Interview with Joyce Exton Wallace. Six

Interview with Joyce Exton Wallace. Six

Joyce Exton Wallace recalls a conversation with an elderly man who expressed his disgust at women wearing trousers. He had seen her tying a barrage balloon's wing down whilst up a 14 foot ladder in the playing field of St. Edward's school.

00:01:38 audio recording

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AExtonWallaceJ[Date]-06

It was a very windy day and we’d got to tie the balloon down and I got up on the one side to tie the one wing down which was a heck of a job because you were up a fourteen foot ladder. Well, eventually I got the wing tied down and came down the ladder and we were on the playing fields of St Edward’s School. Yeah. Edwards School which they nicknamed Spuds because of it being Edwards Potatoes you see. King Edwards Potatoes they called them, at school spuds and they had a big fence around. I am railing around it and this man was, elderly man was stood the other side of course, and he called me over. So I went across and said, ‘Good morning.’ And he said, ‘I think it’s utterly disgusting. It’s abominable. I’m going to write about it. I’m going, really going to go as far as I can with it.’ I said, ‘Why? Who has upset you? What has upset you, sir.’ He said, ‘Women wearing trousers.’ So I said, ‘Oh dear,’ I said, ‘Have I spoiled your fun by going up that ladder in trousers? Up a forty foot ladder in trousers instead of wearing my skirt [laughs] to go up the ladder with on a windy day?’ And he turned around and walked away. We heard no more about it. But I mean, to try and get up a ladder to start with was enough on a windy day.