Title:
Interview with Ann Chapman
Level: Category
Sound Archive
Level: Fonds
ESSEX RECORD OFFICE
Level: Series
Fryerns Library Fiftieth Anniversary
Scope and Content:
Interview with Ann Chapman about growing up and raising children in Basildon, and working for the library service.

[Track 1:] Early life; father worked on the railways, got a house near Landseer [?] Road through her father's work; went to Pitsea School, then went to Grinstead School, then Timberlog; worked for library service until 1970 to raise children, returned to work about 11 years later (1 minute 33 seconds).
[Track 2:] First impressions on moving to Basildon: liked playing in the mud; deliveries from shops; Pitsea market; shopping with mother, local shops (3 minutes 7 seconds).
[Track 3:] Used to attend All Saints; also went to Sunday School at Grinstead Road in hearse converted into charabanc; held Harvest Supper to encourage old and new residents to mingle, some bad feeling towards the newcomers (2 minutes 37 seconds).
[Track 4:] Father worked as signalman electrifying the railway lines; became ill so worked in stationery department at Mobil Oil; then worked for local council; mother did temporary work in London and for local doctor in Timberlog Lane, later moved to Clay Hill Road (1 minute 26 seconds).
[Track 5:] School life, teachers; summer holidays, scrumping (1 minute 11 seconds).
[Track 6:] Description of house; mother remained frightened of losing house, had lived with grandmother and in former servants' quarters in Wanstead let out to homeless people (1 minute 6 seconds).
[Track 7:] Leisure time; went to cinema in Pitsea; courting; Campbell's buses; friendly place to live, got to know neighbours; local vicar; friendly neighbourhood, comparison with where she is living now (3 minutes 14 seconds).
[Track 8:] Lived in Whitmore Way after first getting married; friendly neighbours; many other young mothers; story of going to visit a friend during her confinement period; support from neighbours in raising children; children went to Northlands school, Pitsea, then Chalvedon; children's current careers (4 minutes 11 seconds).
[Track 9:] Housing exchange and moved to Long Riding; bad neighbours; got placed in bungalow in Pitsea because of asthma; good neighbours (1 minute 8 seconds).
[Track 10:] Work in the library service in the 1960s, in old church hall in Pitsea; poor heating; also worked at Laindon, doubled as rates office; trained as library assistant at Billericay; library service very busy in the late 1980s, worked at Basildon, newly built building (4 minutes 32 seconds).
[Track 11:] Changes over the course of her career, especially computerisation; first used recording disk to order material; first ELAN system introduced at Pitsea, problems because of incorrect wiring; usage starting to drop near the end of her career; value of current library service; health problems caused by installation of new carpets at Pitsea; moved to new Basildon Central Library (4 minutes 15 seconds).
[Track 12:] Now retired; member of local clubs in Pitsea (28 seconds).
[Track 13:] Changes in the area, especially build-up of Basildon; demise of local businesses and local village feel in the neighbourhoods; Pitsea market in decline; less personal service in modern shops, one of the benefits of the library service now (4 minutes 1 second).
Dates of Creation:
7 September 2010
Extent:
32 minutes 54 seconds
Admin History:
Ann Chapman was born in 1947. She moved to Basildon from London with her family in 1953.
Copyright:
Copyright of interviewee transferred to ESVA in 2014. View our Takedown Policy here: http://www.essexrecordofficeblog.co.uk/you-are-hear/takedown-policy/

Key terms

TypeKey termsDescription
Subjects Libraries Interview with Ann Chapman
Subjects Shopping Interview with Ann Chapman
Personal Names Ann
Chapman 		Interview with Ann Chapman
Document Types Sound recording Interview with Ann Chapman