Raymond Hill
Date: April and July 2024
Age: 70
Location: Merton, London
Interviewed by: Alex Hughes

The full recording will be stored in the records of the The British Library when the Our Life Stories project closes. Short excerpts from the interviews are shared below, which give an insight in Raymond’s full and detailed accounts.

Childhood neighbours

Raymond shares his memories growing up alongside an alleyway that was great fun for children – but where older people lived who didn’t appreciate their ball games quite so much!

Transcript

Can you describe the neighbourhood where you grew up in?

Yes, yes. It was sort of like… it was down an alleyway of houses. Some of the houses had old people as tenants, and they did not like children playing with balls up and down alleyway and that sort of thing.

Well, did you play football in the alley, then?

I didn’t, but there were children did that got the wrath of the neighbours and get the ball was without knocking on the door first.

There was this there was this boy, it was the son of a friend of my dad’s. And he was a right little tearaway.
He went into this near neighbour’s house. The ball went into the neighbour’s house – the neighbour’s garden – and the neighbour came out and said, “oh, if you do that again, I’ll tan your backside”.

And then he told me off as well! He told me “You should know better, Raymond!”

Summer holidays

Raymond discusses the two holidays this he shared with his siblings, enjoying life by the seaside in staying in caravans.

Transcript

Do you know what you did in this, in the summer time? Did you go on holiday, or…?

We only ever went on two holidays. We went to to Devon about July-August ’60 when my youngest brother was a few months old. And we didn’t have any other holiday until five years later, in 65, 1965, when we went to Cornwall. It was a place called Hayle in Cornwall. We stayed in a caravan in 1960 in Devon, and then stayed in another caravan in 1965 in Cornwall at Hayle.

Employment

Raymond shares about his work for a greetings card company, and also at a ‘works centre’ in Kingston. After a slow start, Raymond worked there for over 24 years doing tasks for local companies.

Transcript

Have you ever had a job?

I did a bit of work experience from about ‘92 to ‘95, at a company called JOOLS and they published and printed greetings cards for all occasions – birthdays, christenings, Christmas. I worked at this trading estate at St Margaret’s where their company was based.

Over your lifetime, did you find it quite hard to find work?

Yes. Yes. Because for 24 years, I was in what at one time called a “works centre” Geneva Road, Kingston. There was a bit of difficulty there because I did an interview in March and I didn’t start at the centre till October. It was nearly 7 months between me having the interview and starting in the centre because of a hold up with the local authority to pay for me to go to this centre.

OK, all right. Did it get did it get better?

Yes. Eventually. I had by some means, I got this a letter from the centre saying that there was a place for me a centre and would I like to start there, and on the 7th October ‘71, and I was there for 24 years and just over two months.

And what did you do there for that time?

Right. What, what that consisted of there was they did jobs for local companies. One local company they used to do work for was a company called New Hygiene: they would pack the boxes of these air freshener blocks. The round ones that you hung up on the cistern on the wall, and then the ones that you put down the toilet!

Were they paying you for that, or was it voluntary?

Yes it was paid. Yes it was paid work. That’s good.

Life partner

A discussion of how Raymond met his life partner Jean, and how they would spend time together.

Transcript

So have you ever had a romantic partner?

Yes. Yes, I have, yes. Her name is Jean – J E A N – and we were together for 17 years before her death.

So a lot of good, happy times then?

Yes. Yeah

When did you meet your partner?

Oh, 2007. It was sort of like through a lady called Anne-Marie Wylie. She was French. And she used to take me and a girl with down syndrome out to a café somewhere. She liked to go to The Seasons, I think it’s called the Seasons Café at Squires.

Yeah, that’s quite posh!

Yeah, that’s what she liked this girl!

Raymond’s love of music

Raymond shares about his love of music – particularly Motown, and Dusty Springfield – and buying his first vinyl single.

Transcript

Did you have any hobbies?

Oh, yes, I do. Yes. Music is my hobby.

What kind of music?

Well, like, Motown, a bit of soul and that. Dusty Springfield. You know, in ’63, ’64, I bought my first single called I Only Want To Be With You, by Dusty Springfield. As children, we used to get five shillings from our grandfather, for our birthdays and Christmas and then for Christmas I got those five shillings from my granddad, and from my Aunty Audrey, she gave me the extra one and eight pence. So I used all that to get my first single, I Only Want To Be With You, by Dusty Springfield.