Liz Fradd interviewed Celia back in 2017 :
I met Celia aged 91 through a long standing friend she is related to the Goulding family who are local builders. She is related to Jane Goulding who lives on Media Drive.
Celia lived in Tollerton between December 1947 and March 1961 at no 10 Tollerton Lane in one of the three semis – no’s 10/ 12, 14 / 16 and 18 / 20. She isn’t sure if Frank Goulding was responsible for building all three sets of semis but thinks it is likely given he set aside no 10 for her when it became vacant, although it might have been a Goodchild build.
She reports most of the building that occurred during her time in Tollerton was at the Lenton end of the village. She doesn’t recall any public meetings about the developments or any consultation. She doesn’t recall any input from the Parish Council but she was also not really aware of their existence.
The only interesting feature she recalls is the fire place in the kitchen which she had to use to boil a kettle after 8 am in the morning on a weekday or until after 4 pm on a Sunday because “being at the end of the village meant the gas ran out”. She says she doesn’t know why but there was a limited supply.
There were no foot paths in the village and no street lighting when she first moved in.
She and her husband brought up 7 children in the house that had only two bedrooms. All the children went to Plumtree School; they weren’t able to afford the Private School situated on Tollerton Lane. There were no activities for the children in the village, and they had no car not least because petrol was still rationed. There was a good bus service through the village if they wanted to go into Nottingham but clothes and furniture were also rationed. The children enjoyed the garden which was a good size and long enough to play games in. There was no pub. One of her most vivid memories is of the 1947 winter when Melton Road was closed due to the considerable amount of snow that fell.
The Chard building was a private butcher while she lived here though she can’t remember the name of it and there was also a greengrocer named Andersen. Next door to the Chard lived the Keyworth district nurse called nurse Stubbington. (When Liz moved into the village in 1986, Wendy Parsons the director of Nursing at the City Hospital lived in one of the two houses next to the Chard – clearly nurse’s corner!)
The family attended church at Tollerton Hall both while it was a seminary and while the German prisoners were still there. Services were conducted alternant weeks by a German priest and by an English priest. The prisoners were allowed out into the village and took tea with some families. Often prisoners became fond of the children they visited, the prisoner who visited her family carved her children a wooden dog.
Liz Fradd 10th Feb 2017