Marilyn Airstone: 1929 – 2010
Marilyn was born in 1929. During the Second World War she came to live with her grandmother in Thame and went to the Girls’ Grammar School. Her grandmother owned a ladies underwear and millinery shop near the Town Hall.
The recordings were made on 16th January 2008
Granny lived in the Buttermarket, Thame. Marilyn recalls her grandmother coming to 112 High Street, in 1923, and describes changes to the building over the years.
Granny’s living room – wooden panelling inside the building, problems with the chimney caused by a wartime bomb, and the effect this had on the coal fire.
Thame Station – Marilyn’s grandmother travels from Thame Station to London to buy stock for the shop.
Stocktaking – took place on the 20th January and is a long and complicated process.
Edinburgh after the war – After the War, Marilyn cannot get in to Edinburgh University and comes back to Thame, eventually taking over the running of the shop. In her spare time Marilyn becomes involved in the early days of the Thame Players.
Selling the tickets for the Town Hall Shows & the start of Thame Players – In the 1960s and 70s plays were put on at the Town Hall, with the help of the Council, before the Thame Players move to the Church Hall in Nelson Street in 1977.
