| Description | An interview with Patricia TANNER, a widow woman with three sons, who is a Book-keeping & secretarial services, born in Birmingham and now living in Birmingham. Patricia TANNER’s father was a Press operator, born in England and her mother a Shop-keeper born in England. In the interview, she talks about …
'MS2255/2/078 TANNER, Patricia Logged by Lorraine Blakemore
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I was born on the 3rd April 1934…I was born Patricia May Higgins….I was born in Florence Road in Kings Heath. Parents were quite old when Patricia was born. They were entrepreneurs, had numerous shops. In 1938 they moved to Coplow Street in Brookfields where they opened a fish and chip shop.
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Describes the area the family lived in. Across the road from the fish and chip shop was a pawn shop….Remembers the war.
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Father worked at BSA. Anecdote about factory being bombed.
1.18 In 1939,45,50, there weren’t many cars around, so my mum, she used to have to go to the fish market with a barrow made of wicker….
Memories of food eaten.
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Long working day for parents at shop.
1.17 Story about family Christmas.
2.51 On a Sunday evening ,because there was no TV in those days, our relaxation was to go to the cinema…..Anecdote about visiting the cinema.
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Parents very disciplined.
1.24 Attended Sunday school. Won many volumes because of good attendance. Parents were Baptists who met at church.
3.12 Day trips out of Birmingham.
4.00 Around about the time the war ended…my father bought a car….we graduated from going to Rhyl and Weston to going to Isle of Wight. I do remember taking one of my best friends with me….sat in the boot to go to the Isle of Wight….
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Memories of the end of the war. Street parties.
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Thinking how natural it is to have a freezer these days…..in the 1940s you had a cold slab and a bit of a lean-to where she prepared the fish…..
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Sent to dancing school as a child. Story about attending a particular school in Station Street.
3.52 If I have one thing I regret in my life was giving up dancing when I was 17-18…..
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Description of the dance teacher.
Father developed cancer and died in 1951.
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Sent to the local primary school in Elkington Street.
Still keeps in touch with friends from school.
2.04 I do remember our playgrounds….being segregated…..we never had sex education in those days….I was very naïve…..
3.01 Importance of debating at school.
3.54 I left when I was 15 years of age and walked straightaway into a job…
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That was April 1949 when I left school….and I went into a little office of a factory….learning secretarial and bookkeeping skills…..
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Describes the factory and the office.
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Parents had to recognise that I did have a life outside my home….we had a friendship at school where there were 10 girls. We called ourselves the ‘anchor gang’….
1.29 There was one particular boy who was quite keen on me….he used to go to Summer Lane School as well…..Describes the dances attended.
3.37 We’d also go in groups and when I think about groups of children these days, you feel quite threatened …..Story about the Monkey Run.
4.37 My serious boyfriend was, of course, eventually my husband, was introduced to me by my sister-in-law….Story about how she met her husband.
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Continues story.
2.16 John had to do his National Service in 1955-57…..he was very interested in motorbikes…..Story about John’s experiences in Bermuda.
4.04 We had to live for a while with my mum because we hadn’t got a great deal of money….we were married in 1957, I was 23….
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Discusses courting.
First of all I had this young man who was quite interested in me… lack of knowledge of sex education….but our relationship did break up simply because I wouldn’t have sex with him…..I felt as though I was going to get pregnant simply because he kissed me….I thank God for my husband….he was so patient with me…..
2.52 Our first child was born in August, 11 months later in 1958….
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Left work after child was born.
1.10 That was a bit of a strain really because, I suppose had we thought to, or had we been more knowledgeable, we may have postponed having children until we’d got our own house….
1.36 Describes the medical condition her child suffered from.
4.05 In 1959, my mum met somebody in the market who rented out houses….in Handsworth….it was a very old house…
Describes the property.
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Continues to describe the property and home improvements.
1.30 In 1961 my second son was born….
2.59 All our friends were of the motorcycle fraternity…..John did sidecar racing….Regretfully in 1963, they were racing in Mallory Park….when the bike seized….and broke his spine…..
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I always went racing with John….Describes their lifestyle.
Elaborates on the day of the accident and the medical care he received.
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He came home from hospital in September 1963…..and in those days, people looked on disabled people as a little bit funny, if you were in the wheelchair you weren’t quite one of us….John used to get very angry that people would talk to me….
1.28 He obviously felt very sorry for himself originally….he needed to feel good about himself and he couldn’t because he didn’t have a job….and there were times when he got very depressed…..then one day he decided….I’m going to go down Soho Road and see my friends….
3.15 Lodgemore (Hospital) said you lead a normal life…so amazingly, can you imagine when I became pregnant for the third time with a man who was paralysed from the waist down….Describes the extent of his disability.
Story about revealing to the hospital that Patricia was pregnant.
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Continues story.
1.00 Discusses financial situation at the time.
1.40 We didn’t have a lot of money at all. John would get sickness benefit, there was no disabled benefit in those days….he did try to get work….people are not going to take the risk with a disabled person….
3.27 Worked at Kings Heath Dog Track part-time.
4.20 When Gary came along we were now in a prefab which was on the level in Moor Lane, Witton…..
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Needed to move to a larger space.
55” We had the house here in Castle Vale, and we moved here in 1969….
1.11 Anecdote about moving to Castle Vale
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In 1969 when we first moved onto Castle Vale it was all very new….
1.11 We are a row of about 10 houses, and only in the last 30 years….has one person moved…..some of us, we purchased our houses…. we bought it in 1978…..now the estate as a whole has got a very bad name….I think the Housing Action Trust are doing a wonderful job with pulling the tower blocks down….
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Now I’m a self-employed book-keeper…I work from home….
Describes how she worked as a young mother.
1.30 Worked for the horse racing board.
2.31 I decided to work as a temp for an agency…in those days it was really quite good….when it came to holidays I could have the time off….
4.12 In 1976 I decided to apply for a job with….Regan Industries…..Story about working at the company.
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34” At that time I decided my skills, although they were a bit rusty, to go to college….I didn’t actually finish the qualifications because I had 3 children….So I settled for the accounts and statistics.
Story about finding a new job in the Jewellry Quarter.
3.07 With a view to knowing that John wouldn’t live to be an old man…I decided to go self-employed….unfortunately that wasn’t to be because…..John actually died in June 1981….
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I’ve been self-employed since 1984. I’ve made a lot of mistakes and I’ve lost a lot of money….but I can be what I want and make the decisions…..
Describes the work.
4.02 Children’s education and careers.
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Continues to describe children’s careers.
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Non-working life. Belongs to a club called The Streetly Solitaire…for single people….I am Chairperson…
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Continues to describe social activities.
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Religious beliefs.
I feel as though there’s always someone there helping me….from experience over the years….I don’t go to church….but I believe there is something….
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I’m very proud of Birmingham…..I actually take into my house every year a student….one of the biggest pleasures I get is taking them out….to Birmingham….
Story about meeting a woman from London debating whether or not to visit Birmingham.
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Dedication to her family.
ENDS |