Title:
Interview with Lucy Croxall and Eva Hayes, 27 February 1978
Level: Category
Sound Archive
Level: Fonds
HISTORY OF WITHAM RECORDINGS
Level: Series
Oral history interviews about Witham conducted by Janet Gyford
Scope and Content:
Interview with sisters Lucy Croxall and Eva Hayes about their lives in Witham.

Tape 1 Side A of original recording
[00:00:] Opening of Bramston School in 1937, other staff who worked there; pupils coming in from outside villages to attend school.
[05:10:] Opening of other secondary schools in the area; choice of students to continue at Bramston School or move to new school; move of teachers to villages to teach students during Second World War; evacuees sent to Witham, sharing facilities at school with them, billeting of children in the town.
[09:15:] Air raids over Witham during the Second World War; running the Girls' Training Corps (GTC); social events with the GTC including monthly church parades for the GTC and Air Training Corps (ATC); uniform worn for GTC.
[15:30:] Memories of the First World War, soldiers billeted in town; father's work for gas company; family's background from Staffordshire; early schooling at the church school on Guithavon Street; secondary schools and colleges in the area.
[20:15:] Start of private secondary school by Bill Payne, attended by Lucy Croxall; attending college at St Gabriel's; conversation about other students at Bill Payne's school; Eva Hayes' work at Barclays Bank after leaving school; Eva attending church school.

Tape 1 Side B of original recording
[00:00:] [Looking at photographs] Eva Hayes serving as treasurer for the Deanery; discussion about recording interviews; discussion about notable former residents and properties in Witham.
[03:35:] Allotment managed by their family on land owned by the Blyth family; father built Shelly's house for the family; move into house by Methodist chapel on Guithavon Street; neighbouring properties.
[07:45:] Move into Collingwood Road in 1953 after parents' deaths; move in 1970 to current property; management of garden; gardening lessons at school.
[12:40:] Looking at old photographs of Witham; father's job at gas works; brief anecdotes prompted by photographs.
[18:50:] Childhood friends; former shops and establishments on Bridge Street; shopping at Spurge's.

Tape 2 Side A of original recording
[00:00:] Discussion about local historical research.
[01:05:] The gas works; major employers in Witham in the early nineteenth century [ends mid-conversation].
Dates of Creation:
27 February 1978
Extent:
55 minutes 11 seconds
Creator Name:
Janet Gyford
Admin History:
Sisters Lucy Croxall and Eva Hayes spent most of their lives in Witham. Their father moved the family to the town from Staffordshire in c. 1900 to run the gas works. Eva worked at Barclays Bank in Maldon after leaving school, before marrying. Lucy became a schoolteacher at Bramston School.

Lucy died in 1988 [information from Janet Gyford].
Archivist Note:
SJM 20 April 2017
Custodial History:
Recorded on cassettes numbered 29 and 30 by creator (Sides 1-3).
Copyright:
Copyright Janet Gyford, Lucy Croxall, Eva Hayes
Physical Characteristics:
MP3 audio files digitised from two Scotch C-60 Type 1 audio cassettes
Related Unit of Description:
The transcript of this recording and biographical notes about Lucy Croxall can be found on Janet Gyford's History of Witham website.
Not Available:
Essex Sound and Video Archive: use digital copy available on Soundcloud

Key terms

TypeKey termsDescription
Subjects Girls Training Corps Interview with Lucy Croxall and Eva Hayes, 27 February 1978
Subjects Second World War Interview with Lucy Croxall and Eva Hayes, 27 February 1978
Personal Names Miss
Lucy
Croxall 		Interview with Lucy Croxall and Eva Hayes, 27 February 1978
Personal Names Mrs
Eva (Croxall)
Hayes 		Interview with Lucy Croxall and Eva Hayes, 27 February 1978
Document Types Sound recording Interview with Lucy Croxhall and Eva Hayes, 27 February 1978