Voices

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Voices interview with my Grandma
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Winifred Pilling

• She is called Winifred Pilling and she is 86
  years old
• She was born in the year 1919 in Stacksteads
• She still lives in Stacksteads and has done all
  her life
• I interviewed her about the years of her school
  days and her childhood
• By Jenny Pilling 9B

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The Interview...

• Were the teachers strict and how often did they
  use the cane?
• If you were late you got the cane but otherwise
  they didnt use it very much. When they did use
  the cane you were made to hold your hand out and
  they would smack it very hard. I dont remember
  the teachers being too strict because you did
  what you were told so they didnt shout very much.

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2. What did you do at dinner time, did you have
to go home or could you stay at school? No you
had to go home even if you lived quite far away
like me. There wasnt even room for you to eat
your own if you brought it. There were no school
dinners either. I would sometimes be late and get
the cane then because I didnt live that close
but some of the others lived just up the road so
it was alright for them.
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3. In your lessons what did you use to write
with? Well I used to write with pencil and paper
but as I got older I remember others filling up
ink well so I used some sort of pen nib with
something on the end for you to hold it with but
not like a fountain pen.
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4. Did you have break times in between lessons if
so how long were they? Yes they were maybe about
half an hour long. We girls would play netball at
break times and the boys would be kicking a
football around. We were also made to go to the
toilet before we went out to play because the
teachers did not like us going in lesson
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5. How long was a school day and did you enjoy
going to school? Well we started school at 9
oclock and finished at 4 oclock I think. Yes I
did enjoy school but things have improved for
schools today to make them more enjoyable
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6. What subjects did you do at school? Which were
your most and least favourite? The subjects I can
remember doing are religion, we spent a lot of
time learning about the catholic faith. Other
subjects we did were what they called the three
Rs-reading, writing and arithmetic. We also
learnt how to sew and knit. When I got older we
walked to a different school to do cooking
lessons . The council school which we went to had
the facilities to cook unlike ours. The cooking
classes we had were my favourite, we had to wear
a big white apron. I didnt really dislike any of
the subjects I was taught.
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7. What were your hobbies as a child and what did
you like to do in your spare time? I liked to
dance and twirl around as if I was a ballet
dancer. I liked to play the piano but I didnt
have one. My aunty had one in her house and I
liked to play it very much. We always played
netball as well, me and my friends.
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8. What did you like to do with your friends at
the weekend or after school? I used to like
playing with a top and whip but boys played with
them more than girls. I also like making mud pies
and playing shops selling them.
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9. Did you have a weekend job while you were a
young teenager? No there were no jobs for
teenagers while I was still at school. I left
school at 14 and went for a job in the slipper
works, I would put the socks in the slippers, it
was called socking. I got less then a pound for a
full week for that about. I did that for a while
and then went onto a machine sewing the slipper
material.