| Collection | Winstanley Oral History Collection |
| Description | Mr. G. H. Foad, born 1894, interviewed in Canterbury. His father was a railway ganger and his mother came from Tunstall. He came from a family of one boy and two girls. His first job was a nursery worker, gardener, later buisiness manager in a shop.
Track 1 [1:13:10] [00:00:01] Introduction: interviewee is G H Foad [GF] of … [00:00:50] GF born March 17th 1895 in Bekesbourne. [00:01:36] GF's father was a railman. [00:02:15] Description of father’s work, including details about their move to Canterbury, youngest sister's birth and their experiences of going to the rails with their father. [00:04:00] description of how they used the concessions for travelling on the railway. [00:04:58] description of games they had as children during the winter. [00:05:37] GF lived on the same road all this time [00:05:42] detailed description of their initial move from Bekesbourne to Canterbury. [00:06:25] brief mention of school and the opening of the recreation ground. [00:07:06] description of father’s pastimes. [00:07:48] description of Sunday school and outings with the school to Whitstable. [00:09:03] description of Sunday school taking them to play on the little railway and the trikes. [00:10:10] mention of GF being in the Oddfellows Club [00:10:38] description of GF transition from headboy to working in a nursery [00:11:17] description of where one of the nurseries used to be [00:11:49] description of how a portion of the nursery was replaced by a row of houses formerly named Kings Terrace. [00:12:35] description of his three-year scholarship to the Sidney Cooper School of Art. [00:13:15] GF explains that his family couldn’t afford to keep him attending. [00:14:06] GF describes how he got the job working as an undergardener at the nursery. [00:16:00] GF briefly mention his time in the war. [00:16:28] Gf describes his time in the wholesale business [00:17:04] GF discusses his operation and his move to working an office job. [00:18:38] Gf discusses how he played with the children on Saturday afternoons before working full-time. [00:19:41] GF recalls a conversation with the headmaster the day he left school. [00:20:06] discusses how the headmaster spoke to the family to help GF achieve his scholarship. [00:20:55] discusses helping the family with money through hop picking. [00:22:50] brief mention of the average wage back in the day. [00:23:18] GF had two siblings [00:23:21] discusses the wages he got from his jobs. [00:24:14] discusses his mother's time in the hospital and how mothers didn't go out to work. [00:25:16] discusses his sisters’ work and their wages. [00:27:03] discusses how his mother’s generation worked for families and was gifted flannel stuff. [00:28:18] detailed description of his mother’s family and the Choir band her brothers made. [00:29:01] talks about his granddad's golden wedding and the gift of golden spoons from the church that was given out amongst the children. [00:30:36] description of visits to relatives. [00:36:07] discussion on Band of Hope and the crafts the children used to do. [00:37:45] detailed recalling of where the Band of Hope met. [00:39:00] discussion of social functions GF parents attended. [00:39:42] GF mentions that almost everyone went to Sunday school [00:40:21] description of Sunday school schedule [00:41:20] mention of going down to the barracks as kids. [00:42:21] GF discusses grants and university students [00:43:54] brief discussion of the business people on Dover Road and lack of grants. [00:44:59] detailed discussion of workhouse workers who they called tramps. [00:47:26] GF recalls street performers throughout his life. [00:48:51] discussion of the tradesmen and their schedule. [00:50:50] brief mention that the traders where cash only. [00:51:01] discussion of the old shops. [00:52:03] discussion of the family’s shopping habits. [00:52:48] detailed discussion of what the shops used to be like. [00:53:26] GF recalls story about cheese store. [00:54:08] detailed discussion of the old shop prices. [00:55:33] discussion of cricket weekends and uncles attending cricket games. [00:57:49] brief mention of relatives visiting. [00:58:26] discussion of the residents on the road. [01:00:16] discussion of money and the services they used to pay. [1:01:53] discussion of the differences in toys and attitudes. [01:04:03] description of rent and rent collection. [01:04:57] mention of the landlord being in charge of decorating. [01:05:28] brief mention of housing problems back in the day. [01:05:50] summary of the rooms in the house. [01:06:02] description of the rooms GF spent the most time in. [01:06:12] description of furniture in the middle room. [01:06:44] description of chairs the family sat on to eat dinner. [01:07:07] brief description of scullery. [01:07:36] description of what they used to cook food. [01:08:12] description of wallpaper in family home. [01:08:44] description of the purpose of a front room and the living room. [01:09:31] description of uncle’s house by St. Augustine’s College. [01:10:09] description of furniture in the front rooms [01:11:00] Information about carpets and curtains [01:11:17] description of living arrangements in the house.
Summary created by Roberta Stewart, volunteer, October 2025. |