Craven Vale Community Association

Heritage Lottery Project Pride of our Valley

Interview with Irene interviewed by Ruth - 18th February 2013 R. I am about to interview Irene who has been here for quite a long time. Irene, can you tell me what year you moved into Craven Vale. I. 1955. R. And can you tell me a little about where you were living before and why you chose to move here? I. I was in Lewes Road, St Mary Magdalene Street. I was born there and then I came up here. R. Did you move in alone or were you with other members of your family? I. I moved in with my husband, from Mary Magdalene Street. R. OK, so you moved in with your husband and your young daughter. I. Yes. R.What was your first impression of Craven Vale? I. Well, when I came up, the first block of the flats was at the top of the hill there and they built a block of flats down here, so we were the first people to live on this side of the road. And then we saw the whole estate going up and it was exciting really. I was thrilled to get this flat when I came out of a very old place. And weve enjoyed it ever since. R. Its a beautiful area isnt it? Do you remember about the kind of heating that was in your home when you first moved in? I. We had a coal fire, which was nice, but I must say it made the ceilings and curtains a bit dirty. But now Im in heaven now because I dont get any of that any more. Yes it was quite nice when they took the fires away, very nice. R. Did that heat your hot water as well? I. Yes we had a big boiler. R. We take so many household appliances for granted now, such as fridge, washing machines, vacuum cleaners, and so on. Can you remember what sorts of things you had to use in 1955, when you moved here? I. We bought a twin washing machine. The draining boards were made of wood and after wed been in here a while we bought a new kitchen lot and my husband put it all in and we made a nice kitchen. We had stained cupboards, which was very nice. But now its been changed again. My son in laws come up and put all cream doors on and its really lovely. Quite a few drawers for utensils, where I only had one, and Ive got a nice toaster. Two ovens built in, a freezer, fridge. R. And what about other things like a cooker, vacuum cleaner, that kind of thing? I. Just a plain cooker then and a twin tub washing machine. 1

R. A vacuum cleaner or anything? I. Oh, yes a vacuum cleaner but my husband was the vacuum cleaning man. He did all my housework. R. Oh, very nice! R. Craven Vale Estate is built on a hill and has slopes and steps. Was that a problem for you when you moved in? I. No, because I was young and fit. Now I have a job to get up the steps. R. So it was no problem at all then. I. No, and my father and mother moved from Lewes Road and they had a flat over there. I used to be over there every day to see if they needed any shopping and I used to run over there and back. R. Right. When Craven Vale was built, not so many people had cars. Did your family have a car? I. No, and we didnt have a bus at first. We used to have to walk up to Freshfield Road and get a bus. But I think thats why they made the road so small because they didnt think they were going to have a bus up here. Terrible now the road is. I stand at my kitchen window and watch all the buses go up and down. Cars. Its a wonder there isnt an accident really. R. Did I hear you say (earlier) that your husband had a bike when you first came here? I. Yes a two-wheeled bike. And he used to ride his bike to Shoreham power station. He worked there for thirty-three years. And, bless him, he put in for a pension for me to live on so weve been quite happy. R. Good. So I was going to ask you about the bus service but youve already told me. The way we keep in touch with people has changed over the years. Do you remember how you kept in touch with people when you first moved here in 1955? I. There were very good people here. There were two sisters that we were very friendly with. My neighbour, I should say shes been here about 40 years and we are very friendly. We dont live in one anothers places. She comes to me and asks me if my shops open. R. So what about if you wanted to contact people outside. Letters? Did you have a telephone? I. Telephone. We used to go over to Craven Road, to use the box over there. R. And letter writing? I. Not a lot only Christmas cards. R. Things have changed over the years havent they? Do you remember when you had your first phone? I. Well some time ago. R Your daughter would have been too old for a pram by the time you got here, but do you remember the old prams and pushchairs we had years ago. 2

I. Yes, one of those old fashioned ones. R. Your daughter would have gone to school here. I. In Lewes Road, Fairlight School but at her age, I think it was four; it was a nursery not a lot of schooling. R. What about when you moved here? I. Well, I used to take her down to Lewes Road for a couple of years and go and fetch her. And after that she went to St Lukes and I must be honest, she was well behind with her lessons. When she went to St Lukes, she really caught up. And she was fine. And then she went on to Queens Park School. She was no trouble. She used to be in bed at seven oclock every night. R. Where did your daughter play as a child? I. Well, she had to play out here. Unless we was with her and we used to take her round Queens Park. Her dad used to take her and one day she came home fro school late and so we phoned the police and they took us all round Queens Park and we couldnt find her and then we saw her coming up .., I said "Where have you been? She said, I went round my friends . So that was one problem but apart from that she was no problem. R. If someone in the family wasnt well, where did you have to go for chemist, or doctors or hospital care? I. Flynns down Islingwood Road. So many chemists down there now. There are three down there now. R. What about your doctors? I Dr ..Hes such a lovely man. And he thought a lot of my husband. I used to take C. down there since she was four year old to Sydney Street. (This excellent care carried on after Irenes daughter got married). R. Was it easy to find work in the 50s and 60s? I. I only worked in the laundry. R. What about generally. Do you think it was hard to find work? I. No, not as bad as it is now. All the trams used to run along Lewes Road, and I had a good childhood. There were eight of us and we used to get a bottle of lemonade powder, make a bottle up, jam in our sandwiches and we used to go to anywhere, and we had a wonderful life. R. Great, thats really good. Was there crime around here? Do you remember any crime in the 1950s? I. Well there was a murder in this block. R. Was that in the 1950s? I. I cant remember now, I suppose I had been up here about 8-10 years. R. Oh, so mid to late 60s. 3

I. and another thing is, my friend rung me up and said, Did you know youd been on television? and I was on the balcony and all the police was up here and they must have had the paper chap. I suppose he must have walked along and I didnt know who he was then. R. So there was a murder here? I. In the end block, the end flat. B. (other interviewer) was it drugs related? I. Yes, I think so and that went on for a long time. R. What was it like to be part of the community all of those years ago? I. Well, I used to go to work, so I never saw anybody. When we first come up there were all nice people who come up here until these drugs come up here. (Irene went on to talk about crime and disturbance in a flat in the block in the 1980s). R. What about entertainment. Can you remember anything about where you went? To the cinema. I. Oh yes, and to the pub too. I used to enjoy my little drink. We had loads of friends. We used to go all round Brighton; we didnt go to the same old pub. We had friends down there and we used to go to the Sutherland pub on a Sunday. And there was lots of fishing people in there too, because my dad was a fisherman. We used to put our dinners in the oven and we had a good time. Then about eight of us all used to go abroad together. We had a good life really R. Oh, good. Thats lovely. When Craven Vale was built it was surrounded by countryside, woods and grassland. Did you ever go to the woods? I. No We used to go to the racecourse and the horses come down here now sometimes. R. When you say you went to the Race Course, did you go to the racing? I. When we lived in Lewes Road, we used to walk up Bear Road and there used to be a nice circus and games for children to play on. R. And what about after you moved here, did you ever go to the racecourse? I. Not a lot because I had my daughter, and working, and my husband was a shift worker and working at the power station. I used to have his mum and dad, who lived in College Road, they used to come for Christmas and I used to let them stay a week. In fact he died here on Boxing Day. He was a lovely old man. He used to take my mother in law a piece of bread, no butter on it, and a cup of tea in bed every morning. He used to whistle away. They were really a nice couple. They used to love staying up here. R. Well, thank you very much. That was very good. Nothing more you want to add? I. No. R Well, thank you so much.