Date:16/08/14
Location: Hanley
Interviewer: Steve Cooling
Permission given to use interview for website, exhibition and Staffordshire archive: YES
Question asked “What do you remember about bread or bread baking”.
Back in the 70's there was a bread strike and bread was in short supply. I was on a PMT bus once and there was some bread being delivered to a shop. The bus spotted it, stopped his bus and ran over to get some bread.
Everybody had to try and make their own bread. My mum would put the bowl in front of the fire with a damp tea towel over it. She would let it rise and you have that lovely smell of bread all over the house. She made some lovely bread. She had a go at brown once and that didn't quite turn out right. I remember taking sandwiches to school made out of it. They were like bricks, in a strange kind of way I enjoyed it.
I prefer artisan bread, it's much better than the white sliced you have to put up with most of the time.