Image Bank
Hartlepool
Pelham Street, West Hartlepool
Violet Forstad is eighteen and she has come home to visit her family at their little three-bed roomed terraced house at 22 Pelham Street, West Hartlepool. A few months ago she joined the Land Army and has been training at the College of Agriculture at Durham. One of her brothers is in the RAF and the other is in the Merchant Navy. Neither of them has been home for a while. One of her sisters has gone to Birmingham to do war work in the factories. Both Violet’s parents and her youngest sister are in the Civil Defence.
The children in the street get frightened at night, when the air raid sirens sound. Violet’s mother lets them all come into the house to listen to records on the gramophone. The houses in Pelham Street have small gardens, so every family has their own Anderson shelter. People without gardens have to use the big brick shelters in the streets. But there have been so many air raid warnings lately that a lot of people have got tired of going to the shelters, which are cold and damp. They would rather have a sing-a-long at Mrs Forstad’s!
Activity: Time Tourists
Look at the picture and read, listen to, or print the story.
Now think about how life must have been during World War 2 and write a review for a Time Tourists Magazine.
Download the Time Tourists Writesheet to help you write your notes.