And I Looked Back

This is a work of East Anglian oral history. Over a period of nearly 30 years I listened to and recorded a number people from different backgrounds all born in the early years of the 20th century in an attempt to capture and save the memories of those who had lived in such different times from our own just a few generations later.

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This is a work of East Anglian oral history. Over a period of nearly 30 years I listened to and recorded a number people from different backgrounds, all born in the early years of the 20th century, in an attempt to capture and save the memories of those who had lived in such different times from our own just a few generations later.


Most chapters concentrate on one individual. One man was put to the plough, with a horse, aged eight, another went to sea in a steam drifter at sixteen and there is a woman whose children were born in the workhouse. It was a period blighted by war and some share their sombre experiences.


They invite us into their kitchens and onto their farms to experience just what life was like for them as we listen to them reminiscing. They worked hard but nevertheless were more contented than many are in the 21st century.


We hear about their lives in their own words. They make us laugh and sometimes weep. They are ordinary people, but we learn that there are no such things as ordinary lives.