Felicia
Transcript
Interviewer: Okay. So, thanks for coming again. Today is the 19h of May 2022, and we’re here to interview you about the queen’s Platinum Jubilee Portraits Project. So, can you first start with your name?
Felicia: Felicia Sefa-Bonsu.
Interviewer: Where were you born, and when?
Felicia: I was born in Ghana, 1941, June 20th.
Interviewer: And how long have you been a resident of Newham?
Felicia: I used to own a house at Maybury Road, and Church Road. I think Church Road is part of… I‘ve forgotten. But I used to work at Newham General, but at the moment I’m in the Waltham Forest area, but it’s still more or less the same. I’ve been around here since 1985, in the Newham area. Before that I was in South London, Battersea and Tooting Bec. Overall, I’ve been in this country since June 20th 1963. It was a Saturday, very nice, warm Saturday.
Interviewer: Was that the day you arrived?
Felicia: In this country for the first time. I remember that very well, yeah.
Interviewer: That’s amazing. So, can you tell us, how was it when you first moved here? What was it like?
Felicia: The Newham area? It was okay. I was a lodger at a friend’s house, and later I was given a council flat. And later, that flat was demolished and rebuilt into houses. So, the house I’m living in now, I’m the first person to occupy it, and I’m still in it. That was March 1997, over 25 years ago.
Interviewer: Can you tell us, what was it like when you moved here at that time?
Felicia: It was okay. Especially the market. I used to work at Newham General, and after that I used to work at Plaistow Hospital, Samson Street. I think it’s now taken over. I don’t know what they use that building for. It used to be care for the elderly. It was alright. It wasn’t as busy as it is now. Westham Football Park was there. I think they demolished it and built another one, which is now also moved. And if there happened to be a match going on, and you finished your shift at 9 o’clock and you don’t pass through that area before the spectators come out to go to the tube station, you could be there for about half an hour. The train, the first ending on Green Street, that end of it, to the tube station, because of the crowd. There would be so many people moving, going to get the tube from Upton Park to go to various places.
Interviewer: On match days?
Felicia: Yeah. Everybody used to dread it, if you’re on a late shift. It wasn’t a nice place to be at that time. But Queen’s Market is very good. I think it’s probably one of the best in London, because of the fact that they allow you to pick whatever you want, they weigh it for you and you pay. So, if you pick a bad one, it’s your fault, not theirs. Even potatoes. So, I like coming to that market, even now that I don’t work in that hospital anymore, I still travel from my house to that market every week or every two weeks.
Interviewer: So, the market was there at the time when you…
Felicia: Yeah, it’s still going strong. And because it’s roofed, and it’s not too big, you can walk the whole thing in less than five minutes. And they sell almost everything, from clothing, to meat, to foreign food – almost everything you can think of, you can get it from there. The prices are very reasonable as well.
Interviewer: Can you tell us, how is it now, and how does it compare to before, living in Newham?
Felicia: There’s been quite a few changes. Not many buildings, the street is more or less still the same. It has changed hands, the stores. The whole street, most of it is for material, for shoes, for handbags, for repairs. There was one good DIY sort of shop at the top of the market that used to be called Eric’s, but I think it’s now called Green Street Hardware, where you can get any hardware you are looking for. What else has changed? Nothing much, apart from a few of the shops.
Interviewer: Is there anything else that you might recall, or any stories that you might remember from before, and how it is now?
Felicia: Nothing really of significance. Because it’s an open market, from the time they open until the time they close, there’s enough space for everybody to move around, depending on what you’re looking for. It’s only when the COVID hit and they tried to make in and out, instead of people coming in from whatever direction suits them, which was very awkward, and it didn’t last long. It was really not possible to keep in and out in that kind of space. They did mess it up a bit, but now that the COVID is here to stay and we are used to it, nobody is as scared. Ithink we are managing it okay.
Interviewer: So, from what you said, it sounds like that has been a big change, the COVID. And you mentioned it changed the market.
Felicia: Yeah, at the peak of the COVID it really did change. They had people there guiding you to wash your hands, put your mask on. They put hand-washing spaces in the middle, and they made the stalls be in a line so that you go in and you come out. And they moved some of the tables from the middle and tried to organize it in a way that is in and out. But it was more or less impossible. But we managed somehow. People went there only when they had to, because of the restrictions and everything. But now it’s open and people can enter from any direction. At the time, it was only from the side.
Interviewer: So now it’s running…
Felicia: As it used to be. And most of the stalls are coming back.
Interviewer: What would you like to see for the future of Newham?
Felicia: I wonder how they can do. Because all of London is very old. Unless they want to knock down all the terrace houses and rebuild it. Otherwise, we just have to do the best with what we’ve got. London is very old.
Interviewer: Have you got any special memories of Newham?
Felicia: Not really, not as such. It would be with the patients I used to nurse, but not the borough. Plaistow Hospital. We had quite a few patients that were there for years. Some were there for over 10 years. But that place is no longer there. They’ve moved some of the patients to other places, and the site… I don’t know what the site is now, because i’m not working, i haven’t been going that way a lot.
Interviewer: So, was this health center in Plaistow that you’re talking about?
Felicia: No, it was a care of the elderly hospital. One ward for some normal… people who were not too bad.
Interviewer: Can you tell us about any stories that you might recall from when you were working there?
Felicia: I’ve been retired for over 20 years now, so…
Interviewer: What does Newham mean to you?
Felicia: Well, it’s alright. Life is how you make it. You go shopping or whatever, and at the end of the day, in your house, everybody goes in and they close their door, and you don’t know what’s going on behind closed doors. But yeah, it’s okay.
Interviewer: What about the Platinum Jubilee? How are you celebrating the Platinum Jubilee?
Felicia: I was told, my daughter… I was going to ask her, but I didn’t. I think over the news or somewhere, encouraging people to organize street parties and what have you, and my daughter was telling me that somebody knocked on her door, that we may be doing that on our street. But it must be Thursday that person came out to knock on doors. So I have to look into it and see. Me, personally, probably nothing. I’ll probably stay at home and watch it on TV.
Interviewer: Can you tell us more about the street parties that you were mentioning?
Felicia: I don’t know, because it’s my daughter the person saw when he knocked. So, I’ll have to ask my daughter. I don’t even know which of the neighbors came to knock, so I’ll have to find out from my daughter, and contact that person.
Interviewer: What about previous years? Have you celebrated any previous Jubilees or royal events? Weddings, for example?
Felicia: Not really. Most of the time I just stay at home and watch them on the TV. You see more like that than trying to be on the roadside behind so many people.
Interviewer: Do you have any memories of the queen and the royal family?
Felicia: I do. I saw the queen when I was in Ghana, but not since I’ve been in this country. When I was in Ghana, Central Hospital, the queen visited Ghana, and she came to the hospital. It’s called Komfo Anokye Hospital, in Kumasi. So, we lined the compound, from the main entrance of the hospital to the buildings and to the nurses’ room. In fact, it was my mate who presented her with a bouquet of flowers. Very pretty girl at the time. So, when I was in Ghana I saw the queen, and I’ve been in this country for over 50 years and I’ve never seen the queen, in person, I mean, or even near where she is. But when she came to Ghana, I saw her in person.
Interviewer: Can you recall which year that was?
Felicia: Oh dear…
Interviewer: Was it before you came to this country?
Felicia: Yes, I was in the beginning of my nursing training. Because Ghana used to be affiliated with [18:53 inaudible], so when I came here, I just registered. I even started the registration in Ghana to join the UK CC. At that time, you paid five pounds, and your name appeared on the register. When you come, you can start working straight away, in those days. So, when did I qualify? I can’t remember. When the queen came, I think I was in my second year. I can’t remember. Of course, I’ve got my certificates and everything here, but I’ve forgotten. I came in 1963, a year after I qualified. So, it may be 1961 that I qualified. I only worked for a year after I qualified, and I came here and did my midwifery training. I did my Part 1 at St. Luke’s Hospital in Gilford, and my Part 2 at Shrubbery Maternity home in High Wycombe. And my first hospital where I practiced as a midwife was the Charing Cross Hospital. Not this one, the old one at Trafalgar Square, where there is a 24-hour post office. I don’t know if it’s still open 24 hours. That was the first hospital I worked at after I qualified as a midwife. I practiced there for many years before I moved to my local area where I lived, which was Battersea. [21:02 inaudible] Road. It was a house we bought for less than 5000 at the time, a three-story house. That was history.
Interviewer: Do you recall more or less which year was that?
Felicia: When I bought the house? Oh dear, I don’t even remember my children’s birthday. We got a mortgage from the council. They used to give mortgages, and we were paying 25 pounds a month. It was David’s birthday this May. Allison was 1970… 3 back from 1970 is what?
Interviewer: 1967.
Felicia: Yeah. That is when David was born. Oh dear.
Interviewer: Is there anything else you remember or want to talk about from that time?
Felicia: Maternity leave was 12 weeks before and six weeks after. I used to travel from [23:13 inaudible] Road all the way to Charing Cross Hospital in Trafalgar Square. It wasn’t easy. Anyway, I soon gave up full-time, and I was doing part-time, working Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday night. In those days, you didn’t get any extra like they do now on social and those sorts of things. So, eventually I applied for a job at a hospital in [23:54 inaudible], where I was living, a maternity hospital. It’s part of the South London group of hospitals. That is where my daughter was born, the place where I was working. A lot has changed. In those days, even though I was a practicing midwife, you don’t go home until 10 days after delivery. If your baby is born after 2 o’clock, that day is not counted. You have to stay for 10 days. The first three days, the nurses and the midwives, they will nurse you in bed. On the third day, someone will run the bath for you and walk you to the bathroom, and help you to get into the bath. And they’re supposed to stay with you, but if it’s busy they will leave you, and you call them when you finish to help you to get out. But things have really changed. 10 days for a normal delivery. If it’s a cesarean, it’s two weeks. That is if everything is progressing okay. And babies didn’t stay with their parents in the ward, they were kept in the nursery. And visitors, when it’s showing time, you go and view the babies through a glass window. One of the nurses or midwives will go in the nursery, and you say what baby you’re looking for, and they pick it up and show the baby to you through a glass window, for fear of infection to the babies. Before the visitors come you take all of them away from the mother’s side and keep them in the nursery. Things have changed a lot.
Interviewer: Did you work as a midwife here in Newham as well?
Felicia: No, I worked as a midwife in Charing Cross. Since I came to Newham from South London, I was mostly doing agency work, and part-time, so I could look after my grandchildren. There was no problem with me working weekends. When they started giving extra pay, everybody wanted to work weekends. It was a bit of a problem for me, who was doing it without any extra pay. Now everybody wanted to do it, so they were trying to say you can’t have all the weekends, you have to do a bit of day duty, which didn’t suit me. But that’s life.
Interviewer: So, it sounds as though a few things have changed.
Felicia: A lot, yeah.
Interviewer: What does it mean to you, to be celebrating the first Platinum Jubilee?
Felicia: Oh, I’m very happy for the queen. She’s really blessed. For her to reach that age, and see how well she’s… I think she’s very, very lucky. It’s worth celebrating. The only thing I wish is that the husband was still around. Because they were a good pair, a good team for all those years, and there would be a lot for them to talk about behind closed doors. But now it will be just her alone, and her memories. But what can you do? Life goes on with or without any of us, so she just has to deal with it the best way possible. It would have been very nice for Phillip to be around and celebrate with her.
Interviewer: Is there anything that I didn’t ask that you maybe want to talk about? About Newham, or…
Felicia: I think you’ve asked…
Interviewer: If there’s something you…
Felicia: I saw Newham Hospital being built. I was around when it was being built. It’s not a bad hospital to work in, it’s okay. Because I’ve worked in about 31 London hospitals and care homes in total, because I used to do mostly agency. So, wherever they called me, I’d go. Some places I only went to once, and other places used to be on a regular basis.
Interviewer: So, you remember before Newham General, was there another hospital?
Felicia: St. Andrew’s.
Interviewer: Was it in Newham?
Felicia: Part of it, at [30:49 inaudible]. It’s not a block of flats. IT was a very nice old hospital. I used to like going there, but now it’s a block of flats. They moved the remaining patients at the time to Newham, before they sold the land or knocked it down or whatever.
