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Belford - Sound
Oral History Recording of Mary Bruce (1975)
Transcription of an interview with Mary Bruce recorded sometime in 1975.
Mary Bruce was born at Belford in 1890. During the full interview she recalls her work on the farms near Belford from 1907 until 1952.
During this extract she recalls the events of an average day working in the fields.
[Transcription]
It was early in the morning and you had to be in the field for 6 o'clock, and you had twenty minutes for breakfast.
We had to carry our breakfast with us, and then we had a few minutes at 10 o'clock, we could go. We had to work on until twenty to twelve, unless we were with the hinds, and helping them and we got home at 11 o'clock if there was horses, as they had to give the horses there feed and there rest. Well you didn't start again until 2 o'clock and you had a quarter of an hour for tea and then you went on till 6 o'clock at night.
It was a long day in a way.
From 6 o'clock in the morning til 6 o'clock at night.
And that was from Monday morning til Saturday night.
This tape recording comes from the large collection of oral history recordings held by the Northumberland Archive Service. Interviews were conducted by Record Office staff from the early 1970's right through until the mid 1980's. The purpose of the recordings was to capture the essence of life in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Many different subjects were covered, including coalmining, farming, fishing, domestic life, World Wars and entertainment. Over 350 recordings have been collected comprising approximately 700 hours of recollections.