| Description | Interview with an unidentified man. He talks about the closure of a distillery and the decline of the dock and his view that this happened because of strikes by Catholic workers, the decoration of the Bogside area for visiting priests and clergy and his view that the murals in the Fountain Street area are religious rather than political (tracks 1-2)
Track 3: Conversation with a young boy nailing a flag to a stick, with sound effects of hammering 1.00 mins
Interview with James Crawford. He talks about some of the landmarks of Derry, his family living in the Fountain Street area of the city since 1912 and his opinions about the redevelopment of the area. He talks about his wife's health, his other sons and daughters, some of whom live and work in England (tracks 4-5).
Track 6: Recording setup 0.14 mins
James Crawford continues to talk about living near Bishop Street, having bottles thrown into his back yard and being disrupted by people playing football and making trouble in the Fountain Street area. He wishes that the police would patrol more the Bishop Gate area more often because people from the Bogside come to the area and are confronted by people from the Fountain Street area. He thinks it is unfair on the older people who live in the area who do not want to be involved in sectarian disputes, and that people generally want to live together in peace. He talks about the memorial to the First World War in the city, and its violent symbolism, and discusses people's views about other local monuments. He explains how he identifies Catholic and Protestant people, the problems caused by segregated schools, and the extent to which he associates with Catholics. He remembers playing with Catholic children in the streets as a child, the increased segregation in housing since the disturbances of the 1920s and his memories of that period with troops stationed in the city, curfews, and the activities of the A Specials and B Specials. He discusses his own role in the B Specials, his concern about them being disbanded and the special status of Derry as a border town. He goes on to talk about the economic situation in Derry, the decline in the trade from Donegal since Partition and his view that the difficulties of the city stem from economic problems and the shortage of jobs. He discusses the traditional industries in Derry, including shirt making, the work at the shipyard and the docks, and distillery, tannery and ropeworks, and the lack of local firms in the 1970s. He thinks that English owned firms are reluctant to spend money on the city and that society has fragmented because of the decline in local shops and businesses. He stresses the importance of economic investment in Derry in order to improve the situation in the city, and talks about the disused prison in Derry and its proposed demolition. He thinks that the government prefers Belfast to Derry and expresses his resentment that the new university was built in Coleraine (tracks 7-21)
Track 22: Silence 0.22 mins
Total: 33.00 mins
Dubber's reference number: PLA KF571E0552480 |