I was born in London on 25th February 1926 and moved to Bursland aged 3 when my father was offered a job at the newly opened Chater-Lea in Icknield Way. At this time Chater-Lea was a British bicycle, car and motorcycle company.
Tree planting, the cane and war breaks out
In September 1931 I started school at the Norton School and I walked from Bursland every day. In 1935 the school ran a wildlife project led by Mr Haysman, the headmaster of the day, where every pupil planted a tree in Norton Common. Over 100 were planted in total and these are still there today, lining the way from Icknield Way to Wilbury Way. After school we would head to the Roman Camp, a woodland opposite The Gardeners Arms which was only accessible by sliding down a steep slope. I spent many happy days sliding down the banks on old tin trays with my friends.
I have a few standout memories from school: one being the cane for naughty boys and a slapped arm for naughty girls, and the other being in September 1939 when we were all called in for an emergency assembly and the Headmaster told us that war had broken out. Letchworth wasn’t hit directly, but I can remember being outside on the green in Bursland one night and hearing the thundering sound of over 100 German warplanes flying over us on their way to Coventry.
Corsets, parachutes and billiard tips
At the age of 14 and I went straight to work at the Spirella where my sister worked making corsets. Corset making quickly changed to parachute making during the war and The Irvin Parachute Company took over from the Spirella at the beginning of 1941. It was a good company to work for: they looked after us and once a week they gave us towels and let us use the 12 baths on site.
In 1944 at the age of 18 I started working at Fletchers making billiard cue tips. The owner, Sam Fletcher, had a secret glue formula for making tips resulting in a much higher quality cue tip than any other on the market at that time. I had my first child whilst I was working here and Mr Fletcher was always very supportive.
Family days, Finefare and Merry Go Round
I met my first husband in the Wilbury Pub in 1947 and we married at the Roman Catholic Church of St Hugh of Lincoln on 22nd May 1948. Between 1947 and 1957 I had 5 more children who all lived and grew up in the same 3 bedroom house in Bursland. I worked in various cafés and shops in Letchworth Town Centre: from cleaning and shelf filling at the Finefare supermarket, to cleaning at a café called the Merry Go Round.
Sky-diving at 84 years
After many years living in Bursland, I remarried and moved into a house in Valley Road, Letchworth. In 2009 I sadly lost one of my children to cancer, so I decided, aged 84 to skydive to raise money for Cancer Research. I’m incredibly proud to say I did it raised over £4000!
Now at the age of 91 I live a much quieter life. I’ve felt privileged to have seen the world’s first Garden City change so much over the years and hope it continues to be a great place to live and work.
