0:00:02 > 0:00:04Hello! Look who it is!
0:00:04 > 0:00:08It's the old judge from Strictly, Len Goodman, and welcome to my decade, the 1950s.
0:00:08 > 0:00:12I'll give it top marks. It's not a seven!
0:00:12 > 0:00:14It's a ten from Len,
0:00:14 > 0:00:18for change, challenge, possibilities and promise.
0:00:36 > 0:00:40Welcome to the 1952 Show. Why 1952?
0:00:40 > 0:00:43Well, whizz back 60 years,
0:00:43 > 0:00:47and young Elizabeth had just become the new Queen.
0:00:47 > 0:00:50And she found the whole country taking their first steps
0:00:50 > 0:00:52into a brighter Britain.
0:00:52 > 0:00:55So every day this week we'll be hearing what you remember
0:00:55 > 0:00:59about some of the most exciting years in our history.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02Here's how the telly lines up today.
0:01:02 > 0:01:07Short trousers, skipping, conkers, catapults and the cane.
0:01:07 > 0:01:11What it was really like to be a nipper in the '50s.
0:01:13 > 0:01:17Was '50s marriage all it was cracked up to be?
0:01:17 > 0:01:19We reveal the secret ways
0:01:19 > 0:01:23disgruntled housewives let off steam.
0:01:23 > 0:01:25And the new towns,
0:01:25 > 0:01:30built to solve the housing crisis in our bombed-out cities.
0:01:30 > 0:01:34The pioneers spill the beans on their early days.
0:01:34 > 0:01:37Fabulous stories, wonderful archive
0:01:37 > 0:01:41and some great guests on our 1950s sofa.
0:01:41 > 0:01:47- And today, it's the fabulous Pam Ayres!- Hello, Len.- Hello, Pam.
0:01:47 > 0:01:50- I've got to say, you look great. - Thank you very much.
0:01:50 > 0:01:52- Yes, I'm in the pink. - You are in the pink
0:01:52 > 0:01:55and I hope you've got plenty of memories of the '50s?
0:01:55 > 0:01:59I've got lots of vivid memories of my childhood, yes, I have.
0:01:59 > 0:02:04- Well, keep them to yourself and reveal all presently.- OK!
0:02:04 > 0:02:08So what memories do other people have of their childhood?
0:02:08 > 0:02:13We take a look at a day in the life for four '50s kids.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16MUSIC: "Memories Are Made Of This"
0:02:17 > 0:02:20# Memories are made of this...#
0:02:20 > 0:02:24Every childhood is unique.
0:02:24 > 0:02:29And what we remember gives us a vivid snapshot of times gone by.
0:02:31 > 0:02:34So meet Eastender Barry,
0:02:34 > 0:02:36Pat from Newcastle,
0:02:36 > 0:02:38country boy Tim,
0:02:38 > 0:02:40and Home Counties Julia.
0:02:42 > 0:02:45All different backgrounds, all different memories.
0:02:47 > 0:02:51Let them take us back 60 years to see what childhood in the '50s
0:02:51 > 0:02:53was really like.
0:02:53 > 0:02:56My mum used to come in, I think she was coming home from
0:02:56 > 0:02:59early morning office cleaning, get me out of bed.
0:02:59 > 0:03:01A quick cat's lick as she called it,
0:03:01 > 0:03:03like a wipe round the face with a flannel,
0:03:03 > 0:03:06get the tide marks off from the night before
0:03:06 > 0:03:07and then walk through to school.
0:03:07 > 0:03:12Get up, put on our uniforms, which were all very '50s,
0:03:12 > 0:03:17all wearing shorts and ties and even school caps and blazers.
0:03:17 > 0:03:21I had a little green pleated skirt white socks and sandals,
0:03:21 > 0:03:23sort of T-strap sandals.
0:03:23 > 0:03:27Obviously, a green cardigan to match and green knickers!
0:03:27 > 0:03:31Home breakfast would be porridge, boiled eggs or some sort of cereal.
0:03:31 > 0:03:34Just a slice of bread and butter, dip it in the sugar bowl,
0:03:34 > 0:03:37what we call a sugar butty.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40Not very healthy by today's standards, I know, but things like that.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43And usually my father would drive us to school,
0:03:43 > 0:03:46dropped off at the school gates and the day began.
0:03:46 > 0:03:51And I can remember some of the boys getting
0:03:51 > 0:03:55a ruler across the backs of their legs.
0:03:55 > 0:03:57I suffered that quite a bit.
0:03:57 > 0:04:01Then you had to sign a book, as if it was an honour!
0:04:01 > 0:04:03You had to sign a punishment book.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06Playtime never came quick enough,
0:04:06 > 0:04:10and for those not interested in the ruckus, there was always romance.
0:04:11 > 0:04:17# Young love, first love
0:04:17 > 0:04:23# Filled with true devotion...#
0:04:23 > 0:04:25Girls, who were much the stronger group used to insist
0:04:25 > 0:04:27on playing kiss chase.
0:04:27 > 0:04:32Oh, yes, we did play kiss chase, yes!
0:04:32 > 0:04:35I can remember being the victim of that a couple of times,
0:04:35 > 0:04:38cornered in, it was a bike shed!
0:04:38 > 0:04:43We just felt that that was really naughty and when they found us
0:04:43 > 0:04:46we had to give them a kiss, yes!
0:04:48 > 0:04:51At the end of the school day, obviously, the bell rang.
0:04:51 > 0:04:56We put our chairs on the desk and we had to stand up and sing...
0:04:56 > 0:05:02# Now the day is over night is drawing near. #
0:05:06 > 0:05:09And all the kids went mad, yeah, rushing out the door,
0:05:09 > 0:05:11not orderly fashion.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16Along the street, making plans, for when we were going to meet up after tea.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23Right behind where we used to live there used to be a council estate
0:05:23 > 0:05:26and all the children used to play in the streets there
0:05:26 > 0:05:28but we weren't allowed to mix with them.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31I just played at home with my brother.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34- PAT:- We played a lot in the street then
0:05:34 > 0:05:36because we didn't have a back garden.
0:05:39 > 0:05:42- BARRY:- The mischievous ones, there was knock down ginger,
0:05:42 > 0:05:43everyone played that.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46That when you knocked on someone's door and ran away.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49When someone got used to it, if you did it too much,
0:05:49 > 0:05:51they'd be waiting for you behind the door
0:05:51 > 0:05:54and they chase you up the streets. Some of them men was fast runners.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57We to be outside as much as possible.
0:05:57 > 0:06:02I remember having a friend round and we had a competition to see who could jump highest off a haystack.
0:06:02 > 0:06:05We would progressively climb higher and higher until eventually
0:06:05 > 0:06:08someone stuck his teeth through his kneecap and it all came to an end.
0:06:08 > 0:06:11Yes, we called the bomb sites debris.
0:06:11 > 0:06:13Let's go and play on the big debris or the little debris.
0:06:13 > 0:06:15Every debris had a name.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18The water tank debris, because that filled up with water.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21But, as I say, we had a lot of fun on the bomb sites.
0:06:21 > 0:06:25It could be quite dangerous at times but luckily enough,
0:06:25 > 0:06:26most of us survived it all.
0:06:29 > 0:06:31When we were playing,
0:06:31 > 0:06:35we quite often used to play with skipping ropes and hopscotch.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38We even played in cardboard boxes.
0:06:38 > 0:06:40It's a bit of a cliche, but we did.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43Cardboard boxes could be racing cars, fire engines,
0:06:43 > 0:06:45anything the imagination wanted.
0:06:45 > 0:06:47I didn't really spend a lot of time in the bedroom
0:06:47 > 0:06:50because today children don't mind being sent to their bedroom
0:06:50 > 0:06:55because they got everything there, TVs, computers,
0:06:55 > 0:06:58but we spent most of the time in the street rather than our bedrooms.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01# You're full of sugar you're full of spice
0:07:01 > 0:07:04# You're kind of naughty But you're naughty and nice. #
0:07:05 > 0:07:08But after all the fun and games, it was indoors for something to eat.
0:07:10 > 0:07:14As far as I remember for supper, it was all good wholesome stuff.
0:07:14 > 0:07:16Spam and chips!
0:07:16 > 0:07:17Banana sandwiches.
0:07:17 > 0:07:18Egg and chips.
0:07:18 > 0:07:19Meat and two veg.
0:07:19 > 0:07:22Jam and bread and cakes.
0:07:22 > 0:07:23Sausage and mash.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26When we came home from school, because we'd had lunch,
0:07:26 > 0:07:28it was literally bread and jam.
0:07:28 > 0:07:32And this is really funny, if I was really hungry, which I was
0:07:32 > 0:07:36most of the time, I used to go and eat the dog biscuits in the larder.
0:07:36 > 0:07:40They were the little tiny Bonio biscuits.
0:07:40 > 0:07:42We use to have a Labrador called Rufus
0:07:42 > 0:07:45and I used to go and eat the biscuits. Isn't that terrible?
0:07:45 > 0:07:48You'd get fish and chips for about a shilling.
0:07:48 > 0:07:50We used to put the salt and vinegar on,
0:07:50 > 0:07:54and we used to loosen the lid right to the last thread so the next
0:07:54 > 0:07:57person would come in and put the salt on their chips,
0:07:57 > 0:07:59cos the lid would come off and they've got half a pound of salt
0:07:59 > 0:08:01all over their fish and chips!
0:08:01 > 0:08:03That was quite a common occurrence, that was.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06A terrible thing when I think back!
0:08:06 > 0:08:11# Hopalong Cassidy here we come! #
0:08:11 > 0:08:16And if you were lucky enough, you got to sit in front of the gogglebox.
0:08:17 > 0:08:20Television was only a couple of hours a day
0:08:20 > 0:08:23and that was always a must.
0:08:23 > 0:08:27There were the Woodentops, there was Andy Pandy.
0:08:27 > 0:08:29Bill and Ben.
0:08:29 > 0:08:33"Loblob, Little Weed" and the Little Weed used to go, "Weed!"
0:08:33 > 0:08:34Hopalong Cassidy.
0:08:34 > 0:08:37Loads of cowboys, yeah. Loads of cowboys.
0:08:37 > 0:08:41And there was Muffin The Mule. "Here comes Muffin, Muffin the mule."
0:08:41 > 0:08:44And on Saturday nights it was Dixon Of Dock Green.
0:08:44 > 0:08:46And the Billy Cotton Band Show.
0:08:46 > 0:08:50'Wakey wakey!'
0:08:50 > 0:08:53So it was no education at all, it was purely fun.
0:08:57 > 0:09:02And then it was supper time, bath and bed. It was fairly routine.
0:09:02 > 0:09:06Mum always used to say, have you wiped that tide mark off?
0:09:06 > 0:09:09Because we were only bathing once a week and we dodged the flannel.
0:09:09 > 0:09:14It was bath and good stripy winceyette pyjamas
0:09:14 > 0:09:15with a drawstring.
0:09:15 > 0:09:19I think we used to sometimes have a story read to us.
0:09:19 > 0:09:25# Magic moments...#
0:09:25 > 0:09:30I remember my childhood as being a very peaceful, settled,
0:09:30 > 0:09:33safe childhood.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36I don't think at the time I realised how lucky
0:09:36 > 0:09:40we were to have the childhood we had. It certainly was a lovely time.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44Back in the '50s, I think children were, on the whole,
0:09:44 > 0:09:48a lot happier in those days.
0:09:49 > 0:09:50When you're little,
0:09:50 > 0:09:54all you are really interested in is that you feel safe and that
0:09:54 > 0:09:58you are fed and warm and I can remember being all of those things.
0:09:58 > 0:10:03- BARRY:- Maybe children today do have as much fun, I don't know.
0:10:03 > 0:10:07But I think no one had as much fun as we did in those days.
0:10:07 > 0:10:09Always something to do.
0:10:09 > 0:10:12They were great days, really great days.
0:10:12 > 0:10:17# Filled with love... #
0:10:19 > 0:10:21- What a marvellous little film. - A gorgeous film.
0:10:21 > 0:10:24I like the salt cellar, brilliant!
0:10:24 > 0:10:29And we have one of its stars, Barry! Let me ask you this, Barry.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32What would be your overall impression
0:10:32 > 0:10:35of growing up as a kid in the '50s?
0:10:35 > 0:10:39Well, I suppose the main thing would be the freedom we had.
0:10:39 > 0:10:41Not like today, there is too much traffic.
0:10:41 > 0:10:45We went out in the mornings and never came back till late at night.
0:10:45 > 0:10:47Our mums didn't have to worry about us.
0:10:47 > 0:10:49We used to play on the Underground.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52We used to bunk into the Underground and go off to Epping
0:10:52 > 0:10:54or anywhere on the Underground.
0:10:54 > 0:10:57Yes, we've all done that. A Red Rover on the buses.
0:10:57 > 0:11:01- I didn't, I didn't go on the Underground.- Well, there weren't too many of them down in Somerset!
0:11:01 > 0:11:03You could dig a long way but you wouldn't come to the Underground.
0:11:03 > 0:11:06- Now, you were a country girl. - I was a country girl.
0:11:06 > 0:11:09I grew up in the village of Stafford in the Vale, Len,
0:11:09 > 0:11:11which was then in Berkshire.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14And my memories are very seasonal, really.
0:11:14 > 0:11:16In the winter, when we had snow,
0:11:16 > 0:11:21which we were very excited about, you had to cower out of the way
0:11:21 > 0:11:24because the country boys used to have snowball fights.
0:11:24 > 0:11:27And in the middle of the snowball they would embed a rock,
0:11:27 > 0:11:31so if you got one of those in the temple, it was curtains, really.
0:11:31 > 0:11:35That is my overwhelming wintry sort of memory.
0:11:35 > 0:11:39But in the summer, I can smell the hay because we used to be a pest,
0:11:39 > 0:11:42I am sure, and we'd go all round the hay fields when
0:11:42 > 0:11:46they had been baled and they were the little bales and you could build
0:11:46 > 0:11:51all sorts of fantastic structures, bale houses and dens and that.
0:11:51 > 0:11:56The older kids used to go in for a snog. Absolutely, yes!
0:11:56 > 0:12:00- We never had that, Barry?- No! - What, no snogging at Bethnal Green?
0:12:00 > 0:12:02No, we had to do it in the bombed houses.
0:12:02 > 0:12:08- That wasn't so fragrant, Barry. - They were wonderful, wonderful days.
0:12:08 > 0:12:13I really enjoyed myself. Now, back to those early '50s.
0:12:13 > 0:12:17If you wanted to see the news and you didn't have a television,
0:12:17 > 0:12:20cinema newsreels were the thing.
0:12:20 > 0:12:23I remember happy days at the pictures.
0:12:23 > 0:12:25They put the newsreel between the A and the B movie
0:12:25 > 0:12:29and threw in a cartoon for good measure.
0:12:29 > 0:12:33How about that for about 9p? Value for money!
0:12:33 > 0:12:38All this week we'll be looking at events that made the '50s
0:12:38 > 0:12:43and how you remember the first decade fully captured on film.
0:12:43 > 0:12:49Let's start with the defining moment of 1952 itself.
0:12:49 > 0:12:55The day a princess, who had lost her dad, turned into a queen.
0:12:57 > 0:13:01NEWSREEL: It is with the greatest sorrow that we make the following
0:13:01 > 0:13:05announcement, that the King passed peacefully away in his sleep.
0:13:05 > 0:13:07It made me personally very sad
0:13:07 > 0:13:10because I thought he was a great man.
0:13:10 > 0:13:11He did his share.
0:13:13 > 0:13:17Groups of people from the houses in our road,
0:13:17 > 0:13:21in small circles all talking about it all the way up the road.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24The announcement of the death was a shock.
0:13:25 > 0:13:29It was a feeling 23-year-old Terence Gallagher shared with others
0:13:29 > 0:13:31who had heard the news that February morning.
0:13:31 > 0:13:36But Terence's interest in the story was not simply personal.
0:13:36 > 0:13:38At the time, he was a runner at Movietone,
0:13:38 > 0:13:42Britain's largest newsreel company, and he knew this was
0:13:42 > 0:13:45the biggest story their cameras had covered in years.
0:13:45 > 0:13:49While the coronation was not happen for another year,
0:13:49 > 0:13:52the cameras were there to capture the extraordinary moment
0:13:52 > 0:13:55the new Queen was proclaimed, two days after her father's death.
0:13:55 > 0:14:00'I proclaim that the high and mighty Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary
0:14:00 > 0:14:05'is now, by the death of our late sovereign of happy memory,
0:14:05 > 0:14:07'become Queen Elizabeth II.'
0:14:07 > 0:14:11The scene could have been out of a period movie.
0:14:11 > 0:14:15Everyone's in their regalia. It was most impressive.
0:14:15 > 0:14:17At the Movietone offices, Terence and the team
0:14:17 > 0:14:20were counting down to their biggest challenge,
0:14:20 > 0:14:22filming the funeral of the British monarch.
0:14:24 > 0:14:28Here was a job that had to be done. It had to be done properly.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31It had to be done quickly.
0:14:31 > 0:14:37And people, somehow, welcomed the opportunity to do this work.
0:14:38 > 0:14:40Rather than risk the crowds the next morning,
0:14:40 > 0:14:44Terence stayed at work on the eve of the funeral.
0:14:44 > 0:14:46I spent the night in the Movietone theatre
0:14:46 > 0:14:48using my raincoat as a pillow.
0:14:50 > 0:14:54Got up, it must have been six o'clock, and as I walked,
0:14:54 > 0:14:59masses of people, all over the road, walking down the road,
0:14:59 > 0:15:04silence, except for the shuffle of feet. It was quite eerie.
0:15:06 > 0:15:09My job that day was to ferry the film.
0:15:09 > 0:15:11There weren't enough of us
0:15:11 > 0:15:15so there were people like Boy Scouts were used.
0:15:15 > 0:15:16It was all hands to the pump, as it were.
0:15:16 > 0:15:18As fast as the footage got back,
0:15:18 > 0:15:22the film processors were turning it into newsreel.
0:15:22 > 0:15:25They would then have produced 200 copies.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28The first ones coming off going to the London cinemas,
0:15:28 > 0:15:32and the rest going on the night train all over the country.
0:15:32 > 0:15:35Terence has never seen the remarkable footage
0:15:35 > 0:15:39he helped to capture that day, more than 60 years ago.
0:15:39 > 0:15:42This is the camera position I was in
0:15:42 > 0:15:45as the cortege passes into St James's Street.
0:15:45 > 0:15:49Lots of people with handkerchiefs, including men.
0:15:50 > 0:15:55Because it was a sorrowful sight, the actual funeral.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59Oh, it brought a lump to your throat, as soon as you saw it.
0:15:59 > 0:16:01And pride, in fact.
0:16:01 > 0:16:05The pride that the British can do this sort of thing.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08And I still think it was a terrific job
0:16:08 > 0:16:11and I was proud to be part of it. However small.
0:16:15 > 0:16:19I tell you what, that is interesting.
0:16:19 > 0:16:21Very nice to have an inside view.
0:16:21 > 0:16:22Now, I don't know about you,
0:16:22 > 0:16:26but I don't remember the death of the King.
0:16:26 > 0:16:30- No, I don't. - But I do remember the Coronation.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33- What are your memories of it? - They are momentous, Len.
0:16:33 > 0:16:37It was the first time I ever saw the television, because in the pub
0:16:37 > 0:16:40up the road from us, which was called the Cottage of Content,
0:16:40 > 0:16:45they had a TV. And so we sat cross-legged on the carpet
0:16:45 > 0:16:49and watched this little tiny figure of the Queen and heard the music.
0:16:49 > 0:16:51Not only was it the Coronation
0:16:51 > 0:16:55but it was the first time we had ever seen the TV so I remember it.
0:16:55 > 0:17:00- My mum bought a telly. - Oh, she bought a telly.
0:17:00 > 0:17:01I had never seen a telly.
0:17:01 > 0:17:05- She bought a telly for the Coronation.- Oh, I say!
0:17:05 > 0:17:08And we had the whole street in there.
0:17:08 > 0:17:13We had the street party and we got the five bob bit, as we called it,
0:17:13 > 0:17:15the ceremonial five shilling piece.
0:17:15 > 0:17:18- We didn't have one of those. I feel deprived.- But I got rid of mine.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21I swapped it for some fag cards and then I got whacked for that.
0:17:21 > 0:17:23But anyway.
0:17:23 > 0:17:29Now, housing was the biggest issue facing the country after the war.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32Not only was there dreadful overcrowding,
0:17:32 > 0:17:36but we had also had five years of bombing to contend with.
0:17:36 > 0:17:38So, come peacetime and the '50s,
0:17:38 > 0:17:44Britain had to rebuild itself quite literally from the ground up.
0:17:44 > 0:17:46And the solution?
0:17:46 > 0:17:52A mix of prefabs, council flats, council houses, council estates!
0:17:52 > 0:17:54And even, whole new towns!
0:17:59 > 0:18:03To be offered a big four-bedroom house for something like
0:18:03 > 0:18:06five shillings a week was fantastic.
0:18:06 > 0:18:10We were all young architects, recently qualified,
0:18:10 > 0:18:12so everything was new.
0:18:12 > 0:18:14It was a very, very exciting time.
0:18:14 > 0:18:18And the new towns were providing both houses and jobs
0:18:18 > 0:18:22and that was what decided me to go to Stevenage.
0:18:23 > 0:18:27Stevenage in Hertfordshire, Britain's first new town.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30A bold social experiment sold mainly to Londoners,
0:18:30 > 0:18:35whose city had been ravaged by war, plagued with overcrowding
0:18:35 > 0:18:38and often without basic amenities.
0:18:38 > 0:18:41Then, in 1951, the dream of paying an affordable rent for modern,
0:18:41 > 0:18:44spacious houses, all set in beautiful countryside
0:18:44 > 0:18:48came true for some, as Stevenage's first neighbourhood was completed.
0:18:53 > 0:18:58Percy Weston and his wife, May, were two of Stevenage's pioneers.
0:18:58 > 0:18:59I thought, if we want a house,
0:18:59 > 0:19:01we have to go where they are being built.
0:19:03 > 0:19:06And that's when I wrote to the general manager
0:19:06 > 0:19:08and ultimately got an interview.
0:19:08 > 0:19:14And I was offered a job in the engineer's wing.
0:19:14 > 0:19:18And I was going to get a house into the bargain. So, I accepted.
0:19:18 > 0:19:23Percy and May still live in the house they came to in 1951.
0:19:23 > 0:19:27It looked enormous, actually, because we had been living
0:19:27 > 0:19:30with my mum and dad and we'd had really no privacy,
0:19:30 > 0:19:34you know, for newlyweds,
0:19:34 > 0:19:39so that was the big thing that we could be alone together.
0:19:41 > 0:19:45We literally arrived in the middle of a building site.
0:19:45 > 0:19:49As they were finishing their houses one at a time,
0:19:49 > 0:19:51they were letting them out.
0:19:51 > 0:19:54They weren't completing the whole estate to start with.
0:19:54 > 0:19:58And I thought, we have arrived in one of those American
0:19:58 > 0:20:00or Australian outback towns, you know.
0:20:02 > 0:20:06Like Percy, Maureen Wilderspoon's dad had been drawn to Stevenage
0:20:06 > 0:20:08by the promise of work and a fresh start.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11We came from a very working-class family,
0:20:11 > 0:20:15you know, my father was a carpenter and my mother was a seamstress.
0:20:15 > 0:20:17What life could we have had in London,
0:20:17 > 0:20:21because we didn't have the money ever to better ourselves.
0:20:21 > 0:20:26The only way he saw of getting out, we were a family of four,
0:20:26 > 0:20:28was to emigrate to Australia.
0:20:28 > 0:20:33And then this job in Stevenage came up building the new houses
0:20:33 > 0:20:36and all the builders that came to Stevenage were promised a house.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39So they talked about it
0:20:39 > 0:20:43and they decided that Stevenage was a little bit closer than Australia!
0:20:43 > 0:20:45So they went for Stevenage.
0:20:47 > 0:20:51Like many Londoners, Maureen's family had been attracted to the new towns
0:20:51 > 0:20:57by the Government PR campaign which, over the years, did the hard sell.
0:20:57 > 0:21:00'Apart from the improved design of commonplace sights like bus shelters,
0:21:00 > 0:21:04'notice the refreshing absence of traffic congestion.'
0:21:04 > 0:21:10It succeeded, with thousands of families attracted by the idea of a bright new future.
0:21:10 > 0:21:13Each new town had a master plan for shops, schools, churches,
0:21:13 > 0:21:16even theatres to entertain the new residents.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19On the drawing board, whole communities were planned,
0:21:19 > 0:21:22spanning all classes and all ages.
0:21:22 > 0:21:25But coming from a cramped two-bed in Tottenham,
0:21:25 > 0:21:28for most ordinary people like Maureen,
0:21:28 > 0:21:30the biggest boon was space.
0:21:30 > 0:21:35As we walked in to this rather large council house,
0:21:35 > 0:21:39my brother was heard to say, "Who's living upstairs?"
0:21:39 > 0:21:42Because we had always shared a house and here we were with four bedrooms,
0:21:42 > 0:21:48a lounge, dining room, kitchen, garden, everything.
0:21:48 > 0:21:50It was just so big, for a six-year-old.
0:21:51 > 0:21:55Not much furniture in it, so it looked big.
0:21:57 > 0:22:00Houses like this would be made affordable
0:22:00 > 0:22:03at roughly under £2 a week rent to the local authority.
0:22:03 > 0:22:05But there were teething problems.
0:22:05 > 0:22:09Roads and pavements were unfinished, and that's not all.
0:22:09 > 0:22:12I'd never had a pair of Wellington boots in my life.
0:22:12 > 0:22:14I didn't know what Wellington boots were.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17And the first thing we did was buy wellingtons.
0:22:17 > 0:22:21We would go out and we would play on building sites.
0:22:21 > 0:22:25And you'd come home, covered in brick dust, scraped fingers, mud.
0:22:25 > 0:22:27But everything took a long time.
0:22:27 > 0:22:30If you went shopping, it took a long time because you had to walk there.
0:22:30 > 0:22:34You had to shop and then you had to walk back.
0:22:34 > 0:22:36We didn't have a car in those days.
0:22:37 > 0:22:39Transport was not the only problem there.
0:22:39 > 0:22:44Plans for 60,000 new residents meant tensions were running high with the locals.
0:22:46 > 0:22:53We found a certain hostility in the old town about the newcomers.
0:22:53 > 0:22:59They were "Those folk from London. You know what they're like!" That sort of attitude.
0:22:59 > 0:23:04Simon Bennett, one of Stevenage's architects, remembers the threats.
0:23:04 > 0:23:06Certain people were active.
0:23:06 > 0:23:11They said, I'm going to lie down in front of the diggers to stop
0:23:11 > 0:23:15the new towns being built. But in point of fact,
0:23:15 > 0:23:17they all realised that it was a great success.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22But for some, the utopian dream did not last long.
0:23:22 > 0:23:25Many Londoners missed their friends and family,
0:23:25 > 0:23:27the hustle and bustle of the city.
0:23:27 > 0:23:31The new town blues set in and quite a few drifted back to London.
0:23:31 > 0:23:34London seemed an awful long way away.
0:23:34 > 0:23:39It's 20 minutes on the train now, it was an hour and a half in those days on a steam train.
0:23:40 > 0:23:44I suppose for some people, who had always lived in London, old people,
0:23:44 > 0:23:46it was too big a change.
0:23:46 > 0:23:49For us, it was an exciting adventure.
0:23:49 > 0:23:52So, for those who stayed, was it all worthwhile?
0:23:52 > 0:23:55On the whole, I think it has been a success.
0:23:55 > 0:23:58Architects from all around the world have been to visit
0:23:58 > 0:24:03to see what an example it was in the early days.
0:24:03 > 0:24:08And I think most of the people here now have not regretted it.
0:24:08 > 0:24:13I was very happy to come to Stevenage. I had a great life here.
0:24:14 > 0:24:16I have no regrets.
0:24:18 > 0:24:24How fantastic it must have been to come out of those overcrowded tenement buildings,
0:24:24 > 0:24:26with people upstairs and down,
0:24:26 > 0:24:30- and then suddenly you are in your own home.- Yes.
0:24:30 > 0:24:33- The idea that it could be all yours.- Yes.
0:24:33 > 0:24:38What about you, how was domesticity in your house?
0:24:38 > 0:24:41Well, in the house where I was born, it was a bit basic.
0:24:41 > 0:24:46We had two tin baths on the wall outside, a long one and a short one.
0:24:46 > 0:24:50My sister and I would be done first. So you'd be in the bath of cooling water
0:24:50 > 0:24:52and you'd make yourself small at one end
0:24:52 > 0:24:55and then Mum would pour in a kettle of boiling water at the back
0:24:55 > 0:25:00- and you frantically splash it... - Push it along.- ..so it didn't burn your bottom.
0:25:00 > 0:25:03And as every person got out, the silt was diluted
0:25:03 > 0:25:07by the addition of another kettle of boiling water.
0:25:07 > 0:25:09For me, it was slightly different.
0:25:09 > 0:25:11- My nan and grandad had a greengrocers.- Oh, right.
0:25:11 > 0:25:16My nan's job was to boil up the beetroots.
0:25:16 > 0:25:19There was this big beetroot boiler which
0:25:19 > 0:25:21they put this gas ring underneath.
0:25:21 > 0:25:23And as it got tepid,
0:25:23 > 0:25:25my nan used to put me in it.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28And I'd have a jolly good scrub over by my nan and all this.
0:25:28 > 0:25:33- I probably would have a pee in it. - In the beetroot boiler?
0:25:33 > 0:25:38And then out I'd come, and then in would go the beetroot.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41Oh no! I shall never eat another beetroot.
0:25:41 > 0:25:46- People used to queue up for them. They were delicious.- Well,
0:25:46 > 0:25:51- they had that added extra ingredient. - Yeah. But you know what I loved about Stevenage,
0:25:51 > 0:25:54is those people have never regretted the move
0:25:54 > 0:26:00and they are just so happy that they did it and they are there.
0:26:00 > 0:26:05- Yeah.- So, getting a house got easier, making it a home was the next task.
0:26:05 > 0:26:09And along came the national obsession called do-it-yourself.
0:26:09 > 0:26:15The '50s was the year the Black & Decker and Dulux emulsion.
0:26:15 > 0:26:19Proud new householders couldn't get enough of putty, paint and pelmets
0:26:19 > 0:26:24to help turn their homes and into the proverbial castle.
0:26:24 > 0:26:26# This old house once knew its children
0:26:26 > 0:26:30# This old house once knew its wife... #
0:26:30 > 0:26:34Ah, DIY. That great Saturday afternoon activity.
0:26:34 > 0:26:38Responsible for more domestic rows than who does the washing up.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41And where can we lay the blame? The '50s.
0:26:41 > 0:26:44That's when DIY became a boom home hobby.
0:26:44 > 0:26:51It even had its own TV show, the DIY SOS of the '50s, with Barry Bucknell.
0:26:51 > 0:26:58And then square this across with a pencil, on both sides, there and there.
0:26:58 > 0:27:05With a bit more cash to spend and loads of new homes just asking to be given the personal touch,
0:27:05 > 0:27:07we became a nation of Barry Bucknells.
0:27:07 > 0:27:11And one of the best was Terence Dickens.
0:27:11 > 0:27:15Terence has DIY in his DNA.
0:27:15 > 0:27:19His family have been running DIY stores for four generations
0:27:19 > 0:27:24and during the '50s, they opened a third shop in Stockton, Lancashire.
0:27:24 > 0:27:28The first day, we only had about one customer.
0:27:28 > 0:27:32And then word got around and then the customers started to come
0:27:32 > 0:27:34and there was, honestly, no stopping them.
0:27:34 > 0:27:37# Ain't gonna need this house no longer... #
0:27:37 > 0:27:39We used to do paint...
0:27:39 > 0:27:41# Ain't got time to fix the shingles... #
0:27:41 > 0:27:45..Curtain rails. We did miles, and I mean miles.
0:27:45 > 0:27:48We were one of the biggest sellers of curtain rails in the country.
0:27:49 > 0:27:51High employment in the '50s,
0:27:51 > 0:27:54coupled with the possibility of paying on the never-never
0:27:54 > 0:27:58put some extra cash in the back pocket of the ordinary man,
0:27:58 > 0:28:01which benefited Dickens DIY.
0:28:01 > 0:28:06The ordinary person would walk in, and say, I'm doing a job,
0:28:06 > 0:28:11I'd like to do a job, and I want to do so-and-so and so-and-so and so-and-so.
0:28:11 > 0:28:17So we would offer them the tools that they could use to do that job.
0:28:17 > 0:28:22And usually, they would get them, or get them on credit.
0:28:22 > 0:28:27And they'd pay two shillings a week - 10p - and they would build up...
0:28:27 > 0:28:30That is the way it all started off.
0:28:30 > 0:28:32In the post-war years,
0:28:32 > 0:28:37ingrained deep in people's psyche was the message to get on with things and do it yourself.
0:28:37 > 0:28:40So people did. Or at least, they tried to.
0:28:40 > 0:28:45A lot of them had no idea but with a little bit of help from such as us,
0:28:45 > 0:28:49we could show them where they were going wrong.
0:28:49 > 0:28:53And by showing them where they were going wrong, they came back, and back, and back.
0:28:53 > 0:28:57And in the end, they would do all the house up.
0:28:57 > 0:29:01Suddenly, a wealth of new DIY products were flooding the shelves
0:29:01 > 0:29:04ready for the eager home improver to snap up.
0:29:04 > 0:29:08'Quicker and better with Black & Decker.'
0:29:08 > 0:29:13I can remember when Black & Decker drills came in and they were quite basic.
0:29:13 > 0:29:19And that would be in about 1955, 1956, around there.
0:29:19 > 0:29:23And they were five pounds nine shillings and sixpence. I remember that.
0:29:23 > 0:29:25'Take the Black & Decker,
0:29:25 > 0:29:30'add one of the many attachments and put power into your hands.'
0:29:30 > 0:29:32People, when they got one of those,
0:29:32 > 0:29:34they were like somebody with a new toy.
0:29:36 > 0:29:39Amateur craftsmen of all ages flock to Olympia
0:29:39 > 0:29:42for the do-it-yourself exhibition in search of ideas.
0:29:42 > 0:29:47And by 1956, annual DIY exhibitions were held at Olympia in London
0:29:47 > 0:29:52designed to inspire people for even more ambitious DIY projects.
0:29:52 > 0:29:56- Pardon me, sir, do you do much for yourself?- Well, a fair amount.
0:29:56 > 0:29:58I see, what kind of things do you build?
0:29:58 > 0:30:01Well, I have done some cabinets,
0:30:01 > 0:30:04I've put a new sink unit in.
0:30:04 > 0:30:09So was Terence pleased with the part he played in the DIY boom of the 1950s?
0:30:09 > 0:30:14I'd say it was the era that we created.
0:30:14 > 0:30:22We weren't the only ones in the country, but we made an episode of it.
0:30:22 > 0:30:27So people could come in, ask questions, get an answer,
0:30:27 > 0:30:28and go home and do it all.
0:30:30 > 0:30:32Goodbye now.
0:30:32 > 0:30:37What about you or your family, any good at do-it-yourself?
0:30:37 > 0:30:40The only time Father did any what you might call DIY
0:30:40 > 0:30:45was when he decorated the lavatory, which he did with a bucket of green distemper and a stirrup pump.
0:30:45 > 0:30:49- You know one of these jobs?- Oh, yeah. And it squirted out.- Yeah.
0:30:49 > 0:30:54It just squirted it out and after it dried, there were all these dribbles,
0:30:54 > 0:30:58Len, all down the walls in this horrible nauseous shade of green.
0:30:58 > 0:31:06Well, the only time I really had a go at any DIY was when my son was being born.
0:31:06 > 0:31:10We decided to turn one of the bedrooms into his nursery.
0:31:10 > 0:31:14And my wife said, "Don't paint it, you'll mess it up." I said, "I won't miss it up."
0:31:14 > 0:31:16So I was sort of on a challenge.
0:31:16 > 0:31:18So I got clear plastic paper
0:31:18 > 0:31:23and covered every conceivable thing that could possibly get splashed.
0:31:23 > 0:31:29And we had these louvred door wardrobes, which my wife kept all her clothes in.
0:31:29 > 0:31:35And I thought, they are all right, they're behind those louvres. I went in in my underpants and socks...
0:31:35 > 0:31:39- This is quite an erotic image. - It is! In I walked.
0:31:39 > 0:31:40- I slipped over.- Oh, no!
0:31:40 > 0:31:45The paint flew over my head, went into these louvred wardrobes,
0:31:45 > 0:31:48covered all her clothes in Dulux.
0:31:48 > 0:31:54And that is the one and only time I've ever tried to do do-it-yourself.
0:31:54 > 0:31:56I thought, that's it. Never again.
0:31:56 > 0:31:59- No... Well, you've got other strengths!- Yes.
0:31:59 > 0:32:03But putting up shelves and stuff is not one of them.
0:32:03 > 0:32:06- No.- And I'm glad, in a way. Now, call me nosey,
0:32:06 > 0:32:10but I always want to know what makes couples tick,
0:32:10 > 0:32:14especially 60 years ago, when we were all a bit reserved
0:32:14 > 0:32:17and didn't talk so much about... stuff.
0:32:17 > 0:32:21Today, we write blogs about the most intimate things,
0:32:21 > 0:32:25but back then, couples were told, "You've made your bed, now lie on it."
0:32:25 > 0:32:29But was marriage in the '50s really that simple?
0:32:31 > 0:32:34# When I fall in love... #
0:32:34 > 0:32:37The '50s weren't all that long ago.
0:32:37 > 0:32:41# ..It will be forever... #
0:32:41 > 0:32:44She had to do as she was told.
0:32:44 > 0:32:48But it was an age of innocence in the relationship between men and women.
0:32:48 > 0:32:51He said, "Aren't you happy?" and I said, "Well, no, not very."
0:32:51 > 0:32:54But he couldn't understand it. He was baffled.
0:32:56 > 0:32:59Jean and Dennis, and Joan, now widowed,
0:32:59 > 0:33:01were all young marrieds in the '50s.
0:33:04 > 0:33:06Dennis and Jean came from just outside Bristol.
0:33:06 > 0:33:10Dennis was a postman, Jean a shop girl.
0:33:10 > 0:33:12They had been courting for three years.
0:33:12 > 0:33:15Sex was taboo. You didn't talk about it.
0:33:15 > 0:33:18Nobody said anything about it.
0:33:20 > 0:33:25The first thing I learnt about sex was when I was in the Army.
0:33:29 > 0:33:32"Just you be careful, my girl, and you behave yourself!
0:33:32 > 0:33:35"Don't you dare bring anything home to this door
0:33:35 > 0:33:39"because I don't want to know it!" That was my sex education.
0:33:39 > 0:33:43# Do you remember
0:33:43 > 0:33:47# The first time that we kissed? #
0:33:47 > 0:33:50Joan came from a different background. She'd studied at Oxford,
0:33:50 > 0:33:54but the same moral attitudes cut across all classes.
0:33:54 > 0:33:57Oh, heavens above!
0:33:57 > 0:33:59SHE LAUGHS
0:33:59 > 0:34:03Absolute virginity! So, of course, you went into marriage
0:34:03 > 0:34:05totally inexperienced, both of you.
0:34:05 > 0:34:08There's this virgin man, this virgin woman, jumping into bed...
0:34:08 > 0:34:12Well, not even jumping. Falling into bed together and making a mess of it.
0:34:15 > 0:34:21But a '50s marriage had other unwritten rules, which were hard to break.
0:34:21 > 0:34:24Women had to stop in those days to see to their man.
0:34:24 > 0:34:28If I was washing, I'd have to stop.
0:34:28 > 0:34:30You didn't do that when they came in.
0:34:30 > 0:34:31I mean, that stopped.
0:34:31 > 0:34:37And you made them a cup of tea and a sandwich and you were nice and everything.
0:34:37 > 0:34:40I think their role was to earn the money
0:34:40 > 0:34:42that produced food on the table.
0:34:42 > 0:34:46They didn't really expect to do very much in the home. The job came first, always.
0:34:46 > 0:34:52In every way, I was the number two wife, I think. The work was the number one wife.
0:34:54 > 0:34:56- DENNIS:- They came home, they sat down.
0:34:56 > 0:34:59They expected their tea on the table in front of them.
0:34:59 > 0:35:03They read the paper and that was it. They didn't do anything else.
0:35:05 > 0:35:08The meals were on the table on time.
0:35:08 > 0:35:12- The children were always... - Clean and tidy.- ..clean and tidy.
0:35:12 > 0:35:18The house was always clean and tidy. You had everything ready for him when he came home from work,
0:35:18 > 0:35:22and when he got up in the morning, you were there to see to everything. That was the perfect housewife.
0:35:22 > 0:35:25I remember him trying to put a nappy on one of the babies
0:35:25 > 0:35:28and he'd got the nappy on and it was all over the place
0:35:28 > 0:35:32and totally useless. He hadn't got any clue at all.
0:35:32 > 0:35:35He did try, I suppose, but he just hadn't got the skills that way.
0:35:37 > 0:35:43I was pleased about the birth of my children because I did enjoy all my children very much.
0:35:43 > 0:35:47And my job was to run the children, really. But we were living in the middle of nowhere
0:35:47 > 0:35:49and I missed adult conversation.
0:35:49 > 0:35:53I suppose, emotionally, he wasn't very great.
0:35:53 > 0:35:57I knew that for the children it was important that we stayed together,
0:35:57 > 0:36:00so I thought, "Well, I suppose that's how it's got to be."
0:36:00 > 0:36:04But again, I'm very much aware of how typical that was for women of my generation.
0:36:07 > 0:36:12Married women then still felt they were essentially their husbands' property.
0:36:12 > 0:36:18Jean encountered her husband's claim on her when popping out to a Women's Institute gathering.
0:36:18 > 0:36:21I said, "Oh, can I go?"
0:36:21 > 0:36:23"Please yourself."
0:36:23 > 0:36:26And he used the attitude.
0:36:26 > 0:36:28It was just jealously. He didn't want me to go.
0:36:28 > 0:36:30So I said, "I won't go, then."
0:36:30 > 0:36:33"Hmph!" he went, like this.
0:36:33 > 0:36:38I thought, "Yes, I will go." So I put my coat on and went.
0:36:38 > 0:36:42Two days he didn't speak to me, because of that, for going out.
0:36:42 > 0:36:44But that was the attitude all the time.
0:36:44 > 0:36:47If you wanted to go out, you asked permission to go out.
0:36:47 > 0:36:49But that was the normal thing.
0:36:49 > 0:36:52To stop feeling so hemmed in,
0:36:52 > 0:36:55Jean found more practical ways to get out of the house.
0:36:55 > 0:37:00The local farmer up the road used to grow potatoes.
0:37:00 > 0:37:02He had fields and fields of potatoes.
0:37:02 > 0:37:06When it was picking-potato-time, they'd ask for all the local women to go.
0:37:06 > 0:37:09We'd all take the children, all get onto the back of the lorry,
0:37:09 > 0:37:11and off we'd go to pick potatoes all day.
0:37:11 > 0:37:14Yeah, it was lovely. We used to thoroughly enjoy that.
0:37:14 > 0:37:17That was great. £1 a day.
0:37:17 > 0:37:23- You didn't really like it, did you? - I didn't really like it, but it was a necessity.
0:37:23 > 0:37:28For housebound Joan there was a more radical, almost subversive answer.
0:37:28 > 0:37:32- Here we are, Joan. Here are your letters from the Correspondence Club.- Thank you very much.
0:37:32 > 0:37:35She signed up to contribute to an extraordinary secret magazine
0:37:35 > 0:37:39called the Co-operative Correspondence Club.
0:37:39 > 0:37:42Now held at the Mass Observation Archive,
0:37:42 > 0:37:46the club's letters were written by disgruntled housewives like Joan,
0:37:46 > 0:37:48letting off steam about their lot.
0:37:48 > 0:37:52Compiled by an editor into a hand-stitched book,
0:37:52 > 0:37:55each new edition was circulated among members twice a month.
0:37:55 > 0:37:59"Remaining at home with the children day after day,
0:37:59 > 0:38:01"seeing very few people,
0:38:01 > 0:38:04"I gradually lost my self-confidence and felt it ebbing
0:38:04 > 0:38:07"and a devastating shyness descending
0:38:07 > 0:38:10"until it would have been an effort to speak to a stray cat."
0:38:10 > 0:38:13So this was salvation when this came.
0:38:13 > 0:38:15You could actually write down what you were feeling!
0:38:15 > 0:38:19And it was so sacred. Nobody was ever allowed to look at it.
0:38:19 > 0:38:22So husbands couldn't possibly get anywhere near it.
0:38:22 > 0:38:26You kept it hidden in a drawer until you posted it on the next day.
0:38:26 > 0:38:28You had to be a mother to join.
0:38:28 > 0:38:32But once you were in, you could write about anything on your mind -
0:38:32 > 0:38:35the equivalent of a modern-day blog.
0:38:35 > 0:38:37" 'Mummy, where's my so and so?
0:38:37 > 0:38:40" 'Mummy, Alfie's doing that so I can't get on and dress properly.
0:38:40 > 0:38:45" 'Mummy, he's locked the door and I can't get in to clean my teeth.
0:38:45 > 0:38:49"Lucky, lucky Daddy, who dresses placidly and half-asleep,
0:38:49 > 0:38:51"unconscious of the turmoil around him,
0:38:51 > 0:38:54"and unmolested by the throng."
0:38:54 > 0:38:57It was companionship of a sort, I think.
0:38:57 > 0:38:59The sort of thing that, if you'd known anybody locally,
0:38:59 > 0:39:02you'd have gossiped around a cup of coffee with.
0:39:02 > 0:39:06Reading this after so many years is a strange experience,
0:39:06 > 0:39:09a mixture of sadness and surprise, in a way,
0:39:09 > 0:39:12because fortunately, with the passage of time,
0:39:12 > 0:39:15one tends to forget a little bit how acute some of these feelings were.
0:39:15 > 0:39:20The Co-operative Correspondence Club was Joan's release,
0:39:20 > 0:39:23but did marriage for women get better as the decade wore on?
0:39:25 > 0:39:29In those days, if one got married, one stayed married, and that was it.
0:39:29 > 0:39:31Your fate was assured.
0:39:33 > 0:39:37The '60s, you see, were the time when people started saying, "Hey, nonny, nonny," you know.
0:39:37 > 0:39:41The '50s was still fairly stick-in-the-mud, I think.
0:39:41 > 0:39:44For Jean, though, as the children came along,
0:39:44 > 0:39:47and with her contribution to the family purse increased with a regular job,
0:39:47 > 0:39:51Dennis's attitude started to change.
0:39:51 > 0:39:54I helped bathe them, I helped wash them and clean them,
0:39:54 > 0:39:59I put them to bed and, em...
0:39:59 > 0:40:02I mean, they were there. It had to be done.
0:40:02 > 0:40:06We got closer. It kept us together, more or less.
0:40:08 > 0:40:10And here we are together 65 years later!
0:40:15 > 0:40:18- It's lovely to meet you, Jean, I've got to say.- Thank you.
0:40:18 > 0:40:24But 61 years of marriage, so did you find that when you first got married
0:40:24 > 0:40:27there were conflicts and things, I suppose?
0:40:27 > 0:40:32Yes. Sometimes it was hard trying to find out things you didn't know
0:40:32 > 0:40:35- and you didn't have anybody to ask. - Yeah.
0:40:35 > 0:40:39My dad was hopeless, Len. This will illustrate how hopeless my dad was.
0:40:39 > 0:40:42My brother chucked me in the river once. He didn't mean to.
0:40:42 > 0:40:48He said, "I'm going to chuck you in, Pam." And he got hold of me and he went, "Ah-one, ah-two,"
0:40:48 > 0:40:51and on "three" we fell and he lost his footing.
0:40:51 > 0:40:54My brother took me home and Mum had gone out on the bus.
0:40:54 > 0:40:56And my dad, he had not a clue what to do,
0:40:56 > 0:40:59so he gave my brother a good hiding
0:40:59 > 0:41:04and then he stood me in the washing-up bowl, to wash the river water off me,
0:41:04 > 0:41:07and at three o'clock in the afternoon, although I was perfectly all right,
0:41:07 > 0:41:12he put me to bed with a jam tart! THEY LAUGH
0:41:12 > 0:41:17When Mum came home, she got me up and said, "What are you doing there, lying about in bed? Get up
0:41:17 > 0:41:20"and don't be so stupid and go near the river in the future."
0:41:20 > 0:41:24I think it was a very commendable thing. A bit of comfort food!
0:41:24 > 0:41:27- Yeah.- So, Jean, how many children did you wind up with?
0:41:27 > 0:41:32- Five.- Five?- I had four in the '50s and then I had a boy in the '60s.
0:41:32 > 0:41:34- Four girls.- And grandchildren?
0:41:34 > 0:41:39I've got 12 grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren.
0:41:39 > 0:41:40- Wow!- How lovely!
0:41:40 > 0:41:46- And 61 years so it all worked out in the end.- Very impressive.- It's been well worth it, yes.- Well done.
0:41:46 > 0:41:51Well, after all those lovely stories and chats with our guests,
0:41:51 > 0:41:56it's time to go home. But come sit on my sofa again tomorrow.
0:41:56 > 0:42:00We're going to do '50s television stars, '50s teddy boys.
0:42:00 > 0:42:02You name it, we've got it.
0:42:02 > 0:42:04I always like a bit of jive!
0:42:04 > 0:42:08So until then, see you later, alligator, from me,
0:42:08 > 0:42:13Pam Ayres, the lovely Jean, and The 1952 Show.
0:42:13 > 0:42:16Go on! See you later!
0:42:39 > 0:42:43Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd