Biography of Sheila

Sheila, who has lived in Rye all her life, was born in 1926, the same year as the late Queen Elizabeth. Like many people back then, she left school at fourteen and went straight into work. Her first job was at Adams printers, working as a ‘general dogsbody.’ After, she went to work for Rother Iron Works (where Aylesfords Timber is today). This was around 1941, during the War. Rother Iron Works was a shipbuilding firm but Sheila recalls working in the department that made camera drives for aircraft. Her job was in the checking shop where she checked washers for faults. 

Sheila married in 1945 and had a family. At that time women tended to stay at home when they married and had children, and Sheila was no exception. Once her youngest child was at school she worked at the Rye Model Laundry (now the River Haven Hotel).

Sheila also worked as a child, helping both her parents and grandparents. Her grandfather used to go shrimping.  “The shrimps were thrown out all over the table.  You’d pick out all the bits of green stuff and all the bits of debris and then they were all boiled in a great big copper. Then the shrimps came out and all sacking was put out in the yard and they were all laid out to cool. My grandfather would go up the town and sell them for sixpence a pint.”

She also used to help her mother with the hop-picking. “We used to go to Peasmarsh and often used to stay up there in the hoppers huts. You used to have your mattress up there and bring all household goods and have a fire. We’d have stews. My mother used to cook sausage rolls and buns. We probably used to eat more than she earned! We used to get out there at seven o clock in the morning and it was all right if it was fine and dry, and the blessed vines used to scratch you and your hands went black as the ace of spades from the hops. You used to get around a shilling a bushel. That was good money. My mother never used to earn much. If you got twenty pounds that was a small fortune. That would buy our winter shoes, winter raincoats, wellies – it would set us up for the winter.”

Audio of interview with Sheila