Entertainment and Hobbies in the 1950s

Rene Smith was an ex-weaver who worked at Armley Mills in the 1950s. Rene started working at the mill in 1941 when she was 14 years old. She agreed to return to the mill to allow the pupils from St. Barts to interview her.  This meant that they could get a first person account of what life was life for the workers at Armley Mills in the 1950s.

The children devised a set of interview questions to pose to Rene.  The questions were intended to help them find out what it was like to work at Armley Mills and about her life ouside of work.

The children asked questions on a number of different subjects, but the video clip attached to this page shows Rene's responses to questions posed to her about entertainment and hobbies in the 1950s. The questions asked were:

Entertainment

• What did you do at the weekend?
• Did your children go to the Leeds Childrens Day?
• Did there used to be swimming pools?

Hobbies

• What were your hobbies in the 1950s?
• What were your children's hobbies?

Video clips of Rene's answers to questions on subjects such as working in the mill, fashion, family life and food can be seen in the other learning journeys in this series.