My Jobs

I left school in 1964 and on 31st August of that year, I started at my very first paid job. My wage was£4. and 2d sterling a week. It was in a mail-order firm in Hendon Sunderland which is now Tyne and Wear. My dear mum would have loved me to have found a job at one of the local factory….but I wanted to work in an office and I stood my ground and through school obtained an interview and got this job at Janet Frazer/ Brian Mills. Was there in various departments till 1973 just after I got married and my hubby and I ran away “down south” cos it wasn’t working out living with his mum. We ended up in Newbury near where hubby’s sister lived and in two weeks we both found work. Hubby as a gardener and with that we had a funny little tin annexe that we lived in. I found a job as a cashier/clerk in a television rental shop. Hubby changed jobs and became the gardener of my boss and we lived in the flat above the shop I worked in.

Because we lived in tied places when hubby changed jobs it always meant a move and we left Newbury for a farm job near Bracknell. While I was looking for work I fell pregnant with so no 1.So I was a full-time mum.

Next move was back to gardening and the gardener of a retired major near Wokingham. I was asked if for extra money if I would like to work in the house….which I really did not enjoy and my baby son was only 18 months so was sat in a pram/playpen while I did housework. On sunny days he would watch his dad in the garden.

The next move back to farming and a move to Surrey. While there I was still a full-time mum…..and had two more babies while we lived there…but became an Avon rep and a small housework job while oldest was at playgroup. As the family were growing we had put ourselves on the council list and was offered a place in Guildford, which we took. Once hubby found work at the university…I decided to work in the evenings when he was at home to childcare…I worked in the kitchens at the local hospital doing various different things…including a six-month stint as a hospital cleaner then went back into the kitchens again. After a while, I decided to take the plunge and see if I could become a health care assistant which I did. I worked on an elderly care ward until I retired about 8 years ago. In those years I gained my NVQ 2 and 3 in care.

In retirement, I have done voluntary work in a couple of charity shops…Cancer Research and Oxfam. The Oxfam shop I worked in did not reopen after lockdown but had found a place in the Oxfam Bookshop in Guildford which I do enjoy. Until my next blog …cheerio!