People

F

Dora Farley

I was born at Woolsthorpe at No. 4 Beeson`s Row. My Mum and Dad came round on bikes when they were courting and saw it was to let and they never lived anywhere else. All three of their daughters were born there, Marjorie, Beryl and Dora. There was 7 years and 1 month between each one. I am the only one left now. My dad came from Buckminster. He lived at the farm on the right up the Woolsthorpe Road and my mum came from Gunby. They were married at Gunby. I went to Colsterworth School at the age of 5, my sister would take me. Later I went to work at the Rectory. This was after Mary Stedman`s time there. The rector was the Rev. (later Canon) Barraclough. He was here 1942-1960. The Barracloughs were lovely to work for and treated me very well, although she did not mix with people in the village. I was paid 1 2s 6d per week. I did not live in but came to work to start at 9 a.m.. I stayed with them until I was married when I left and then I was a housewife. Read more....

George Flint

My name is George Flint and I was born in Leicester in the West End area, on August 8th 1916. After I left school I was in the shoe trade, designing ladies` shoes and I hated it. I went into the Army in November 1939 because it so happened that I belonged to a motor-cycle club called The Query Club. One member that I knew very well was Mr Newman who had been a construction engineer in Leicester. Then he joined the Army and formed the 726 Artisan Works Company of Leicester, Royal Engineers, a construction company which had all sorts of people from the different trades - brick-layers and carpenters, that type of thing. One day he rang me up and he said, ` You`re a great motor cyclist, what about coming into the Army?` I said,` Not on your life!` `Well`, he said, `You`ll have to come in sometime, you`ll be called up`. Anyway we met up and had a drink or two and talked it over, and I didn`t like my job so and I ended up being his dispatch rider. When I told my parents, they thought I had lost my marbles and I probably had! Read more....

Winifred Fairchild

My name is Winifred Annie Fairchild. I was a Watson before I was married. I was born in Woolsthorpe and I had one sister and five brothers. My brothers were Frank, Harry, Len who was twin to Mary, Les and Charlie. Len is the only brother still alive. We all lived together in this small cottage down in the old village that only had two bedrooms. My mother and father and the two girls had one bedroom and the five boys had the other. When we came to live in one of the council houses up the Woolsthorpe Road, it was lovely. There were three bedrooms, one for mum and dad, one for Mary and I and the boys had the big one. We thought it was marvellous. Read more....