• Ref.Number: FB016VS
• Date: 6.3.07
• Interviewer (I): Liz Rice
• Subject: Life as a child on Calgarth
• Period: 1941-1951

VS

Because Calgarth was quite a long road. All these, is that a short cut up to the pram shelters? But we used to walk round this way. And across here were hostels as they called them

.

I

Ah right. Do you remember them as hostels?

VS

Yes.

I

Yes. And do you remember the, who lived there?

VS

I think the first people we had in were agricultural workers I think. Land girls and men who obviously weren’t fit for army service. They had that job. Then we had, I think after that, as I remember a lot of old people came. Now whether that’s a childhood memory warped, I’m not sure.

I

Yes.

VS

But I question now why did we get a lot of old people.

I

Yes, oh that's strange isn't it, yes?

VS

Then after that we got the Jews. And I think that was the end of the hostel. They then converted them into living accommodation, and they were quite nice. So there was a hostel opposite us, and there was a man who was in this room. And he used to play the Jews Harp and I could see him on, I could never hear him but I could see him.

I

So you remember the Jewish boys coming do you, yes?

VS

Yes.

I

What do you remember about them?

VS

They used to come and pick your flowers without asking. Or if you had a bike, they would just take that without asking. But they brought it back and ‘I will give you sugar’ they used to say. Then after they had gone there was a complex with like a theatre and we used it as a badminton hall…