Audio File Name:		170222_0102
Date:				25th September 2017
Comments:			
Duration:			7.57
KEY: 
Cannot decipher = (unclear + time code)
Sounds like = [s.l + time code]
I: = 	Interviewer (Interviewer in bold)
R: = 	Respondent

I:	May I ask your age?

R:	88.  

I:	And education, what is the highest degree of school that you have completed?

R:	What, in education you mean?

I:	Yes. 

R:	In the day, you mean.

I:	Yes, in your time. 

R:	I’ve been to senior school, you know, to do with the technical side of schools, all the technical side of it.  We didn’t have no qualifications like we have now, no GCSEs or anything like that.  Just ordinary common sense to go with it, just ordinary education.  

I:	What was your occupation?

R:	Ah, well, first I was in the retail trade and then I went into the printing industry and became a full-time [background noise 0:00:49] in electricity and the like. 

I:	And where do you live?

R:	In the Essex area, yes, near Southend. 

I:	Okay, and where do you come from?

R:	In Essex. 

I:	Yes, you’re from Essex?

R:	The town, you mean?

I:	Where you live and where you’re from is the same, right?  Yes, I mean, town or region, whatever you call it. 

R:	Oh, in the East, in the Ilford area of Essex. Near Southend, North East London. 

I:	Okay.  Why did you come to Beamish?

R:	We only came for four days here. 

I:	What are your impressions of Beamish?

R:	Very nice. 

I:	Yes?

R:	Yes. 

I:	What do you like about it?

R:	Well, it’s obviously got a lot of interesting things, like, I’d say people, you know, what more can you say.  You’re going back in time, aren’t you, that’s what it’s mainly about and if you like history. 

I:	Do you like history?

R:	Oh yes, of course. 

I:	Yes?

R:	Of course. 

I:	Like which period you like the most?

R:	Well, way back from the late 1800s coming up the line, anything coming way up the line. 

I:	Why?

R:	Well, it’s got so much to offer, doesn’t it?  With so much technology and stuff and with whatever we had in the past, that’s interesting.  Not all of it, some of it.  You’ve got to use common sense to go with it to get the pleasure out of it. 

I:	This is your first visit?

R:	Yes.

I:	Will you come back here again, do you think?

R:	Not necessarily. 

I:	How many museums or historic sites do you visit in a year? 

R:	Half a dozen. 

I:	Hm-mm.  What sort of places do you like/visit?  

R:	What we do with our lives, we do partly going round country areas and also coastal, like I said, a bit of each. Now we’re in this sort of area and then in September, we shall be down on the coastal line, down in Somerset.  So we see around a bit. 

I:	Is history important to you personally?  Is history important to you personally?

R:	Yes, my wife loves it.  My wife [tape interference 0:03:32]. 

I:	I think she’s in the shop. 

R:	She really loves history. Cor, crumbs! She can tell you quite a lot about history. 

I:	And do you like history t?

R:	Oh yes, of course I do, in these subjects. 

I:	I have this section here about identity, which of these is most important to you? Please, place a number against each word with one being most important.  If any of these are equally important to you, then give them the same number.  If you feel any do not apply then mark them with an “x”.

R:	I’ve got my glasses. 

I:	…like, national identity, where you are from, European identity?

R:	You should have good times in university anyway, a lot of people are going in university, aren’t they?

I:	So we start with number one, being most important and then you can put second and third.  You don’t have to put everything, just…

R:	What does that infer, exactly, that national identity?  Explain more.

I:	Which one, this one?

R:	Yes. 

I:	Yes, I mean, like, you’re British or you’re English, is it important to you?

R:	English, yes. Very important, yes. 

I:	Yes?

R:	Yes, yes, of course. 

I:	That one, very important, so for you, the first? 

R:	Yes. 

I:	You are English or British?

R:	Me?

I:	Yes. 

R:	Me?

I:	for you, which is important, British [tape interference 0:05:02-0:05:05]? 

R:	Well, English, English.  Born in England. 

I:	And European identity, where you’re from, are they important to you?

R:	What, the region I live in?  Where I live?

I:	Mm-hm. 

R:	The town I live in?

I:	Yes, the town, yes, is it important?

R:	It’s gone down a lot, too much now.  It’s changed too much. 

I:	Okay, not that…?

R:	Not that. 

I:	How about where you’re from, is it important to you?

R:	Well, we’re in the…yes, it’s got a lot to…we can get around where I live anyway, it’s not isolated in any way. 

I:	European identity, is it important to you?

R:	It could be, yes. 

I:	It could be?  

R:	Put number one for that. 

I:	As well?

R:	Yes, put that as well. 

I:	Yes?

R:	Yes, yes. 

I:	Yes okay, European identity also one.  And anything else that’s very important?

R:	Not really, no. 

I:	Not really?

R:	No, not really. 

I:	Okay.  There’s also religion, gender, ethnicity, political beliefs.

R:	Political, I’m not too happy with the politics. 

R:	I don’t take a great deal of interest, not a great…

I:	Last question is, what do you feel about the future of the UK and Europe?

R:	My opinion is that us as British people could support ourselves.  I’m pretty sure we’ve got the brains in this country to really produce good stuff, good quality stuff and I think there’ll come a time when we should be able to stand on our own two feet and other countries will come to us and say, ‘I’ll have that product because it’s better than what we can produce ourselves.’  You find a lot of very cheap stuff at the moment, but we can do better.  We used to do better. 

I:	So you think that Britain could do better without the European Union?

R:	I don’t think we’re going to do ourselves any harm by relying on other countries.  We can do it…we can show people we can be proud of what we can produce.  You’ll be seeing a lot of…in Sheffield you’ll probably see a lot of steel coming in, in the factories that are there, not producing it perhaps here at the moment, but I’ll bet it’ll take over soon.  We’ll have a lot of steel products being made.  This is my wife here. 

I:	Hello.

R2:	I’m going to sit over there, <R>. 

R:	Yes, okay. 

I:	Yes, okay.  Well, we’ve e finished anyway, so anything else you would like to say?

R:	Not really no.  Just wish you well in your studies though. 

I:	Yes, thank you.  

[End of recording.]