Audio File Name:		170221_0087
Date:				26th September 2017
Comments:			
Duration:			06:28
KEY: 
Cannot decipher = (unclear + time code)
Sounds like = [s.l + time code]
I: = Interviewer (Interviewer in bold)
R: = Respondent.

I:	Can I ask your age, please?

R:	65 to 74.

I:	Thank you, and your education?

R:	Degree. Bachelor’s degree.

I:	Bachelor’s degree in which subject?

R:	Economics.

I:	Okay, and employment status?

R:	I'm now retired.

I:	Retired.

R:	Well I've got my own little part-time business, but I tend to be retired from civil service.

I:	So, you work for like a company or –?

R:	No, I… I do a… Just a financial thing I do myself.

I:	Oh, okay.

R:	[Tape interference 00:00:19] I'm retired from the civil service [tape interference 00:00:31].

I:	Okay. And where do you live?

R:	Rotherham, South Yorkshire.

I:	Where do you come from?

R:	Country Durham, believe it or not. Various places in Country Durham.

I:	Okay, yes. Why did you come to Beamish?

R:	I’ve wanted to return for a long time. I've heard about it, I've visited it before and the chance came to visit, so it was on my to do list, really.

I:	Why was it… I mean, what did you –?

R:	I've seen so many things I came last time, I couldn’t… there was enough here I didn’t get… one day wasn’t enough for me, so…

I:	What attracted you in the first place, for example?

R:	Well I like these outdoor museums, you know. There’s Ironbridge, there’s things like this, there are so many things I find interesting.

I:	Will you visit again, do you think?

R:	Oh, yes.

I:	Yes. How many museums and historic sites do you visit in a year more or less?

R:	It could be twelve, twenty.

I:	What sort of places?

R:	Houses, I'm a member of the National Trust so –

I:	Great Britain?

R:	Yes, yes, yes.

I:	Okay. What are your impressions of Beamish?

R:	I think it's very well done. Very well done. There’s a lot of things to interest you.

I:	But what do you feel when you go around [tape interference 00:01:37]? Do you say I know this or (over-speaking 00:01:40) –

R:	Yes, obviously there’s –

R:	Bits of both, isn’t it, because some of the family worked down the mines in the North East so, I mean, I know what they went through. I remember some of the shops… my aunt actually worked at this Co-op, the Co-op in Annfield Plain.

I:	Oh, right.

R:	Very distant relative worked here and… Yes, of course, there’s other things I remember. I remember just the name, the Sunderland Echo, so many things –

I:	And you enjoy sort of remembering all this?

R:	Yes. It's not like a dull museum, you know, where there’s so many stately homes and houses, they just… that’s what they are. They’re dead, and they’ve got this full of life and there’s things I can identify with and things, you know, I can learn from, so I like this sort of experience.

I:	Are you interested in the history of the region?

R:	Well, yes, I think –

I:	I mean, I don’t know, which one you prefer, like in Yorkshire or here –?

R:	No, I… both, both, but, you know, as I said the family have [tape interference 00:02:33] family connection [tape interference 00:02:35] mining, you know, so many things.

I:	Sorry, are you [tape interference 00:02:39] talking about mining so is this the period you're interested in or any other part of –? 

R:	Well I mean you can… Yes, I mean, I'm interested in [tape interference 00:02:47] social history, historical economics so you know I can learn from it and obviously I said there's the connections and… even my generation, because I almost went down a mine in Yorkshire, so there you go.

I:	Yes. [Tape interference 00:03:02 - 00:03:05]?

R:	No, I like more modern history, you know [tape interference 00:03:08], you know.

I:	Yes.

R:	Yes, sort of 1800s, 1900s, you know, all modern history [s.l politically 00:03:12].

I:	Is history important to you personally? [Tape interference 00:03:16] talked about it a bit but…

R:	Yes, it is, it is. It's not the main [tape interference 00:03:22-00:03:24] I'm going to look at these sorts of places and I get a lot of enjoyment from it, you know, the time goes quickly, so there you go. [s.l I get to read about it 00:03:31].

I:	Okay.

[Tape interference 00:03:38 - 00:04:48]

R:	Two, yes. Quite a (over-speaking 00:04:54).

I:	And also, there’s options like religion, ethnicity, gender or sexuality if anything [tape interference 00:05:04] and yes, that’s it. Okay, the last question is about actually Europe.

R:	Yes.

I:	[Tape interference 00:05:07]. First of all, what do you think about the future of the North East?

R:	The future of the North East? I mean, everybody’s got to be concerned, haven’t they, because of the effects of Brexit and [tape interference 00:05:21]. I don’t think that’s been every properly explained. [Tape interference 00:05:24 - 00:05:28] you know single market for things like this, it was never explained. I'm obviously very concerned.

I:	What do you feel about the future of the UK and Europe?

R:	It's very uncertain, isn’t it, but I think there’ll be a compromise. I'm hopeful of a compromise anyway.

I:	You said, you're pro-European?

R:	Yes.

I:	Yes, and you said you want sort of Britain to continue a better relationship or [tape interference 00:05:5]?

R:	Even Macron, I don’t know where you come from but he’s even talking… I remember after the election speech he talked about relaunching a reformed Europe, he never specified what his intentions were. Everybody talks about reforming the EU but I've never seen the detail either but… yes, I think it will be great. I think we should I think change is necessary, you know, that’s all.

I:	Yes, great. Thank you.

R:	Good luck.

[End of Recording]