Camberwell College of Arts in the 1950s (Part 2)
In the second part of her interview Jacki Percy continues telling us about her experience of studying at art college in the 1950s. She witnessed the beginning of major changes in art education. When she first began studying at art college it was a place of vast creative freedom, where no-one had to give explanations and time was spent simply 'making'. Suddenly the government started to bring about changes and the arts had to start justifying itself as a worthy academic subject. Students began to have to start writing lessons and explaining themselves, something not everyone took lightly! Jacki went back to study an MA at Camberwell almost 50 years later and she goes on to explain the changes she witnessed in the college where she had begun her training so many years ago...
Camberwell College of Arts in the 1950s
Jacki Percy studied at Camberwell College of Arts in the 1950s, and went back again to do an MA almost half a century later; so she has an amazing insight into how arts education has changed in the past decades. In the first part of her interview Jacki remembers what it was like to study in a time of great creative freedom, learning from inspirational artists at the forefront of the arts movement, when men would walk around bare-foot and clutching pocket watches! She recounts what daily life would be like for an art student back then and the processes and subjects they would study as part of their creative learning...
WW2 Experiences in Lewisham and the differences in pre and post war life
In the second part of his interview, John Deal speaks of how him and his wife Reenee met in the aftermath of the Second World War when they were both training to be teachers. John worked as an aircraft fitter throughout WW2 but never left the country. He witnessed a lot of destruction in the Lewisham area due to fires and bombing... John recounts one particular incident when a dormant incediary bomb fell through the roof of his house onto his parents' bed whilst they were there! Carrying on from his first interview, John explains in more detail the differences he has encountered in society and everyday life before, during and after the war...
A life in Lewisham, South London, spanning 90 years
John Deal was born in 1921 and has lived in the same house in a conservation area of Lewisham for all of his 90 years. John explains what life was like as a child growing up in the 1920sa and then goes on to speak in vivid detail about the differences in the Lewisham area before, during and after the Second World War. In terms of shopping, commerce, industry, home-life; Lewisham was a thriving area, something which has gradually died out... There were countless factories making anything from biscuits, guns and motorcycles to London's fire engines and buses (which used to be made in Greenwich). John gives a fascinating and detailed insight into how life in London has changed in the past century.
Evacuation and the aftermath of the Blitz in the City of London
Evelyn Jajechnyk was born and raised in the City of London. She was 12 when she was evacuated with her sister to Norfolk and they stayed there for 3 years during the worst of the bombing. In this interview Evelyn recounts some of her childhood war-time experiences... She remembers the huge difference between the busy market street she lived in in London and the idyllic countryside in Norfolk. Upon her return to London after 3 years she was faced with a destroyed London and on her first night back her parents took her to Aldwych tube station to the shelter... Evelyn also recounts one other incident with a molotov cocktail stuck to her roof!
Life in the aftermath of WW2 for a working-class girl in South London
In the second part of her interview Violet speaks of the days after WW2. When her grandfather died her parents her self and her sister took over his flat and that is where she stayed until she was married. Violet describes the conditions of the flat, which seemed quite luxurious compared to other families of her background. They had an in-door bathroom and a roll-top bath in the kitchen. She speaks of her school days and the many different jobs she worked in after leaving school at 15... she worked in everything from being a machinist to a sausage linker! In those days working-class women never had the opportunity to go to university, factory and office work was what they all did until they were married...
WW2 Experiences of a working-class child in South London
Violet Redmont retells some of her poignant experiences throughout the Second World War. Although she was evacuated several times to Hertfordshire Violet was in South London, in particular the docklands surrounding Rotherhithe, during the some of the worst of the war. The docklands were badly affected by the bombing and Violet remembers a few particular stories of close escapes she and her family encountered... But even though she spent her childhood encountering hard times, Violet looks back on that time in a positive light and considers her family as being very fortunate during the war.
The London working classes finding work in the 1960s and the traditional role of women
In her concluding interview Pauline Mounsey recounts what life was like in the 1960s for young adults from working-class backgrounds going into work. They would typically leave school at 15 and go into working in office environments. Finding work was much easier in the 1960s than it is now. Pauline remembers what the Bankside area where she worked was like in the 1960s and the vast changes that have occurred in the area since. She also speaks of the traditional role of young women of her age meeting their boyfriends at around 19 and getting engaged, marrying at 21 and subsequently leaving home and having children (and thus leaving work also).
Life as a war-time baby on a London bankside estate in the 1950s and 60s
Pauline Mounsey was a war-time baby, born in the aftermath of World War Two. She spent her childhood in a typical London working-class estate in Southwark. The area that is now home to the Bankside galleries and restaurants was made up of burnt-out buildings and desolate docks. The residents in her estate lived in crampt conditions but were happy and fulfilled. In this insightful interview she recalls what life was like for children born in the aftermath of the war. They made do with what would now be considered very deprived conditions, but at the time this went wholly un-noticed and they spent their days in a comfortable and secure community surrounded by friends. It was a simple way of life but an extremely happy one.
RT Demo
Final version for DT's approval