CD3

(68 mins)
 

3/1

CHANGES TO MARKET GARDENING / BARNSTAPLE MARKET / JAM FACTORY

Frozen food coming in affected the market gardening, especially the vegetable part of it. The market gardeners had to find other things. The Wyborns still get their livelihood; they have always been market gardeners. It is a different type of business these days. In days gone by what was sold was mostly their own produce. 

The Barnstaple Market is a great market and was in days gone by, the pannier market. AI had an aunt who used to go in from their farm in Wenworthy.  She visited her aunt's stall in the market. Behind nearly every stall was a very large wicker basket. If anything could be kept, what wasn't sold on the Tuesday was put in there and sold on the Friday. When the deep freezes came in, all that disappeared.

Another thing, which hit them in later years, was the hygiene and the inspectors that are around. The Women's Institute were banned at one time for selling their produce. They were not allowed to make it in their kitchens and bring it in to sell. That did hit the country people quite a lot.

There was a jam factory and Jam Factory Lane is still there. The other nickname for it, Pigs Lane. It was quite an industry. She does not remember it. [Back to top]
 

3/2

LAVER COLLECTION AND PREPARATION / STORAGE OF LAVER / JEAN METCALFE

They used to pick a lot of laver (seaweed). Even when Maurice had his boat he would take home quite a lot of laver. She did not partake in it but would cook it and prepare it. Maurice did the washing of it for her. They did it for their own satisfaction, not to sell, gave a lot away. It was always very clean, as Maurice would go up around by the Hangman's, a lot of boulders so didn't get any sand. Long strips of it. He had a rather large bucket and had a few holes in the bottom of it. He put the laver in the bucket and put the hosepipe in to give it a thoroughly good wash. Then AI, sometimes Maurice, would chop it up, boil it with vinegar and salt in a greased pan. It would take a long time to boil, an hour, hour and a quarter.

When they first lived at Sunningdale with her in-laws, they had a Rayburn. The Rayburn fire was always going so the laver wasn't any hassle. When they moved to Combe Martin, all electric, it took such a long time, so she would take it up to her mother's house and do it on Mummy's Rayburn.

Before fridges or freezing, the mutton fat was rendered down from the lambs and you could pour that on top of the laver and that would form a seal. The laver would keep for weeks. Ate the laver with bacon. Very good for you, full of iodine. It is an acquired taste. The laver is black. Still quite a bit is harvested.

Jean Metcalfe used to do  'Two Way Family Favourites' on the radio. She used to go there to stay. In 1950 or 51, a person in the village had a 21st birthday and sent up to Jean to give out on her programme. When Jean went there she used to go down to the hotel, the Dolphin. When she gave out the birthday greetings she said she had fond memories of Combe Martin, Berrynarbor and the Hunters Inn and she said, 'are they still eating that that looks like a cow pat?' [laughs] [Back to top]
 

3/3

MAURICE COLLECTING SHELLFISH / HERRING FISHING WITH GEORGE DART / MENDING HERRING NETS

When Maurice had his boat and his lobster baskets he would take lobsters home and crabs. He cooked them and taught AI how to take them out of the shells. She has known him take home as many as 5, 6 or 7 and boil them in a very large bucket on a type of Primus stove down in his garage. Until they had a deep freeze she used to give the meat away to people. A lot of people were rather afraid of eating shellfish. She was taught how to dress the crabmeat by a very pleasant lady whose husband used to go out herring fishing with Maurice, Mrs Dart. AI not really a person that's at home in a kitchen, but she likes to know how the things were done.

In the winter Mrs Dart's husband and Maurice used to go out herring fishing. They always said nothing like Combe Martin herrings. It amused her because it was all part of the Bristol Channel. The herrings sold like hot cakes. Nothing for them to come home with possibly a 100 or more. When they first started it was cotton herring nets and they would often get broken. They had to be mended. Maurice hadn't got much idea how to do it and neither had his companion George. He would hang them up in his garage and he did persevere. The Irwin family were great boating people, several of them at Ilfracombe. One day Maurice went into Ilfracombe and one of his relatives showed him how to mend the nets. He went home elated. When the nylon came in it was not quite so bad.

A gentleman, born in Combe Martin, saw Maurice had got a herring net hanging up in the garage. He was a keen chappy for boating. He was a very, very good engineer and welder, Peter, but he wanted to learn from Maurice how to mend the herring net! [Back to top]
 

3/4

MEETING MAURICE

Maurice was the coal merchant's son and he used to go to the farm with coal. AI was about 12 when he first saw her on the farm. Maurice is 7 years older than her. Maurice and the gentleman (George Dart) he fished with had been associated all their lives. When Maurice' father ran his own coal boats, George was the cook and general dogsbody on the boat. Maurice used to go on the boat quite a lot when he was a lad. George also went on the coal lorries. George could never understand why they always had to leave Seven Ash coal until a Saturday. Then it dawned on him - AI was home from school! She didn't take a lot of notice of Maurice!

When she was 16, down in the shop, on a Wednesday afternoon she often used to walk up to the farm. She was walking up the village street and Maurice came along in his truck, by then he was working for himself, haulage contracting. He pulled up and asked if she would care for a lift. That's when it started.

They were friends. The war came along and he had to go in the army. She went to Luton. [Back to top]
 

3/5

WORK IN THE VAUXHALL FACTORY / MISSING THE COUNTRYSIDE / OFFICE WORK IN LUTON / DECIDING TO GO HOME

Maurice was de-mobbed. By then she had got quite a nice job in the office. In the first instance she was working in the factory testing tank engines, her war effort. One day she was absolutely deflated. Maurice informed her that the Churchill tanks were absolute rubbish, like peashooters to what the American Sherman tanks were. However, she quite enjoyed it. Totally different life. Her sister Joyce was with her. She had been with 1 family for 10 years and home for 6, 5½ so she was able to adapt quite well.

The thing she hated the most was the smoke screens. On moonlight nights mostly, in Luton, they burnt the waste oil and it was like a smog. She also missed the countryside. She hadn't got a bicycle. Joyce had by then. She would lend AI her bicycle and she would go out with a friend cycling. Then she was able to get one and get out into the countryside. Then she settled down.

When they became redundant as regards the war work she was requested to go and work in an office with a gentleman to do with the Vauxhall Hospital Services Association. She was not a stenographer. She had only learnt typing at the night school in Combe Martin. She didn't take to shorthand, too much hard work. The gentleman did not wish to dictate letters, he liked to write them in his own handwriting. Mr George Phillips interviewed her and she went for a month to see how she would get on. She thoroughly enjoyed it. There were only 2 girls in Mr Long's department, but she had girls sitting in the same office; they were very helpful. At the end of the month, she was sent for by Mr Lee, the one over the whole department. He asked her to take the job and she did. She went there in the early part of '46 and went home end of October '49.

She started in the September. Just previous to the following Christmas, Arthur Long, her immediate boss, was taken ill and was away for 18 months. Mr Bond, the head of the BHSA, the Bedfordshire Association, took AI under his wing. She went round to the various hospitals as a liaison. She didn't have a tremendous amount of office work. Always had a car at her disposal for Vauxhall business. For 18 months she was on her own and enjoyed it.

2 people were instrumental in her decision to go back home, Miss Goddard, the head for the women in the factory and Miss Gilbert, one of the executive's secretaries. They used to go out to a show and up to London to the theatres. AI agreed with her mother and father that she had kept Maurice waiting a long time. She was 31 in the October, Maurice that much older, time was going on. Miss Gilbert and Miss Goddard told her she had a good job not but as time went on she might be very, very lonely. It gave here food for thought. She decided to go back. [Back to top]
 

3/6

GETTING THE JOB AT VAUXHALL / MARRIAGE TO MAURICE / LIVING WITH IN-LAWS AND PARENTS / BUYING GARAGE / BUILDING FLAT

[AI tells brief story about how she and her sister got the job] She had got a green card from the Labour Exchange and the girl said they wouldn't be employed at Vauxhall Motors, they were not taking anyone other than Lutonians. Mr Maskell, the Director of Personnel, had been through on a cycling holiday in Combe Martin and stayed with a Captain Jim and Mary Irwin, relatives of Maurice. He said he would employ AI and Joyce, and Frank Cherry found room for them both.

She got married on the 19^th November 1949. They'd had weather for a week of mist and rain. Saturday morning the sun came out and it was a lovely day. They got married in Combe Martin parish church. Her husband was still a haulier. His boat was pleasure. They went to Torquay for their honeymoon. Petrol rationing was in force, but her late father-in-law had bought a new car in the September for which they were given a 6 months supply of petrol. He lent the car to Maurice. They went away for a week.

They lived with her in-laws until her father-in-law died. Her mother-in-law then went to live with her daughter and AI and Maurice lived on in their house until the mother-in-law died. Then Maurice bought the garage. His father bought the plot of land in the 1920's and he had built this large garage to accommodate their lorries. They were given the chance to buy the house of Maurice' parents, but Maurice thought he would like to go down to Combe Martin and buy the garage. All the property was put up for auction. AI and Maurice moved up to live with her parents at Kentisbury. Her father was retired and was living over at Ashl Lea [?sp], about 10 minutes walk from the farm. They got one of the Barnstaple architects out and he drew up plans for the flat on top of the garage and they moved in the July 1961. It has been their home since. [Back to top]
 

3/7

DOMESTIC LIFE / DOING THE ACCOUNTS / MAURICE WORKING

She adjusted quite well to domestic life after her independent life in Luton, except she couldn't cook, but Maurice helped her and his mother helped her a lot. She had run a boarding house. Living with the in-laws worked out extremely well. Father-in-law was still in business. After they had been living there about 12 months, she took over the running of his books [pause - coughs and drinks] and did his accounts. Mother-in-law had a wonderful nature; Maurice takes after her.

She enjoyed doing the books. Sometimes she couldn't get her father-in-law to write down everything he'd done during the day. They did a lot of work for the Council, contractors. There, they would have the time sheets, that was easy then. Father-in-law had 2 lorries and employed another driver who kept his time sheets. She was at ease with the council offices; she took the accounts in.

When Maurice was working on the Hinckley Point, he worked for Taylor Woodrow. AI used to go the offices in Williton and take the accounts. She did Maurice' accounts as well. He did quite a lot of work for Knott's Quarries at Brayford; their offices were in Tiverton. She used to drive a lot in those days. She would take her mother with her to Tiverton because her sister lived in Bradnitch [CHECK]. The chappy she saw there was one of Knott's sons.

Maurice was a very hard worker. He would get up very early in the morning. In days gone by, there was a lot of manual labour with it to load the lorries. He would also go to South Devon to Beer for lime. He would sometimes leave the house about half past 4 so he could get 2 loads done in 1 day. She has known him do his day's work for the Council and then go into the Ilfracombe railway station and bring out coal for the local coal merchant. If you are prepared to put your heart and soul into a business, it pays off. [Back to top]
 

3/8

VISITING ILFRACOMBE / DANCES WITH MAURICE / WHIST DRIVES / BEACH AND SWIMMING

In pre-war days, she went to Ilfracombe quite a lot mainly because they had Wednesdays as their half-day and Ilfracombe closed on a Thursday. Until Maurice had a car, they always had to rely on buses so Ilfracombe was the nearest and the easiest. They had a bus through for Barnstaple twice a week, but went Kentisbury way. She used to like to go in to Ilfracombe to buy her clothes. She'd go with various friends, sometimes her sisters. They'd go to Southcombe's for tea or Holloway's, sweet fancy cakes. They would go to the cinema, fish and chips when they came out [laughs].

The same thing applied when Maurice took her out. He would take her to the cinema. They would go dancing at Berrynarbor. A special dance she wanted to go to, new lemon dress (thought it was the cat's whiskers), but Maurice only had a motorcycle. He arrived up in the truck! When he got the car, he taught her how to drive. The car was always at her disposal. She used to take Mummy out quite a lot.

They had to make their own enjoyment. Before the war, the coaches would take them out to Parracombe, the fancy dress balls out there. They were up in the Buff Hall. They hold whist drives, bingo's, various functions up there now. A great highlight in pre-war days, on a new year's eve, to go out to Lynton town hall to their dances; again a coach would be put on from Norman's or Lovering's.

She didn't play cards in those days. After they were married and living with her parents, she drove her mother to a whist drive at Blackmoor Gate, the hotel. AI sat in on a table of 3. She so enjoyed it; they were off most nights to the whist drives.

They didn't have a lot of time to go down to the beach when they were children. When she lived at Berrynarbor, she went with her cousins quite a lot down to the Broadsands. Aunt Audrey would take her out to Watermouth paddling, not swimming. She was a little scared of the water, still is. When she met Maurice, he taught her to swim. She wasn't a natural, strong swimmer. Even at Sunningdale she would often go down in the morning and swim and at Combe Martin when Maurice went off to work up Seaside Hill in his truck. When it was broadcast that the water was polluted Maurice asked her not to swim; she has always adhered to his wishes. [Back to top]
 

3/9

FISHING WITH MAURICE / FEARS / HUGH'S DOGS

She went fishing with Maurice. They had lovely days in the boat, especially when he had the larger boat. They would pack up some food and she could always boil a kettle on the boat. They would have a swim. She could never dive off the boat. He made a ladder for her to go down. Sometimes he would drop her off at Broadsands while he went off fishing. The first time he took her he had a smaller boat with an outboard engine and took her up to the Coprous [?sp] Rock to do some fishing. That is where you caught the bass mostly. Whilst he was fishing, she steered the boat. As long as she kept Barton Farm in her sights she was all right. She held on to that tiller petrified. She could never row the boat on her own. Maurice only ever left her once and she just went around in circles [laughs].

She can always admit her fears. Her fears are the sea, at one time she was very nervous in the dark, frightened to death of animals, horses petrified her. She used to walk miles on her own when Maurice was out, days with nothing to do.  (She did help her cousin for quite a few years in the dairy, only mornings). On a walk this dog bit her, up the silver mines, dog tied to a tractor. That put fear into her as regards the dogs.

Her brother Ben's son, Hugh, her nephew, does a lot of shooting with the pheasant. Brother Benjamin has got 4 sons, Hugh, Dennis, David and Kevin. Hugh came home with this little springer spaniel in a little shoebox. She petted the dog. As it got bigger, she was so fond of Lucky. She would drop a biscuit out the window when Lucky went out each day. Before Lucky died, Hugh had another springer spaniel, Lucy. AI quite happy with the dog and now with other dogs. She didn't inherit the fear from Mummy. [Back to top]