| Description | Recording of interviews for the 'Battle of St Ann's' project:
Tracks 1 - 11: The interviews are with Geoffrey Oldfield and Ken Fleet who were members of the social study group into 'slum dwellings' and 'poverty' in the St Ann's area. They are also featured on MS 4000/6/1/66/21 and the recording continues on MS 4000/6/1/66/23 - 24. Geoffrey Oldfield is employed by the council housing department. The tracks frequently run into each other. The location of the interview is not identified.
Track 1: The discussion with Geoffrey Oldfield continues from the previous track regarding his attitude towards the tenants in his job with the housing department, his views on poverty and some of his specific experiences of working with people in the community. 2.54 mins.
Track 2: The discussion is with Geoffrey Oldfield regarding the survey carried out by the group: how the study had its basis in the groups investigations of studies into poverty in this country; there was an initial presumption within the group that poverty had been eradicated. The discussion covers that the group felt that there must be such areas of poverty in Nottingham and that they could investigate them: they were particularly interested in St Ann's because due to the condition of its housing it was scheduled for redevelopment. The discussion then moves to that there was a steady nucleus of 10 people in the group/class. The discussion then moves onto interviewing the residents; that he was not intimidated when it came to knocking on doors and being in the area of St Ann's because he was used to it with his job, he did adopt a softer approach and made efforts to distance himself from his day job. 3.46 mins.
Track 3: The discussion is with Geoffrey Oldfield regarding what struck him personally when interviewing the residents were the instances of elderly people confined to one room in a large house: the resigned way they accepted the way they were living; that they had no horizon beyond that room/no outlook beyond where they are. 3.54 mins.
Track 4: The discussion is with Geoffrey Oldfield regarding the resignation by some of the residents to the living conditions they experience, in his opinion it is the responsibility of society to provide but this needs to be balanced by not dictating how people live their lives. 1.25 mins.
Track 5: The discussion continues with Ken Fleet about how the survey revealed that many people who live in poverty ambitions were narrow (that they would be happier with £2 or £3 pounds more a week) and they have a different assessment of wealth to the general population. The discussion then covers that when interviewing residents they were briefed not to get to emotionally involved with the residents and to try not to lead answers to obtain objective results. 2.53 mins.
Track 6: The discussion continues with Ken Fleet that he did not find the need to remain objective when interviewing residents placed constraints on the relationship between resident and interviewer and he could develop an informal rapport, however the survey did not allow you to record your immediate impressions. The discussion continues that the residents interviewed were in very difficult circumstances, the discussion continues on the next track. 1.20 mins.
Track 7: Discussions continue with Ken Fleet regarding his observations of the housing conditions that people were desperately struggling against: for example in a house where water constantly came in through the walls due to poor external fabric of a house the tenants seemed to be constantly wall papering to cover and fight the damp; they had not given up: they made complaints against the landlord and council yet they continued to fight against the circumstances that they had come to accept. Then a quick discussion that the interviews were 3 years ago and that not all details are clear. The discussion returns to the study group: they had all known that the area of St Ann's existed because most avoided it and in many ways he was not aware that human beings lived there in these conditions. The discussion covers his first impression of St Ann's was that it was a horrible place and then he met the people and their spirit/vitality made him see the area in a different light, the discussion continues on the following track. 3.46 mins.
Track 8: The discussion carries on from the previous track that in his experience the main aspiration of the residents appeared to be to 'get out for their children' and that because there was a sense of spirit was no reason they should carry on living in such conditions. Geoffrey Oldfield makes the point that some of the group were not as shocked as others by the conditions in St Ann's a lot depended on their personal background 2.38 mins.
Track 9: Discussions of Geoffrey Oldfield's and Ken Fleets views of the rehousing of residents displaced from St Ann's. Geoffrey Oldfield begins a new discussion regarding extremes of wealth, continued in the next track 2.52 mins.
Track 10: The discussion with Ken Fleet is regarding the study class in the year before the survey: they were struck by the great inequalities in poverty/earnings because there was a general feeling in the group that they were living in an age of affluence. There is a brief discussion about the survey and an acknowledgment that they expected to find poverty in St Ann's. The discussion then returns to how they met people earning very low wages - lower than benefits and at subsistence levels, it was a shocking revelation, as was the number of people who thought they were earning a fair wage because they only compared wages within their own peer group. 3.31 mins.
Track 11: A new discussion with Geoffrey Oldfield of how the study and his job with the housing department appear to be at juxtapositions etc. and how it has changed his approach to the people he works with. The recording then speeds up and is difficult to hear.
Total: 32.35
Dubber's reference number: PLA KF573E0534880 |