| Description | Interview with Mr and Mrs Hancocks.
Mr Hancocks talks about working on a poultry farm during the early 1930s, his enjoyment of living in the sighted world, but also recognising that he was meeting barriers. He discusses the difficulties he had in changing his career, training as a basket maker where he was back in an environment with other blind people, and re-training as a home teacher despite opposition from members of the (welfare) committee. He describes the support he received from his wife and explains how the advice and guidance he gives to his pupils differs according to individual financial and personal circumstances, commenting that their reaction towards him is usually better when he tells them that he is blind, and describes how he establishes a relationship with his pupils (tracks 1-3).
Mrs Hancocks talks about the female experience of being blind, and explain that the basis on which people with visual impairments fall in love with each other is based more on the sound of people's voices and physical interaction. Mr Hancocks joins the conversation to talk about the sound of his wife's voice and detecting the warmth of her personality when they met at choir practice. He remembers having conversations with schoolfriends about how they assessed the beauty of their girlfriends. Mrs Hancocks thinks it is easier for blind boys to meet girls than for girls to meet boys, and Mr Hancocks thinks that blind girls working as typists or telephonists, out of sheltered employment, should pay more attention to their appearances, and Mrs Hancocks talks about having to give up her singing broadcasts on the outbreak of the Second World War. She talks about getting her guide dog and the difference this has made to her mobility and social life (tracks 4-8).
Track 9: silence 12.13 mins
Total: 34.27 mins
Dubber's reference number: PLA KF565D1000480 |