Interview about family, childhood, the Wolverton Works and the benevolent fund raffles.
Raffle prizes in the Wolverton Works (Accession Ref: WOW/P/054).
WK describes in detail his family, his childhood and his time working at the Wolverton Works. He recalls arriving at work at quarter to six each morning to check in. He describes the Trimming Shop where they outfitted the carriages with hair-filled seats covered in baize, and the floor being built on ‘horses’ nine inches off the ground ‘every man in the shop used to have to come over and help turn that body… it was called a turnover.’
He regrets the passing of old Wolverton, ‘The community was different’, people helped each other more.
Two unidentified speakers are also heard during the interview and the material in the following description is attributed anonymously to (V2).
Raffles for benevolent funds became a major part of life at the Works. It all started in the 1940s or 50s when one man brought a bouquet of flowers to work, and after much amusement from his fellows, ‘raffled it off’. A tradition began of raffling forty or fifty turkeys each Christmas (today in 1976 they’re hampers), at a penny a ticket. Eventually as many as 250,000 a year were sold. The money went to Renny Lodge, a former workhouse at Newport Pagnell that became a nursing home for the elderly. The Works raffles paid for Christmas fare for the patients, as well as for the installation of a sister and call system. In addition, ‘the majority of shops (in the Works) had their own little funds.’ These were benevolent funds ‘helping chaps when they were off sick.’
Creator
King, Walter
Extent
1 audio tape cassette
Place
Normally name of town / village followed by street name / more precise location
Contributor
Broadhurst, Margaret
Reference number
ALC/007/001
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