Elizabeth Godsell

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Summary

Based on the interview conducted on 25 November 2008

Elizabeth Godsell was born in the old schoolhouse at Woolhope in 1920 and, apart from periods in service and war work, spent more than eighty years living at Avenue Cottage. She left school at 14 to help care for her mother, whose long illness placed heavy responsibilities on Elizabeth and her sister Dorothy. At 15, she went into service at Holme Lacey Hospital, but returned home after her mother’s death.

Elizabeth worked in several local houses and nursing homes, including Oaklands and Aylestone Hill House, before entering domestic service at Wessington Court. During the Second World War, Wessington was commandeered as a hospital for wounded servicemen. Elizabeth worked upstairs for the commandant while her sister nursed downstairs. She remembered soldiers fussing over a baby she cared for, and the long days that often stretched until nine at night.

At 21 she was conscripted and went to work at the Rotherwas munitions hostel, which at its height housed around 2,000 residents. She described nine-hour shifts, queues for meals, colour-coded tickets, and the “Holiday Fellowship” name used to disguise the site’s true purpose.

Elizabeth married Charlie in 1942. He served in the RAF in Kent and returned home in 1946. They settled at Avenue Cottage, raising a son, Edward, and daughter, Margaret.

Deeply involved in village life, Elizabeth belonged to the WI, Mother’s Union and church choir, took part in the 1954 Tom Spring pageant, square dancing competitions (even appearing on “Workers’ Playtime”), and ran a popular toy stall at the Christmas Fair.

Reflecting on change, she spoke of a time when “you knew every single person in the parish,” children roamed freely, and community life centred on church, dances and shared work in fields and orchards.