Me: Ok. As you’ve said you wanted to be anonymous, I won’t ask your name,
Relative: Ok.
Me: (chuckles). But, I’d like to set some context, so where were you- where were you living before you moved here?
Relative: Camberwell.
Me: Camberwell, okay. Um, what- what was Camberwell like?
Relative: Uh, just a flat. ‘orrible little flat that we had.
Me: We?
Relative: My wife.
Me: Ok, yes, yeah. Chuckles. Ok, um, and how did you find this house?
Relative: Ermm (pauses) through my mother actually. She knew, no she did, she knew people (pauses) that knew about this place (pauses). She put our name forward ‘n we come up ‘n had a look….. ‘n said yes.
Me: What was your initial opinion?
Relative: Mm, it’s nice. Empty. Er, big, got enough room here cuz it was already knocked into- into one big room.
Me: Yeah, and can you just explain what you’re referring to, just pointing about the room? For the interview.
Relative: Well, oh yeah no, this used to be two rooms… and they knocked it down. Took the wall out the middle, and just made it one big room.
Me: Oh yeah, I should specify that we’re on the ground floor right now.
Relative: Oh yeah.
(both chuckle)
Relative: Of course.
Me: But, um ok, so can you remember when you moved in?
Relative: Ooh, forty.. three years ago.
Me: Ok, I won’t ask for a year as that might be a little… specific (chuckles). So you moved in, you and your wife-
Relative: 1974
Me: 197- wow (chuckles) Ok. So your initial opinion was that it was nice? Were there any issues?
Relative: Uh, (pause, looking around) not really, didn’t get on with the neighbours…
Me: Oh…
Relative: They was uh, very snobby. But it was alright. In the end.
Me: Ok, you’ve mentioned that this house was part of, um, an estate, can you explain that for the interview?
Relative: The estate is- is, uh, Peabody Trust housing estate. ‘N on the estate there’s box of flats and houses… which they call cottages, ‘n we’ve got one of the cottages.
Me: Ok, and you didn’t like the neighbours (chuckles).
Relative: Not at first no (pauses) well they didn’t like us. They were very, it’s uh… a very clique-y area.
Me: Clique-y? Can you expl- explain that?
Relative: It’s um… uhh, yeah the um, it’s um, the people that lived here, it was in a sort of a group ‘n they didn’t like outsiders coming in, and uh, we was classed as the outsider because we wasn’t (pauses) what they wanted basically.
Me: Oh (pauses). Ok, I see (chuckles). Ok, about the house though, did you- apart from it being just nice, in quotations, were there any issues or problems? Did you just- was there something you didn’t like?
Relative: Well… um, (pauses, looking around), no, no there’s nothing we didn’t like, cuz we was young… We has two children when we come here.. uhh.. place wasn’t decorated at all, no carpets, nothing. The all- whole- the whole house had to be decorated that I did myself… ev- every room… um, just carried on doing bits and pieces ‘till we… got it how we liked it.
Me: So, you definitely would say you had a hand in the designing of t- of the house?
Relative: Um, not the building of the house, but the décor, the décor yes… yes. Ayy, um, we’ve got those French doors at the back there, they- they wasn’t here when we came in, it was just a window, and we put those in. Had to ask permission of course, but that was granted so we put those in… into there. The garden was a bit small… we didn’t like the garden, didn’t seem enough room, but uh, get used to it (pauses). Mmm. Next?
Me: (chuckles) Okay. Um, so, as we’ve said we’re on the ground floor, it’s… I don’t know if you would agree, but it’s a living room, dining room combination now?
Relative: Yes, exactly, yes.
Me: Leading onto the kitchen. And, you’ve had a hand in the designing process, is there anything that you- that is particularly significant to you.
Relative: Um, ex- explain how you mean, if you don’t mind.
Me: Not, it’s okay, something just really important to you perhaps? Something that has a lot of memories, or that you remember changing around a lot… something that is particularly striking…
Relative: (pauses, looking around) Eh, not really, just.. I- I know it’s… bit of a cliché but no, it’s uh… it’s how we wanted it and such, we’ve… just done it. (pauses) It’s hard to explain, it’s hard to pinpoint anything in particular… in the living room ‘cause once it’s set up, it’s set up and that’s it.
Me: Yeah, no that’s okay, so- excuse me a moment (stretching)
Relative: Don’t mind you doing that, not at all.
Me: (chuckles) Just had to stretch. So, is there anything in the house that you wanted to keep the same? As when you moved in. Because I can, from my, um personal experience, I can easily say “Oh you’ve changed this ‘n this ‘n this”, but I’m interested to know if there’s anything that you wish maybe you could’ve, um, kept? So to speak.
Relative: (looking around) Um… looking around… (pauses) no not really, because it’s uhm… (unintelligible) it everything is. We’ve changed cupboards ‘n… bits ‘n pieces like this ‘oo er, what we wanted, got rid of old stuff we didn’t want ‘n.. just kept the stuff that was- works out right for us as a family
Me: Yeah (chuckles) okay. So… hmm… I’m not quite sure how to phrase my next question (pauses)
Relative: No, answer-ask the question, I don’t’ mind, you’re not gonna embarrass me and all that, that’s not a problem.
Me: No, because- I don’t want to put, um, words in your mouth-
Relative: Oh, you won’t do that
Me: (chuckles) But in the living room, I notice you have a fireplace…
Relative: Yes
Me: And, uh, I recognise it’s an electric fireplace
Relative: No it’s not
Me: It’s not?
Relative: Gas.
Me: Oh, okay, so I would be interested in the history of the fireplace for example, because…
Relative: (coughing) When we originally had had the fireplace it was one that stood out from the wall… and the uh, didn’t like that so thinking of trying to make room, uh, I removed that and got one that was- that you could set back into the chimney breast-
[Silently signalled for an interview pause]
Me: Okay, after a brief pause we’re back, would you- we were talking about the fireplace- would you like to continue?
Relative: Uh, yes… as I said before, that one there we’ve put one in that was- we could recess it into the chimney breast itself so it gave us a lot more room, which was good… and uh, the chimney breast down the other end of the room… the dining room end… the uh… that used to be exactly the same but I- I dug that out myself to lose, uh, well have the recess in there…
Me: Do you know why they had two fireplaces?
Relative: Cuz it was two rooms.
Me: (chuckles) That’s true, that’s true. But you mentioned before that it was already knocked through.
Relative: What that, yes, the um, the previous occupants of the building… uh, knocked it into one big room- a few people have done it up here already… I didn’t have to do that… I’m not pleased the way they finished it off but uh… doesn’t produce.. the effect that I think it should do.
Me: If you could improve it somehow, what would you do?
Relative: Uh, I’d… knock it down and rebuild it.
Me: Exactly the way it is?
Relative: Um… (pauses) yeah I should think so, but I- I’d try ‘n move it- try and move it back a bit further… so we didn’t have that central wall bit here…..
Me: Okay…
Relative: But uh… whether that, uh, would be allowed I don’t know. It was- it was done in a bit of a hurry apparently… I say, but that was all- all done before us moving in
Me: Okay, and then you moved in, it was knocked through, and you found two fireplaces- one of which you decided to take out..
Relative: Yeah.
Me: What- what was your initial intention? For the archway.
Relative: For the archway, yes…. hmm…
Me: What did you want to do with it? You have an empty archway, fireplace is out…
Relative: Originally… originally I had the erm… I had the idea of having the archway there and putting a fish tank inside the archway. That’s what the original idea was from, but when I’d finished the archway I’d realised it was too small and er, I wasn’t gonna take it all down again so I thought- that got changed… we changed our minds ‘n.. put something else there (pauses). Err, it fits, its okay…. We got the old er glass cabinet in there, ‘n it’s all glass so it’s safer in there then what it would be otherwise…
Me: That’s true.
Relative: Uh.. but that’s about it for this room. Oh, right, if I could I’d change the ceiling I’ll- I’m a bit fed up with the uh, this… kinda pattern that’s on the ceiling. I’d- I’d change that if possible but… too much like hard work…
Me: I always find those ceilings just a little bit rough, like whenever you touch it, it’s like ‘ugghh’.. I don’t like the feeling.
Relative: Yeah, yeah it is… it’s the- the difference there, when you sit down there, the guy who did this- it goes ‘round in a pattern, there is a pattern on the ceilin- you can’t see it from here, you have to sit underneath it, more so than this one…. Uh, you can see the pattern just off… sort of… (pauses) change that, I don’t like that, but uh, can’t do nothing ‘bout that, that’s just there…
Me: Okay, so we can move to a different room if you’d like, and discuss uh, the changes, and if you feel like you have to add anything back to the, uh, ground floor, feel free. Is that okay?
Relative: I can do it from here, if you like, I can go from here, I know all about it.
Me: (chuckles) If you could describe where you’re imagining you’re going then- to the interview.
Relative: Oh, I’m imagining I’m going upstairs… right? And the first room you come to is a little box room at the back of the house.. erm.. which is a bedroom now.. erm.. that used to be very cold, couldn’t seem to warm that up, so I’ve had to use special insulation on the walls to keep it warm and nice.. and yeah, that was okay.. erm, water heater used to be in that room cuz we didn’t have central heating and the water storage used to be there.. ‘n er, when they put the central heating in and we took that- took that away, oh it was.. massive difference in the room… really, really big..
Me: How long- how long has it been a bedroom?
Relative: It’s always been a bedroom as far as I know, for us. (coughs)
Me: So, did you get many complaints from your children? About how cold it was?
Relative: Yes. Yes, they used to say it was very cold in there… mmm… my- my youngest daughter used to have it first… but then uh, then the boys grew up and left… and she um, was promoted to the next size room which she quite likes…. (pauses)
Me: (chuckles and pauses) Okay, um, would you like to continue on?
Relative: I’ll put my coffee down so… no it’s okay.. anyway the um, the next room is now… used to be the boys bedroom and it’s now a single girls room… very girly, very comfortable, very tidy strangely enough… uhm, wallpaper chosen by the uh, person who lives in there but uh.. eh it’s okay, she likes flowers.. she does.. if I- if I coul- if I could I’d like to knock the chimney breast out from that room to give her some more room.. cuz that, uh, well it seems a bit awkward…
Me: Is that the chimney breast in the dining room that- ?
Relative: No, in the bedroom, on top
Me: Yeah, from- on top of the dining room
Relative: Yeah er, so that room hasn’t changed from there, once it was decorated and done.. and the front living room- the front bedroom, has always been uh, my bedroom.. er.. obvious reasons.. mm.. Nothing’s changed in there though until they put new windows in.. yeah they put new, the estate- housing people put new windows ‘round the whole house… and not just me they did it to everybody at the time… we did the roof, insulated the roof, bits ‘n pieces like that to try and keep it nice… err… Used to have a train set in there, that was good (chuckles) it was funny… when the, uh, children was small I used to have a- my front room consisted of a- one wardrobe, one train set and one bed and it was uh (pauses) much to my disgust and disappointment, when the children came along my wife insisted that I- I remove the train set…
Me: (chuckles) Oh no…
Relative: Which, yeah, which I did… which I did. Still kept the trains and uh, got quite a few of them…
Me: Do you still take the trains out, and use them from time to time?
Relative: Yes, oh yeah, yes.. yeah I put a- I- I got a layout that we can move that we uh, it’s quite large but uh.. two of us have to handle it to move it around, but we actually bring it downstairs.. in the living room ‘n sort it all out. I do a lot of work- I say a lot, I do a fair amount of work for my son repairing his trains that he buys, he likes to buy, uh, second-hand ones and.. and realises there’s something wrong with them or they need a service so, I get that job, get them running good. Unfortunately sometimes I have to give them back, but it, uh… when he gets a good one I like to keep them (chuckles) I don’t, I won’t it’s not fair.
Me: It sounds like you’re very passionate about your hobby, model trains (chuckles)
Relative: Yeah, I got two hobbies in a sense, it’s the uh, model trains and my fish, of course, which we’ll come to in a minute.
Me: Okay, you’ve mentioned that you are the main designer, so to speak, you’ve had the most say how you decorate the house…?
Relative: Mmm.. I wouldn’t have the main say but the uh… uh, the choices of wallpaper and colouring was always between my wife and myself. I wouldn’t just put a colour in and just say “there, there it is, that’s yours” and that was it, because they might not like it, so they have to agree with what colouring we want… otherwise that can cause all sorts of upset. The biggest upset for me was uh, when they decided they was gonna put a new kitchen in for me.. I- I don’t like the way they’ve put the kitchen in as it is now, I would’a preferred it had they left mine as it was.
Me: And could you explain who ‘they’ are quickly? When you say ‘they’…
Relative: Oh, just uh, Peabody…
Me: Peabody estate.
Relative: Yeah, the Peabody people.. (pauses) it’s… the estate owners, you can’t do anything unless they wanna change something that uh… send the contract and they have to do it- if they wanna do it, they do it and um…. unnecessary really say, but put up with it, you have to work ‘round it… nine times they prefer- think it’s gonna be an improvement, but in this occasion I don’t think it is myself but uh, I say, that’s my opinion.
Me: That’s fair. Okay, um, would you like to discuss the kitchen now? Having leewayed into it (chuckles)– what was it like beforehand then?
Relative: Uh.. (coughing) uh beforehand there was cupboards all round the ceiling, off the ceiling, but uh, all the way round it was put in… by me. And uh, we had cupboards for absolutely everything, put everything away, it was.. pretty good. It looked okay.. all tongue ‘n groove wood around the walls and things.. it were neat and tidy. And they uh, ripped it all out and put a- what they call a ‘modern kitchen’ in.. and uh, just doesn’t look the same..
Me: I must imagine that- you mention you put up the cabinets yourself, that must have taken a lot of time.
Relative: Er, no I was pretty good with me hands and doing.. carpentry work and stuff like that which is- that was alright. Still not bad, it’s just I’m- me hands won’t allow me to do it so much now.
Me: And then Peabody, as you say, came along and ripped it out?
Relative: Yeah, they took it all out ‘n.. ‘n they said ‘oh no, you gotta have this or you gotta have that’ ‘n.. and that was it.
Me: And what was your opinion of that?
Relative: Didn’t like it, but there’s nothing you can do about it .
Me: That’s fair. If you could, what would you do with the kitchen?
Relative: Mm… rip it all out and start again.
Me: (chuckles) What would be your new design?
Relative: (pauses) er… I’d er, I’d (pauses) I could do it the old way, of get the, erm, equipment that you want- fridges, freezers, washing machine and put them in place where you want them and then.. build around from there.. or plan it all out where you want it, and then you- you know what you can do ‘n what you can’t do..
Me: Mm’kay, knowing your limitations.
Relative: Yeah… yes… yes… old age and ill health is limitations now.
Me: ‘Fraid so. It will be for everyone, sooner or later
Relative: Oh yeah, yeah it’ll catch up.. I’m past that, next?
Me: (chuckles) Alright, what part of the house- or past it- would you like to discuss?
Relative: Mmm… done it all really, in a sense… only the garden I suppose, the back garden’s pretty good.. erm, went from a little pond to a fair size one. We used to put grass down, regular, and it never used to grow- we tried all sorts of stuff but it just wouldn’t grow the grass and um, nobody could- nobody knew why. We put… layered new dirt round, new everything, done it by the book and it still died (chuckles). So I thought ‘okay’… and that’s why I made it into a.. a very large patio now ‘n it’s uh, with the pond. ‘N the few- all the plants are now in pots because it’s- they can’t grow.
Me: So the garden, it should be mentioned, is split level in a way, was that always the case?
Relative: Yeah, it was worse than that because where the.. uh.. where the pond sits there used to be an old air raid shelter.. there, it was never fully removed, so I had to uh, to make room for the, uh… for the pond… I had to remove it basically, and that was very hard- that took a long time… that took a long time… It was all done with concrete, it wasn’t done with bricks….
Me: Oh a concrete shelter?
Relative: Yeah. Yeah, it was uh, quite hard, but fortunately it wasn’t needed during the war, just got away with it- but that was before my time, so I dunno ‘bout that, can’t talk about that…
Me: No, that’s fair enough. And then, um, of course you built the pond over it?
Relative: Yeah.
Me: And it’s quite big and… um, what inspired you to build the pond?
Relative: I like fish… I like fish and it’s uh, with the garden pond, the coldwater pond, the um, I brought a couple o’ large fish that grew- didn’t realise how big they was gonna grow.. and uh, it didn’t seem right that they was in such a confined space- and rather than get rid of them I decided to extend the pond.. which I did. Quite successfully actually.
Me: So there was the shelter where your pond is now, where was the original pond that you mentioned?
Relative: Just in the corner, right in the corner, at the back o’ the- back of the garden. Only a little small thing it was (pause) and uh, went ‘round from there.
Me: What was it like when you built the pond, any difficulties?
Relative: Only the sides, it was- it just… just had to take your time really, trying to get it- tryna get the sides level- at the height level, so it didn’t look lopsided when you filled it with water, but it’s uh… (lightly taps on table) touch wood, it looks okay.
Me: (chuckles) Is there any significant memories you have with the pond?
Relative: Uh, only my next door neighbour. I had to uh, at this time then we had new neighbours next door, and the only way I could do it was to knock the fence down completely so I could build the inside part of the pond. And the, uh, she’d just had a new fence fitted, and the guy who fitted it- uh, wasn’t very good, it nearly blew down in the wind- first time we had a piece o’ wind, bit o’ strong wind so it um, it wasn’t hard for my next door neighbour to say ‘yeah do what you want’ so… I took- took it down, built the pond and rebuilt the- the fence. It’s a lot stronger now so.. much better. And that’s not bad. They put a- the, the fence on the opposite side uhm, was rotten (chuckles) and my- although I complained to Peabody about it, they said no I couldn’t do anything about it- uh, it was leaning over and it looked really rough my side. But because it looked okay on the neighbours’ side, cuz looking through behind her plants and everything else like that, she coul- they couldn’t see it was knocked over and broken and I explained and told her what was needed to be done, um, she said it looks fine her side so, on that understanding Peabody said I can’t touch it… which I thought was a bit mean but… there you go. And, uh, anyway well, after all this time they finally agreed, once that house became vacant- for, uh, reasons you don’t have to worry about- the, um, they came round and checked it- the fence- after I complained again and they agreed yes it needed to be replaced ‘n which they did in time.
Me: Finally.
Relative: Finally, that’s it. And it’s so high it’s like we’re in a prison. Yeah, it’s like they’ve enclosed us in which is very weird- I’ll show you in a minute, see what I mean. I show you what I mean and you can understand why I’m talking about it, cuz you haven’t seen it yet- not the new fence anyway.
Me: And then, do you have any favourite memories in the garden? With the pond? Or even the plants in pots?
Relative: Mm, nah they got, erm, the plants that- the main two plants that’s in the pots- we got other bits ‘n pieces as well that I look after- erm, was my wife’s favourite that, she used to do them and uh, since her passing we’ve never had a decent lot of flowers off ‘em, So, if that’s uh, anything to say… and uh, me unable to deal with them plants I suppose, which is quite sad. (pauses) Mmm.
Me: You have the pond, at least, and your fish.
Relative: Yeah we got the pond and everything, and it.. looks okay, it’s fine.. it’s fine. Everybody that sees the pond, uh, come in have a look, they all say the garden looks nice, the way it’s set up, everything so… The little shed that’s there I handbuilt that as well (coughs) excuse me. The only bought piece out there is the little cubbyhole shed that we put all the tools and bits ‘n pieces in.
Me: I can see that you’re quite fond of it, erm, is there any part of the garden you wish you could change? Or parts that you realise may not have been a good idea?
Relative: Yeah, the bit outside the French doors going up to the top part of the garden.. the other end of the garden there, that needs digging up and replacing but the erm, they don’t seem to wanna know, so… (pauses)
Me: They?
Relative: The landlords- it’s hard work, it’s uh, money for nothing… my opinion. Just opinions, of course… but as I say it’s uh, it’s past my capabilities of doing it now… um, otherwise I’d’a done it myself (pauses) It’s very frustrating, you can’t get things done. You live in the house, so many years and it’s hard work to get ‘em to come and do something for you, which is uh, very frustrating.
Me: Yeah, so you’ve had to do most of it yourself?
Relative: Yeah, oh yeah.. w- I didn’t have to, I chose to- I chose to do it myself because the um, y’know if- if you’re gonna live in- in a place and you gonna make it a home for yourself and your family, then you just get on and do things, so it’s uh, which I did- which I’ve always done. And now I need a bit- ooh excuse me- now I need a bit o’ help doing things it’s uh, very hard work to get it. You see other people they- they put a complaint in or make a phone call and a couple of days later people are round to fix, fix their things… doesn’t happen with me for some reason, don’t know why.. which is quite sad. Eh, it- a lot of the memories I’ve got with this place unfortunately are not very nice…
Me: I’m sorry to hear that.
Relative: No, no, just the way it goes.. uh, nothing to- nothing to start crying over but (pauses) and all the um… uh… you’d have to go further back, in time, to realise why I feel like I do, which um, I’m not gonna do, you don’t need that.
Me: No, that’s fine. So, how many children do you have?
Relative: Five.
Me: And have they all lived here simultaneously?
Relative: Er, yes, yes they’ve all lived here. I got my erm.. one, one o’ my own children and one grandchild living here now, erm, other grandchildren visit (pauses) and erm, my other children they all come round to see me at times ‘n everything- we mix it from them coming here to me going to them which, er, ‘s okay.
Me: So, you’ve said that this is your house, in quotations, so how much would you say that they have also, er, impacted upon, well, your house- that you’ve made it- to become a family home?
Relative: Er.. just having- just the children, growing up, you could only.. erm.. (pauses) you could only do material things to the house- what makes it a home, is the people who live here.. and how you get on with the, the house. Right, it’s how you grow up as a family, and such- can you pause for a second?
[Paused the interview]
Me: Okay, back from another pause, a refresher- so we’ve been around the house once, brief tour would you say?
Relative: Yeah.
Me: Yeah. So, as we’ve ended in the garden, I think it’s worth mentioning that you have two entrances to the garden? I was wondering if you could explain that?
Relative: Oh that? Originally had the one, and we would’a preferred a second one as well, so that’s why we put the french windows in- er, french doors. ‘N that is the second entrance.
Me: Okay, as the garden is quite small, why did you decide a second entrance was necessary?
Relative: Just in the summer, when it gets really hot, we can open the doors. ‘N when there’s lots of people in the house we can use the space out there rather than sitting in here- we don’t allow smoking in the house… nah, if you want a cigarette by all means, up to you but, you have to go outside in the garden to do it.
Me: Did you install the doors?
Relative: I did. Originally. Er, before they put these ones in what’s there now, we used to have, erm, they was wooden- it was made up of wood and little panes of glasses.
Me: Wooden doors?
Relative: Yeah. Had, erm… sixteen, sixteen panes of glasses in each win- in each door. Little small windows. Nightmare to clean, but it was alright. ‘Nd, er, they changed it to the modern plastic ones..
Me: The estate did?
Relative: Yeah, they didn’t- they didn’t put it back because- didn’t put it back to a window because we had permission to do the doors to the outside. And because we had that, then they agreed that they’d take out and put back in what’s there. And they just put the modern type ones in now- they’re okay. They work.
Me: Okay, so those doors lead into the dining room- living room combo, um, and could you explain where the other door leads to?
Relative: What other door?
Me: (chuckles) To, er, exit the garden.
Relative: Just the one that- there that kitchen door, the one that goes into the kitchen past- past the bathroom. That one there… uh.. as-as I was saying before, that we missed on there [interview recording] that it’s not the building of a house or the way you decorate it that makes the home. It’s the people who live in the home that makes it.. home as it is, y’know, which is uh, pretty good. See, there’s lots of memories, that I’ve got in my head which I can’t explain, um, because it’s uh, relates back to myself and my wife when we first moved in, doing bits ‘n pieces together. We- we always used to do a bit together all the time, decorating and everything.. yeah, my wife was just as good as me… y’know, to a certain degree and.. I miss that.. well, there ya go.
Me: Now, yeah, the kitchen does lead to the bathroom and the outside, I’m not sure if you want to discuss the bathroom? I realise to some people, it’s quite private…
Relative: Yeah, the- the bathroom was um… uh, might as well. Uh, when I contracted this.. uh, disease that I got- illness, that I got- it’s incurable as well so it’s um- I was finding it very difficult to actually get in and out of the bath. Particularly once you’re sitting down in the bath, and um, and trying have to try ‘n get up and get out of the bath… uh, they realised this and the problem it can get, so they put in a wet room for me, so we’ve uh… there’s no bath as such, it’s just a shower that we got now, ‘s a big one. There’s plenty o’ room so we don’t have to lie down- I got a chair that they fitted, so I can sit on the chair when I’m having a shower if I need it.. sometimes I use it, sometimes I don’t… but uh, it works- it works out, much easier.
Me: I realise it might be a sensitive question, but if you did not have this disease, which would you prefer- the bathroom as it was or the washroom now?
Relative: Erm.. I had plans, before they decided to do this, to put a shower in the bathroom as well so I’d get one of these baths that was a combination of a shower and a bath so you could have a shower or bath, whichever you chose. But uh, that fell through as such.. that was expensive. Because you have to remember- because I don’t own the property, all the money I spend fixing up or repairing the property comes outta my pocket, never get it back again. Because what you do if you- if you improve it, it’s- thank you very much- and that was it, you can’t turn around and say ‘I’ve done this, can you pay me for it?’ they’ll go ‘no’.
Me: How does it feel? Just- I mean… creating this home but knowing that it’s not entirely yours so to speak.
Relative: Doesn’t matter really because once.. uh… if it was my own- if I died I can’t take it with me. And it’s just a home- it’s just a home that you build and uh (pauses) You build up.. your memories in the home of doing bits ‘n pieces with the family and the wife and everything and… that can’t be changed, you can’t change that, you know what I mean, if… I discussed with my daughter the possibility of moving away one day from here… I’m not sure whether I’d like to do that in a way because you’re leaving all your memories behind. Understand?
Me: Yeah.
Relative: Really hard. Mmm. (pauses)
Me: We can go back to the bathroom if you’d like.
Relative: Yeah, yeah.
Me: Erm… so what was it like before the washroom then?
Relative: Oh, just a toilet a sink, and a bath basically. I had- I had the erm.. bath was tongue ‘n grooved all round in the bathroom what er- helped reduce the noise… (pauses) It was just a thing to do at the time, y’know, everything was tongue ‘n groove, ‘n everything. So I did all that, ‘nd er.. when they- when they changed the bathroom round to the wetroom that all disappeared- that all went, they took that out ‘n gone. See all the- all…. me hard work and money that I spent on doing it, er, being thrown in the skip out the front, it was not very nice. Horrible feeling… horrible feeling. I like it as it is now, it’s easier, so I’m not gonna worry about that side of it.
Me: Could you briefly explain what tongue and groove is?
Relative: Uh yeah, it’s just- tongue and groove- it’s timber but- that clicks together, that fits together. It’s got a- a groove in one section and what they call a tongue in the other end. And it just fi- as you put it up- you just fit it in together so it uh, there’s no gaps in it at all. Put up properly it’s really effective.
Me: Quick and easy it sounds like? (chuckles)
Relative: Mmm. Quick possibly. Easy, no. Not that easy. ‘Cause when we have to put up every piece, it has to be put up individually, has to be cut to size individually, it’s… it gets quite interesting, especially doing corners and things like that ‘cause you have to get it dead right otherwise it looks funny.
Me: And you did all of the bathroom like that?
Relative: I did the whole bathroom yeah. Part of the outside as well- the passageway outside. Err, one side of it is still like it- the other side is um, taken down so that they could fit the- the windows and they er, kindly threw it away… didn’t realise I’d have to put it back up again but I- I would’a put it back up. But uh, by the time I realised what they’d done they’d gone so, uh…. nothing I could do about it. Not gonna say ‘bring the skip back’ or something, ‘n go through the skip and try ‘nd find all the bits of wood… nah. Anyway.. that was like that. Yeah, that’s about it- got the cupboard under the stairs here, where I keep all me bits ‘n tools ‘nd bits ‘n pieces in there.
Me: Alright, so we’ve done a general overview of the house and er- well, I’d like to ask, what’s your favourite room so to speak? Or the room that you’re most fond of?
Relative: Uhhm (pauses) that’s awkward I like- me bedroom’s nice, I like me bedroom because that’s quite uh, quite a large room just for me. Now, and, uh, in time, in time I will be uh, putting the railway back up in it- might as well, there’s nobody else there, I only need one wardrobe- we’ve got two and we still- still possess one o’ my sons’ bits ‘n pieces, it’s in the wardrobe and one of the chest of drawers there. That’s [relative] he’s up in Derby now with his family… er, he’s got two kids.. another one on the way… (pauses) but er, no it’s okay.
Me: You’ll have somewhere you can have your trains out permanently (chuckles)
Relative: Yeah, I got boxes and boxes o’ the things so…
Me: I mean, yeah, why not?
Relative: It’s just a hobby you know what I mean, start building it up like it used to be at a time say, but uh…. but it’s a matter of getting ‘round and doing it now…..
Me: Okay, I will be happy to end the interview here if you’d like to, if you have any final comments-?
Relative: Nah, it’s… if you got anymore questions you’d like to ask me, honestly?
[sounds of dog whining for several seconds]
Me: No, no I don’t…. (chuckles) that’s- that’s in the recording now, that’s a distraction.
Relative: Yeah.. that’s not me by the way just let you know.
Me: (chuckles) So, yeah, no other comments you have that you feel pressing- that you want to make?
Relative: No, not really, the uh, (pauses) I say, the house is pretty much how we, uh, how it’s been for a long time. Very hard to change things now, and uh [coughs] anything that you do now you’re.. you’re throwing away memories to a degree, if you move a cupboard or get rid of a wardrobe or something like that, that’s memories gone- you understand what I mean, on that side of it? But uh… it’s just one of the things that goes on in a house y’know? (pauses) No, I think I’m- unless you’ve got any questions, I don’t know what else I can tell you.
Me: That’s okay. Okay we’ll end it here, it was very nice talking to you.
Relative: Nice talking to you too.
[both chuckle]
Me: Thank you.
[End of recording]
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