 1993.
1.47 A lot of teachers who weren’t trained PE teachers….helped out at athletics and rugby and cricket….It was always on the school curriculum….
3.26 Building of a new stadium in Perry Barr.
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Nowadays, of course, with the sponsorship and the payments, they have got far more facilities….it’s gone too far the other way….resort to the use of drugs to be the top ones…they get so much publicity….We sucked glucose tablets, it’s about the only sustenance we got…It worries me with the steroids….We all trained together, we ran together….Nowadays they train, individual coaches….Possibly we got more out of it…
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In the late 40s-early 50s when I started teaching, any teacher….would help to run the football team or the soccer team….I did train the Yardley team…There weren’t many men on the staff…
3.24 I became secretary of the South Birmingham Schools’ Sports Association….Colebank Road was our main centre…Nowadays the children are getting more coaching….
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With the advent of television, concerts and pop…the urge to kick a ball around has gone to some extent…
30” Moved to Aston when 3 years old. Remembers visiting Aston Villa Football ground.
2.33 Joined Warwick Cricket Club on retirement.
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Details some of the changes in teaching during his career.
I taught in Yardley Wood from 1948….to the 60s. I was a member of the PTA….by and large the parents backed you up…Anecdote about a troublesome pupil who was disciplined.
3.29 In 1965 when we moved up to where we are in West Heath, I applied…Colmer’s Farm School….Taught environmental studies.
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How the subjects were divided amongst the teaching staff.
2.07 Left teaching at age of 61.
3.00 I was pleased when non-streaming came in….we had one teacher who always took the 11+ class…If I got any of mine through it was lucky….A lot of the children did feel inferior….those whose IQs were really low in the C Stream really did feel out of it…..I must admit I’ve met many children since I finished teaching…many of those who made grammar school haven’t done so well in life, but others have started their own businesses….
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When I first started teaching in 1948…from 35 children, if you had one or two where the parents had separated or divorced…that was the exception. When I left teaching in 1980…it was probably about one in five…Anecdote about comforting a female pupil whose parents had separated.
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Details his interest in the River Rea and its history.
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Continued.
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Mentions Waseley Country Park.
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About 20 years ago….my wife and I got interested in the Urban Wildlife Trust….
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I well remember Birmingham before the war….As a youngster I was fascinated by this lurid sky….like Dante’s Inferno….mid to late 30s, it really was the Black Country….But now, in all my years in Birmingham I’ve never seen so many tourists….
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Apart from the early years we did live on the outskirts of Birmingham….Describes taking the children to King’s Norton Park.
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Story about being warned not to smoke as a young boy.
1.15 Details physical activities and exercise taken.
Community groups attended
4.31 Labour supporter.
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Political views.
1.00 Religious views.
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I’m not against immigration. Perhaps it ought to be limited to some extent….I like to see different nationalities coming into the country. It’s added to the culture of Birmingham. We’ve been to a number of festivals….temples, mosques….I didn’t teach many children from ethnic backgrounds….It’s a pity they live in certain areas and don’t integrate as much…I always get very upset if I’m at a sporting match and there’s booing and barracking of particularly black players. It doesn’t happen as much now, but it was very rife in football at one time….in the 60s and 70s…
2.50 Unfortunately, many people…particularly our age group in their 80s just cannot stand having any black people living near them and speaking to them….
ENDS. |