Remaking Working-Class Community: Sociability, Belonging and ‘Affluence’ in a Small Town, 1930–80

Abstract

Historians' interest in the ways locality shapes and constrains working-class culture has until recently tended to end with the post-war demise of the ‘traditional working-class communities’ thought to have coalesced in British industrial localities from the 1880s to the 1950s. Such communities, it is assumed, were torn apart in the post-war decades by affluence and urban restructuring, paving the way for the privatisation of working-class life. This article reports a historical case study of the small town of Beverley, East Yorkshire, a type of context often overlooked in such narratives. Evidence gathered from extensive oral history research in the town suggests that the three post-war decades were not so much a period of declining community as one in which full employment and a thriving traditional industrial sector brought considerable social stability. Many Beverley residents reported that they been embedded in extensive local networks of family, friends, acquaintances and workmates which underpinned attachment to place. The article argues that instead of accepting contemporary sociological portrayals of this period as one in which working-class community dissolved into individualism, historians need to engage empirically with patterns of local social life in the mid- and later twentieth century and to explore a greater range of urban settings.

Keywords::

• Community
• Working Class
• Mid-Twentieth Century
• Affluence
• Post-War

Acknowledgements

Thanks to my Ph.D. supervisors, Dr Douglas Reid and Dr Jenny Macleod for all of their support. Thanks also to Dr Margaret Lane and Dr Rosemary Wall and two anonymous referees for reading and providing very helpful comments on earlier drafts, to Amy Newton for help with Figure 1 and to all of the interviewees who very generously gave their time to share their memories with me of life in Beverley.

Notes

^[1] For example: Tönnies, Community and Association; Giddens, Consequences of Modernity; Bauman, Community; and Blackshaw, Key Concepts in Community.

^[2] For example: Zweig, Worker in an Affluent Society; Young and Willmott, Family and Kinship; and Klein, Samples from English Cultures. This ‘age of affluence’ is conventionally understood as the period between the 1950s and early 1970s: Hobsbawm, Age of Extremes, 6; and Howlett, ‘“Golden Age”, 1955–1973’, 321.

^[3]Goldthorpe et al., Affluent Worker in the Class Structure, 96–102.

^[4]Hobsbawm, Age of Extremes, 307, ‘Formation of British Working-Class Culture’.

^[5]Roberts, Women and Families, 11, 14–15, 199–229, 238.

^[6] Examples for the earlier period include: Tebbutt, Women's Talk?; McKibbin, Classes and Cultures; Bourke, Working Class Cultures; Hobsbawm, ‘Formation of British Working-Class Culture’; Roberts, A Woman's Place; Davies, Leisure, Gender and Poverty; Ross, ‘Survival Networks’; and Barron, 1926 Miners' Lockout.

^[7]Colls, ‘When We Lived in Communities’; and see also Offer, ‘British Manual Workers’.

^[8]Procter, ‘Privatisation of Working-Class Life’.

^[9]Charles, Davies, and Harris, Families in Transition, 164; Bertaux-Wiame and Thompson, ‘Familial Meaning of Housing’, 154–155; Savage, Bagnall, and Longhurst, ‘Local Habitus and Working-Class Culture’; and Strangleman, ‘Networks, Place and Identities’.

^[10] Bourke, Working Class Cultures.

^[11]Todd, ‘Affluence, Class and Crown Street’.

^[12]Savage, Identities and Social Change; Majima and Savage, ‘Contesting Affluence’; and Lawrence, ‘Class, “Affluence” and the Study’.

^[13]Lawrence, ‘Class, “Affluence” and the Study’, 289

^[14]Jones, Working Class in Mid Twentieth-Century, 146.

^[15]Rogaly and Taylor, Moving Histories of Class; and Clapson, Working-Class Suburb.

^[16]Hoggart, Uses of Literacy, 68.

^[17]Wood and Carter, ‘Towns, Urban Change’, 417.

^[18]Thompson, Voice of the Past, 106–107.

^[19]Fischer, To Dwell among Friends.

^[20]Brown, ‘Modern Beverley: Beverley After 1945’, 154; General Register Office, Census 1961; Office of Population Censuses and Surveys, Census 1971; Office of Population Censuses and Surveys, Census 1981.

^[21]Brown, ‘Modern Beverley: Beverley 1918–1945’, 152, ‘Modern Beverley: Beverley After 1945’.

^[22]Roberts, Class in Modern Britain, 23–51.

^[23] See, for example, Jones, Working Class in Mid Twentieth-Century, 35; Young and Willmott, Family and Kinship, 13; Roberts, Class in Modern Britain, 81–85.

^[24] See, for example, Marwick, ‘Class’, 76–77; Savage, ‘Working-Class Identities’; and Lawrence, ‘Class, “Affluence” and the Study’, 281.

^[25] See, for example, Thomson, ‘Anzac Memories’.

^[26]Jones, Working Class in Mid Twentieth-Century, 120–129.

^[27]Day, Community and Everyday Life, 1.

^[28]Pahl, ‘Are All Communities’.

^[29]Roberts, Women and Families, 200; Goldthorpe et al., Affluent Worker in the Class Structure, 86; Klein, Samples from English Cultures, 133–134.

^[30]Young and Willmott, Family and Kinship, 113.

^[31] See, for example, Hoggart, Uses of Literacy, 58–71; Klein, Samples from English Cultures, 133–134; Jones, Working Class in Mid Twentieth-Century, 120–155; and Moran, ‘Imagining the Street’.

^[32]Roberts, Women and Families, 200.

^[33] Jack Binnington, 3 August 2010, c. 55 min (interviews conducted by the author will be footnoted in this way—names are pseudonyms).

^[34] Jack Binnington, 22 June, 2010, 45 min.

^[35] Anna Mason, 12 July 2010, 12 min.

^[36]Beverley Guardian, 21 and 28 April 1945.

^[37] Bob Garbutt, 25 June 2010, 12 min.

^[38]Hobsbawm, ‘Formation of British Working-Class Culture’, 188–190; and Bott, Family and Social Network, 93–94.

^[39] Doreen Lee and Doris Daniels, East Riding of Yorkshire Council Museums Service Interview, c. 8 min.

^[40]Langhamer, ‘Meanings of Home’; Abrams, ‘“There was Nobody Like my Daddy”’; Roberts, Women and Families, 154–155; and Lawrence, ‘Class, “Affluence” and the Study’, 285–286.

^[41]Hoggart, Uses of Literacy, 35.

^[42] Peter Cooper, East Riding Museums Service Interview, September 2005, 11.

^[43]Jones, Working Class in Mid Twentieth-Century, 132; and see also Rogaly and Taylor, Moving Histories of Class, 18.

^[44] Ellen Ingleton, 20 April 2010, c. 20 min.

^[45] Betty Carr, 19 March 2010, c.10 min.

^[46]Goldthorpe et al., Affluent Worker in the Class Structure, 86.

^[47]Otter, Yorkshire Airfields.

^[48] Anna Mason, 12 June 2010, c. 70 min.

^[49] For new freedoms, see, for example, Franklin, ‘Working-Class Privatism’, 110–111; and Lawrence, ‘Class, “Affluence” and the Study’, 289.

^[50]Brown, ‘Modern Beverley: Beverley After 1945’.

^[51]Barrow and Hepburn and Gale Ltd, Everything in Leather, 22.

^[52]Thompson et al., Cook, Welton and Gemmell, 5; and Dodd, ‘Changing Structure of Industry’, 41.

^[53]Dodd, ‘Changing Structure of Industry’, 41; ‘Summary of number of employees in major industrial undertakings in Beverley May 1960’, Local Government Commission 1960, ERALS: CCER/9/2/1.

^[54]Howlett, ‘“Golden Age”, 1955–1973’, 337; Brown, ‘Modern Beverley: Beverley, 1918–1945’; and Dodd, ‘Changing Structure of Industry’, 26.

^[55] Keith Barrett, 2 September 2010, c. 50 min.

^[56]Goldthorpe et al., Affluent Worker in the Class Structure; and Young and Willmott, Family and Kinship.

^[57] William Vincent, Interview, 25 May 2010, c. 53 min.

^[58] Ivy Shipton, Interview, 17 May 2010, c. 40 min. See also Jean Benson, Interview, 14 January 2010, c. 25 min.

^[59] Jean Benson, Interview, 14 January 2010, c. 25 min.

^[60] Willam Vincent, 25 May 2010, 6 min.

^[61]Beverley Guardian, 27 July 1978, 21 September 1978.

^[62]Beverley Guardian, 20 January 1977.

^[63] George and Hilda Little, 24 October 2008, c. 0 min.

^[64] John Day, 10 November 2009, c. 8 min.

^[65] Peter Lawson, 4 May 2010, c. 0 min.

^[66]Beverley Guardian, 11 January, 28 June, 23 August 1963.

^[67]Abrams, ‘“There was Nobody Like My Daddy”’.

^[68] Michael Hudson, 17 December 2010, c. 0 min.

^[69] Sally Adams, 21 June 2010, c. 20 min.

^[70] See also Todd, ‘Affluence, Class and Crown Street’.

^[71] Keith Barrett, 2 September 2010, c. 20 and 31 min.

^[72]Young and Willmott, Family and Kinship, 131–169; Klein, Samples from English Cultures, 220–221; and Jones, Working Class in Mid Twentieth-Century, 146, 201.

^[73] Janet Hill, 3 March 2010, c. 60 min.

^[74]Abba, To Build and to Plant, 42.

^[75] George Wigton, 15 February 2010, c. 65 min.

^[76] Les White, 29 October 2010, c. 1 h.

^[77]Roberts, Women and Families, 231; and Jones, Working Class in Mid Twentieth-Century, 146.

^[78] Sociologists addressing changing working-class informal sociability include: Allan, ‘Friendship and the Private Sphere’, 80–83; Pahl, On Friendship; and Spencer and Pahl, Rethinking Friendship.

^[79]Jones, Working Class in Mid Twentieth-Century, 146, 200; and Clapson, Working-Class Suburb, 182–214.

^[80] See Franklin, ‘Working-Class Privatism’.

^[81]Roberts, Women and Families, 232–233; and Jones, Working Class in Mid Twentieth-Century, 146–147, 201.

^[82] Vic Baker, 29 May 2010, c. 145 min.

^[83]Jones, Working Class in Mid Twentieth-Century, 136. For post-war sociologists pressing this charge, see for example Klein, Samples from English Cultures, 220–237.

^[84] East Riding Museums Service interview with Bill Cooper and Jim Gillyon, c. 13 min.

^[85]Roberts, Women and Families, 199–231; and Lawrence ‘Class, “Affluence” and the Study’, 285.

^[86] See, for example, Roberts, Women and Families, 118–128; Gavron, Captive Wife, 132; and Wilson, ‘A New Look’.

^[87] Bill and Jane Holland, 11 November 2009, c. 1 h 16 min.

^[88]Beverley Guardian, 21 May 1965; Brown, ‘Modern Beverley: Beverley After 1945’; Root, ‘Transportation and Communications’, 448-9; Howlett, ‘“Golden Age”, 1955–1973’; Roberts, Women and Families, 22, 223; and Gazeley, ‘Manual Work and Pay’.

^[89] Marianne Woolly, 22 February 2010, c. 35 min.

^[90] For ‘experiential knowledge’ of neighbourhoods, see Jones, Working Class in Mid Twentieth-Century, 136.

^[91]Ibid., 146.

^[92] East Riding of Yorkshire Council Museums Service interview with Mr Gordon Rowley.

^[93] Ellen and Harry Malster, 21 May 2010, c. 95 min.

^[94]Walkerdine, ‘Communal Beingness and Affect’, 101.

^[95] William Vincent, Interview, 25 May 2010, c. 10 min.

^[96] George Hunter, Interview, 14 January 2010, c. 80 min.

^[97] John Day, Interview, 10 November 2009, Track 2. c. 5 min.

^[98] Doreen Lee, Interview, 9 November 2009, c. 49 min.

^[99]Lawrence, ‘Class, “Affluence” and the Study’, 289.

^[100] Most authors agree that the ‘companionate marriage’ gained ground as aspiration if not always reality in the post-war decades, e.g. Roberts, Women and Families, 113; Williamson, ‘Gender, Leisure and Marriage’, 187; for post-war generations defining themselves in new ways, see for example Marwick, British Society Since 1945, 120–153; and Gilleard and Higgs, Contexts of Ageing, 62–72.

^[101] Joyce Sumner, 13 August 2010, c. 56 min; Janet Thompson, 23 November 2009, c. 106 min.

^[102] Sarah and Vic Baker, Interview, 29 May 2010, c. 145 min.

^[103] Marianne Wooly, 22 February 2010, c. 115 min.

^[104] Gerald Ibbotson, 7 July 2010, c. 140 min.

^[105] See also Mckibbin, Classes and Cultures, 359–362; Holt, ‘Sport and Recreation’, 113; and Ward, One Hundred Years of Golf, 61.

^[106] John Day, 10 November 2009, c. 34 min, Track 2, c. 24 min; historians have noted that golf went from a solidly middle-class pursuit in the 1920s and 1930s to become popular with manual workers after the Second World War: McKibbin, Classes and Cultures, 359–362; Holt, ‘Sport and Recreation’, 113; and Ward, One Hundred Years of Golf, 61.

^[107] John and Margaret Day, 8 December 2009, c. 1 h 28 min.

^[108] Margaret and John Day, 8 December 2009, c. 1 h 37 min.

^[109] Margaret Day, 23 November 2009, c. 24 min.

^[110] For examples of new freedoms eroding community of place, see Zweig, Worker in an Affluent Society, 107; and Pahl, ‘Friendly Society’, 91.

^[111]Bott, Family and Social Network, 3–4.

^[112]Brown, ‘Modern Beverley: Beverley after 1945’; for the national picture see, for example, Taylor, ‘Rise and Disintegration’, 383.

^[113] Examples of sociologists describing working-class community in post-industrial settings include: Wight, Workers Not Wasters; Savage, Bagnall, and Longhurst, ‘Local Habitus and Working-Class Culture’; Walkerdine, ‘Communal Beingness and Affect’; Strangleman, ‘Networks, Place and Identities’; and Clark, ‘From Neighbourhood to Network’.

^[114] Hayley Adams, 30 November 2009, c. 37 min.

^[115]Massey, Spatial Divisions of Labour, 286; and Todd, People, 5–6.

^[116]Harrison, Britain Revisited, 28–42.

^[117]Garrioch and Peel, ‘Introduction: The Social History’, 672.

^[118] For inter-war occupational and geographical mobility, see Baines and Johnson, ‘In Search of the “Traditional” Working Class’.

^[119]Clapson, Working-Class Suburb; Jones, Working Class in Mid Twentieth-Century; and Rogaly and Taylor, Moving Histories of Class.

^[120]Lawler, Identity: Sociological Perspectives, 136–138.

^[121] Evident, for example, in Hobsbawm, ‘Formation of British Working-Class Culture’; and Colls, ‘When We Lived in Communities’.

^[122] For restatement of the value of the concept of community and of community studies, see, for example, Allan and Phillipson, ‘Community Studies Today’; Charles and Crow, ‘Introduction: Community Re-Studies’; and O'Connor and Goodwin, ‘Revisiting Norbert Elias's Sociology’.

^[123] For stigmatising representations of the working classes, see Jones, Chavs; Lawler, Identity: Sociological Perspectives, 122–142; and Skeggs, Formations of Class, 75–76.

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Stefan Ramsden

Stefan Ramsden has worked as a teaching assistant at the University of Hull in the departments of History and Languages since completing his Ph.D. at the University in 2012. The present article is based on research he undertook for his Ph.D. between 2008 and 2012. This research was supported by a University of Hull 80th Anniversary Ph.D. scholarship. Correspondence to: Stefan Ramsden, Department of History, University of Hull, Cottingham Road, Hull, HU6 7RX, UK. Email: [email protected]