We really do not alter, just grow older

164 Pages·2010·10.28 MB·English

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We really do not alter, just grow older
Ninety years of Winifred Wheable-Archer.
Edited by Patricia Daniel
Published in 2010 by CAM Yorkshire
http://camyorkshire.wordpress.com
58 Ward Street
Penistone
S36 6EP
Printed by www.beamreachuk.co.uk
96 Church Road, Roberttown,
West Yorkshire
WF15 8BE
ISBN 978-0-9532423-4-4
© Copyright 2010: Winifred Wheable-Archer
Permission is granted for not for profit educational use of contents, provided that
they are quoted verbatim and full acknowledgement is made of their origin. The
publishers would be grateful for notification of any such use made.
For my unique, much loved daughter,
Tessa May – Raga Woods.
Distances have separated us through the years – but never wholly apart.
CONTENTS

Introduction 7
Family Woman 11
Teresa Veronica Mullen (Tess and Tom) 13
The General Strike 1926 16
Ron Barber and the Spanish Civil War 23
Three Weddings 28
One can fall in love at any age 34
Having Babies 36
Dynasty 39
Tom Nally 43
Will Nally 45
Alice Lister: Address to the South Lancashire Fabian Society,
May 1995, on the future of the Labour Party 47
Twins 55

Pioneering Professional 59
Winifred Wheable-Archer: Curriculum Vitae 61
The best year of my life: 1962 66
The Home Help Service 68
The International Home Help Conference 71
Home Help Training 74
The Education Centenary and Reflections
on the Plowden Report 77
The Seebohm Report and its Impact on Services 81
Post Retirement 85
National concern through caring organisation 86
Facing up at last to the old problem 87
Sanctuary Housing at Cavendish Mill, Ashton under Lyne 90
Me and the Women’s Institute 91
We really do not alter, we just grow older 93
Mary Stott and The Guardian’s Women’s Page 94
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Pillar of the Community 97
Denby Dale Labour Party 99
Win in the local press 106
Visitors 108
Denby Dale Youth Club 110
Denby Dale and District Probus Club 113
Snippets of History 114
Old Love Story 114
Ratten Row 116
The Blacksmith’s Anvil 118

Poet and Satirist 121
Memoirs of the Mondays 124
Please respect me 125
New Year’s Eve 126
A sonnet to spring 127
Lucy 128
One grand sweet song 129
My Co-op 132
Accentuate the positive 134
Candidate 136
Lord and Lady Chattersby: Their Noble Life and Times 139
Butterfly 157
Further Reading 158
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Introduction
When I moved back to Yorkshire in 2008, I had the unforeseen pleasure and
privilege of meeting Win, then in her ninetieth year, through a mutual friend.
In typical style, Win welcomed me enthusiastically, invited me to meet her
writing group, accompanied me to a musical production about the credit
crunch from the Mikron Theatre Company and shared some of her life stories
(oral and written) with me.
My interest as a feminist was piqued on learning about Win’s professional
life as the only woman at her level in local government and her continuing
active engagement with politics at all levels: an inspiration for the future as well
as a mine of informed opinion on the past and how it relates to the present.
I had recently edited a short book by my mother on growing up between
the wars - which Win admired - and so, in one of our sessions, I persuaded
Win to publish some of her memories and reflections, to coincide with her
90th year.
Because there is so much to tell, this collection can only contain snapshots
of that long history, but which we hope nonetheless provides a sufficient
flavour of it. It is divided into four sections, which focus, in turn, on Win’s
family, professional, community and creative lives. They contain original
writings by Win as well as photographs and press cuttings to provide additional
context. It will become clear to the reader that these four aspects are not
completely distinct one from the other: they overlap in both content and
style. Win’s political life informed and was informed by all her areas of activity.
Additionally, along with a hard-headed, pragmatic approach to moving things
forward, there is a strong romantic streak which manifests itself in Win’s work
and writings.
It was from her close-knit political family background that Win learned
the social conscience and social activism which can be seen underpinning
the successful public profile which she used to bring about changes for
ordinary working women and men. This heritage continues in the work of
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Win’s daughter who founded the national organisation for single parents,
Gingerbread, in 1972 and continues to work for social justice.
In her professional life Win placed an emphasis on society not only using
but valuing the skills of working-class women. In her pioneering work
organising Home Helps, she aimed to raise the status of ordinary women
through good personnel management, improving terms and conditions of
work, training and accreditation, as well as opportunities to participate in
national and international conferences. In our discussions about her career in
local government, Win’s reflections would always raise new insights on how
things have changed - or indeed gone backwards - in public services, as in
mainstream politics
Throughout her professional, political and community lives, Win continued
to be an inveterate campaigner and letter writer, expressing her opinion (both
favourable and adverse) on a whole range of topics. One local campaign, which
we have not been able to include, was the one around the closure of Bretton
Hall University College - a debate that continued for several years before final
closure in 2007.
Win took up creative writing in the 1990s partly because, despite being
active in voluntary public service, she felt mentally lazy (she at age 80 and her
third husband aged 90 were featured in the local press as being “never too old
to learn”). She found herself “surprised and impressed by the writing skill and
imagination of other students and their gentle encouragement of each other’s
efforts”. The writing group that still meets on Mondays at Win’s house has just
published a collection of the work of Pat Charlesworth, one of their members
who died in May 2009.
In the fourth section here we have included a small selection of Win’s
opinions on life, love and art and the necessity of not taking oneself too
seriously, not to mention the priceless pieces of political satire on the noble life
and times of Lord and Lady Chattersby. But this is still an unfinished work.
Win and her ideas live on. She has just told me that she has saved the
telephone kiosk across the road from Old Tavern and is now running a
campaign against the abolition of chequebooks – which would particularly
affect the elderly and small community organisations…
Patricia Daniel
June 2010
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