Best of both worlds

I use the internet for everything, from booking holiday flights to doing all our banking. We’ve even got our Spanish bank account on there. I play lots of games. Last night I was playing against someone from Minnesota, someone from Canada and someone from Regina. I play bridge, canasta, dominoes – anything. I played five games last night. Also, my husband’s got a share club on-line and we now deal on-line for our club meetings. I email my brother in Spain and my brother in Australia quite regularly. I used to speak to him three or four times a year but now it’s every month. I love it.

I was born and bred in Nottingham. In 1963 my husband became farm manager for the chairman of Royal Worcester Porcelain. That was the first time I’d left home.

I remember how much we loved the Malvern Hills when the children were young. By then my husband was into retail produce in the farming industry – farm shops and that sort of thing. But now he’s had both hips replaced and can’t do much physical work. Still, he’s no longer unemployed. He got a job with Nissan, test-driving their cars, which is lovely because it keeps him happy.

I have three children. One daughter is forty, one thirty-seven and my son is thirty-six. The girls still live in Worcester, but my son is in Nottingham. He went backwards! He was the only one born in Worcester, but met a Nottingham girl and is a very keen supporter of Notts County.

Worcester people aren’t as friendly as the people up in Nottingham. They’re a little bit more reticent. I think the further south you go, people become a little bit more individual. Most of our friends are not Worcester people born and bred. I was once told that you’ve got to be here twenty years before you’re truly accepted. For a long time we were going home when we visited Nottingham, but now we come home to Worcester.

We feel a lot of affection for Worcester. I’m a country person, although I like being close to the city. I like the best of both worlds. We live on the outskirts of the city, on the boundary with the country. Our housing estate was built in the Sixties, and it’s got bigger and squarer gardens than they’re building today. It’s very nice.

I don’t support our Labour MP who wants to ban fox hunting. The hunt is part of British tradition. It’s a shame that it has to be buried. I’ve never followed a hunt and I know they think it’s cruel to the fox, but they’ll have awful problems with foxes if they ban hunts. They’ll become much more prolific and will be raiding people’s dustbins far more than they do now.

I know Mike Foster. I used to work with him when he was a lecturer. I know Gisela Stuart as well, the Edgbaston MP. They both left the Easter of the last general election. I remember Gisela coming in and throwing her registers down, saying, ‘That’s the last time you’ll be seeing me!’ Which struck me as strange, because there hadn’t even been an election yet.

Voting: every drop counts

Mike Foster is a very nice person, but I didn’t vote for him. I sometimes think, Why do I bother to vote? But I know I ought to. I mix my votes up between Liberals and Conservatives. It would be nice to have a completely different party in, to see what they could do. I can’t quite remember, but I think I voted Conservative in the 1997 election and went Liberal in the local election, thinking, Maybe I shouldn’t inflict a Liberal on the whole of the country, let’s see what they do in the local elections first.

I know my vote is a tiny drop in the ocean, but I vote because I feel I ought to. I’m not one of those political animals – one of those people who’s got loads of ideas about where they want to be and is happy to talk to anybody, maybe even going to these rallies, or listening to the radio and television, eager to join in debates wherever possible. I’ve got a brother-in-law who was a Liberal Democrat and he got in for Harrow or Ealing or somewhere, and he would have garden parties and fundraising and things. I wouldn’t be interested in that sort of thing at all. In fact, it would bore me sick.

I think an awful lot of people think the same as me about politics. When a party political broadcast comes on the television, I usually think, Oh crikey, isn’t there news on the other side? Politics has always bored me. But I don’t think that my vote doesn’t count, that just because I’m one of millions I don’t matter. I know it’s a drop in the ocean, but if everybody thought they didn’t matter, there’d be no elections.

I get very disappointed that elections are secret. They tick you off as you come in with your card, stamp your voting form and write the number down beside your name in the book. They can see exactly who voted Labour, Liberal or Conservative, who’s Communist, who’s Green, whatever. They should be open about it. Parties just use this knowledge to target you. That’s wrong. I don’t want to have an allegiance to anything. I like to have a choice. I would certainly never financially support any party.

Here in Worcester, us women are the national benchmark. When they showed what Worcester Woman was like, we could compare ourselves to her. It brought back a bit of pride in Worcester. It made me feel like we were on the map. I felt representative of Britain, as though we had a bit of everybody in us. In certain ways I’m a bit like Worcester Woman.

Politics is not about individuals, they come and go, it’s policies that matter most. And I must admit, Labour haven’t hurt us as much as I thought they would – not as many taxes. I’m quite radical with this, I’d have much more indirect taxation, right down to food and clothing. Too many slip the net and they have to eat, don’t they? People should pay for their choices.

Leading by example

There’s so much red tape now. How do we even know where our taxes go? Recently, my husband had his second hip replacement operation, and it was so different to the first time – the nurses spent all their time at computers, or filling in forms.

And it’s the same with GPs. I’ve got a little wart on my back, but it’s three weeks until I can see a doctor. I don’t see why I should have to put up with that.

You can’t keep having these endless wage rises, because the money’s got to come from somewhere, so then taxes have to go up. Many moons ago you didn’t get an annual wage rise. It was a periodic rise, based more on promotion. Things were much more static.

There’s no earthly reason why some people shouldn’t be employed. There’s a lot of people faking and getting things they don’t deserve. They’ve got to keep body and soul together, but there should be a tighter monitoring of them.

The really high earners, like pop stars, should pay a lot more tax. They’re in a lucky position. They’ve got a trade that’s in demand. They can afford luxuries, and I know it sounds snobbish, but often they don’t have the right backgrounds, so don’t know how to spend their money. Sometimes I don’t think they’re a good example, especially for the modern youth. Pop stars should set an example.

Children are so influenced by models or pop stars. They go to clubs in the week and it messes up their schoolwork. Partying is no longer confined to the weekends. College comes second.

But education is changing too much. My grandson’s first book was called ‘Yuk Soup’. I mean, ‘yuk’ isn’t even in the dictionary. ‘The Cat Sat on the Mat’ is far better. This is why children are not up to literary standard. My education was nothing like that. And they call this progress!

In praise of the family

Things used to be so different. We were on a much tighter rein at home. To a certain extent we still are – my parents still have a lot of say in what I do, or at least think they do.

Family structures are so important. Some of the working-class people have got a good family and neighbourhood culture. But it’s the middle-classes where family structures are breaking down. Maybe it’s got something to do with money. My mother always says to me, ‘Gosh you’re like your father’, because one of the things he used to say is that when you’ve got a child you shouldn’t go to work until they’re sixteen. And he was right, I think.

I didn’t go to work until my youngest was twelve. So it can be done. We managed on a farm manager’s wage, which wasn’t a great deal. There is an argument to keep wives at home. Maybe then there would be more of a family element, the children would be looked after a bit more, and more jobs freed up for younger women, before they have children.

Certainly my children benefited from me being at home. I think it was probably good for me too – although actually, I was dying to get out of the house. I was really glad when I was needed. And when my husband had to quit farming, we suddenly had to get on the mortgage trail, and I had to go out to work. It felt really good to be needed.

Nowadays, children expect to set up home on their own so young. In my day we lived with our families until we got married. But I guess you’ve got to move with the times. If you don’t accept change you’re an old fuddy-duddy aren’t you?

But I believe in marriage – although my daughter had a bad time of it. She’s quite a rebel and married a man we’d warned her against. Sure enough, he walked out on her and the children when the youngest was only fifteen months old. He’d got someone else: the fourth woman in his life. We helped her a lot with those two little ones.

I had a church marriage. I just about believe in a God. My husband would admit that he was almost an atheist. But my children were all christened in church, and when they were children I always took them to the main celebrations. We still take the grandchildren.

I don’t suppose many people would really miss the Church of England if it went. But I would hate to think any other religion would come in and take over. I think there’s a place for everybody, as long as they don’t force religion down my throat.

The church gives people something to cling on to. If they find solace and support in their religion, that’s great. We had a friend whose wife died in her fifties, and he turned to the church. He obviously found great comfort there. He found something that would help him and that’s lovely.

Of royals and role-models

The media hype everything up – even this foot-and-mouth thing. We went through the foot-and-mouth crisis in 1967. It was reported, but without the same adjectives. It used to be more Daily Telegraph kind of news, and not flowery like in the Mirror and the Sun. People seem to want more of everything, not only tangible goods, but more in words, more in everything. No one is content. It’s the contentment that seems to have gone. They’ve got to go further every time, push the boundaries further.

Look at the way they treat the royals. I am strongly in favour of the monarchy. Although except for the Queen, they’re not very good role models at the moment. But the younger royals like William are being brought up in a much better way. We could probably skip a generation. Princess Anne is such an arrogant woman – even before she snatched those flowers from that old lady.

Andrew is just plain stupid as well as being arrogant. My son was in the Royal Navy with him, and he really pulled rank. It would never have been reported, but he did get taken down a peg or two. Once, his car went sweeping into a base and they wanted proof of identity as they were on red alert. He wouldn’t give his ID, saying, ‘You know who I am’. I don’t suppose they thought he was an IRA terrorist, but it was procedure that all serving officers produce ID and he refused. So they were able to blame him for it, because it was a command. He was very unkind to the guy on duty, who was only Joe Sprogg probably, nothing like Andrew’s superiority, but he was only doing his duty. Andrew got carpeted.

Charles was in the RAF with my brother-in-law and apparently he was quite good fun – quite a prankster. He didn’t want to be put on a pedestal. And it’s a shame he’s been sidelined. It must be difficult. I’d vote for Charles if there was ever a referendum. He may have one or two way-out ideas, but who hasn’t?

In general, the royal family has done brilliantly, particularly the Queen. And they’re a great tourist attraction. We are one of the few countries left that has an active monarchy.

Anyway, the Royal Family has such a history. It’s right that they’re at the top of the pile. We shouldn’t have anyone elected in its place. We should keep royalty at all costs. You’ve got to have someone up on a pedestal and I’d rather have the royal family than Liam Gallagher.

The Queen was here in Worcester last Thursday and I made sure I went to see her. I like the pageantry. She looked lovely. She was in a fully enclosed car on the other side of the road, although she was sitting our side of the car. You could just see her smiling and waving bye-bye and she was off.

Diana was a beautiful girl. Her dress sense was wonderful and she looked exquisite. She did wonderful things. But I’m not so certain about her character. I think she was a little bit devious. She wasn’t as thick as they used to say. She was quite a cunning little monkey.

I was very sad when she died. I remember waking up in bed, hearing the news on the radio and thinking it couldn’t be true. Not Diana. She did an excellent job as an envoy for this country. But she manipulated the press. Dodi was far too flashy a playboy for her. And that wasn’t a good image for the country.

But I was sad for the Queen, when the public reaction went against her. I am so glad that she did lower the flag in the end. Perhaps she should have done it a bit quicker, but maybe she didn’t know how to do it. She was probably testing the water, worried that the public would think that one minute she’s throwing her out, the next minute she’s praising her just because she’s dead.

Breakdown at the border

Devolution is a very bad thing. It makes me very sad. Great Britain is gradually breaking up. We used to fight the Scots across Hadrian’s Wall and we’re going to start again by the sound of it. Ireland is the same. But if that’s what they all really want then we can’t have a law to prohibit them. They’ve got to find out for themselves.

I don’t particularly want to have a euro. I think we’ll just be a satellite. We’ll be swallowed up and just disappear. And I do wish the Europeans would stop interfering in our affairs. There shouldn’t be a European court that can overturn decisions in British courts. Our law should be our law. Europe shouldn’t meddle in our family affairs. It never really hurt many children to have a smack on the bottom every now and then. In fact it’s probably why we’ve got such ruffians around nowadays – because of the erosion of family discipline. And Europe is partly to blame for this.

Germany and France seem to shout louder than anyone else. For instance, I remember the issue of milk quotas, when I was farm secretary. My boss was on the quota tribunal. He went to London to sit on it for six months and ended up being there for six years. We were only allowed to get so much milk from the cows. But they took no notice in Italy or France, and yet they’re the ones telling us what to do. Why are we always the ones who tow the line?

I voted against joining Europe. I wish we’d stayed out. My husband doesn’t agree, he says we’d be too isolated. But Norway’s out, and they seem to be doing very well.

When I fill in forms I always say I’m British. Abroad, I’m British and I’m proud of it. I wouldn’t want to say I was one of them. We are lucky and lazy, because the English language is accepted across the world. The majority of the people I’ve come across in Europe all speak a second tongue. I’ve recently been able to buy an apartment in Spain and I’m going to learn Spanish, because I want to be one of them. I don’t want to sit back and say, I’m British.

I’d like to go to America. I know my husband would love to see Florida. But every thing they do eventually comes over here. I read that in New York they’ve cut down crime and hopefully they’ll do that here too. We need it.

These days, so many people travel and bring back ideas from other countries. Like Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Big isn’t better

America does well with the environment, doesn’t it? We are trying, too, but I think there are a lot of places where people take no notice. It’s unfortunate about these greenhouse gases. I don’t worry about it though, because I don’t think it will affect me. I ought to worry for my children and grandchildren, but I think it will be after their time. The problem is everyone has to agree. But that’s not possible. We can’t do it in this country, so how can it happen between nations, particularly less educated ones, who won’t toe the line?

Everybody says you never see a poor farmer. The trouble is you never see his bank balance either. The Countryside Alliance is justified in its protests. They’ve had no choice. My husband used to say that farming is a very Cinderella profession, and it’s true. A farmer’s work isn’t recognised. He has to take what he is given. He can’t state the price he wants for his product. He has to ask, ‘What will you give me?’ It’s taken them a lot of time to take the straws out of their mouths and start rising up, but at last they’re beginning to.

Supermarkets have taken the individuality out of farming. I like supermarkets, but they control everything. They command such authority. It’s the same in all industry. Marks and Spencer do it in tailoring. They specify exactly what type of buttons they want, and then they tell the manufacturers how much they are going to pay them for the buttons. All big stores have that much power. They can make or break a lot of people. Companies are getting too big for themselves. Look at the water and electricity industries. I don’t think big is always best. There are lots of different regional issues, and there are differences. You can’t have somebody sitting in an ivory tower in London knowing what’s going on in Worcester.

Regional parliaments would be a very good idea. Unless you try something, you never know for sure. Local government probably makes more difference to my everyday life. What is going to hurt me most is where I’m living, not the budget and national level things like that. People from the region know about things like local education and roads and can appreciate what needs to be done. Someone from the centre should coordinate to make sure everyone is singing the same tune but with their own variations. Then people would be able to do what is right for their area.

The future looks crowded

As for the future, we’ve all got more money, food and choice. But wonderful things cost so much. That’s probably why hospitals are short of money. My husband’s mother has been kept alive very nicely and within reason has a reasonable life. She seems quite happy to be in the same four walls every day. She takes her tablets. She has nobody to speak to. She’s not that bothered about reading any longer. She doesn’t seem to watch a lot of television. What point is there for her to carry on? But that’s not as if I wish her dead. We are doing wonderful things in science, but sometimes you wonder whether it would have been kinder to have not given her all those tablets.

I don’t wish to sound unkind because the same thing is happening to my own parents. My dad is in hospital, after a succession of strokes. I guess they’re going to get him better, but someone is going to have to look after him. Whilst that provides employment, it’s at what cost to other people?

By the time my grandchildren have grown up, the world will be really space-age, and overcrowded. There will be progress, although no more than normal. Our parents saw the start of television, radio and telephones. So what’s going to happen next? Everyone thinks their own childhood years were the best. But children have problems masked for them. There’ll be lots more single parents. More concrete. Pollution. They could stop all the packaging. We used to buy biscuits loose in a tin and we weren’t ill from it. We had loose tea from a sack. Get rid of packaging and that would help pollution.

But you have to learn to live with change. It’s like with the internet – as I learn more, I’ll use it for more. It’s an absolutely wonderful thing. I’ve even been house-hunting on it. I’ve looked through some of the houses in Spain, because the estate agents have got the houses on-line. I can walk through the rooms of Spanish houses from behind my desk in Worcester. It has transformed my life.