| Collection | Winstanley Oral History Collection |
| Description | Mr. G. Ramsden, born 1886, interviewed in Faversham. He was one of thirteen children. Jobs were all sorts: gun cotton, gun powder, waggoner, emigrated to Canada, publican.
Explains when and where he was born [0:47]. Describes his Father, Mother and siblings [3:00]. Describes owning a pub [4:40]. Describes what Goal Running is, how it works and what he used to do. Story about his brother Albert winning the News of the World cup at darts. Explains what sort of people did Goal Running [8:43]. Explains how he got the pub. Story about emptying a cess pool at the pub. Explains how the pub worked [14:30]. Comments on an explosion whilst laying the railway track. Describes his father’s various jobs and how much he was paid. Comments on his brother dying of the flu epidemic [16:28]. States how much he was paid for laying the tram tracks and why he left that job for the powder mills [17:43]. Explains his daily jobs working as a powder cart driver, and then working in the boats transporting powder in the gun cotton works. Describes leaving this job right before an explosion happened [3:02]. Describes the layout of the different building in the gun cotton works [25:06]. Describes the clothing worn at this job. Story about the boat going under a bridge and blowing a whistle to warn carts going over the bridge. Comments on having to clean their clothes after a days work [30:12]. Mentions working for a farmer called Ashley Steven’s and taking the children to school in the morning. Story about being replaced by a proper farmer at Steven’s farm and having an argument over it [37:07]. Describes moving to London for a bit, and collecting medals. Explains how his wife didn’t want to live in London so they moved back. Comments on getting the vicar’s reference for taking on the pub [40:32]. Describes what he did as a Waggoner’s mate. Story about going to Maidstone for a new horse and struggling to get the horse home again [43:55]. Story about taking over riding the horse from his cousin Daniel at Steven’s hop gardens because he kept accidentally pulling up the hop poles with it [46:13]. Comments on prices at the Windmill pub [47:48]. Describes what each of the houses at the Chart Gun Powder mills was responsible for [51:50]. Story about a German named Helcke making fulminate of Mercury and poisoning the alcohol used to make sure the workers wouldn’t drink it [55:02]. Describes how he and his brother, Robin, ended up in the navy in the first war [56:50]. Describes working in a slaughterhouse in Canada. Story about using a dangerous machine to cut sheep’s heads [1:00:10]. Story about how he ended up going to Canada. Comments on not meeting his wife until after he came back [1:02:27]. Explains how emigrating to Canada was advertised in Faversham and what happened when they got there. Comments on some men in the Gun Cotton works went to Canada for free [1:04:13]. Story about an uncle who lived in Buffalo, in America [1:06:00]. Explains that he came back to Faversham for the war [1:06:40]. Story about a woman dying on the boat on the way back to England, and being buried at sea [1:07:45]. Story about quitting a job before being made Head Shipper at the slaughterhouse in Canada. Comments on going back to England for the war. Comments on the Russians working in the pickle cellar in Canada [1:10:03]. Describes his average day as a waggoner back in England. Comments on Pheasant Farm [1:13:15].
Summary created by Emma Jeffree, volunteer, June 2026. |