Part4–Housing.docVIP

Part 4 – Housing This programme was first broadcast in 1999. This is not an accurate word-for-word transcript of the programme. Dick: It was no hardship up in Wigan because digs were pretty reasonable… ￡2.50 a week. Muriel: Queen’s Drive was in Finsbury Park and at the time Finsbury Park did not have such a nice reputation. But...the house was nice. Mojtaba: One of person from my country..he find me and he said to me don’t worry. Somebody, when I arrived in this country..they helped me and I will help you and tomorrow please help another people. Presenter: Voices of immigrants sharing their stories about housing in England. Our first speaker, Dick Goan, arrived in the 1950s when he was 16 years old. He came to England from Northern Ireland - Northern Ireland is one of the four countries which make up the United Kingdom. Dick was recruited by a large telecommunications company and went to Lancashire, in North West England. He arrived during a very cold winter and soon found some ‘digs’ – somewhere Talk about English . BBC Learning English Page 2 of 7 inexpensive to live. Was his a difficult experience? Insert 1 I came over to England in 1954 to a place called Wigan in Lancashire. And, it was no hardship up in Wigan (be)cause digs were pretty reasonable… ￡2.50 a week. I was living with an old dear - an old woman - who was about 76 and she put 4 men up in two rooms. Fed us breakfast, lunch, tea and entertained us. And she had more life than I had, and I was only a youngster in them days. She could jump up on the table and she was 76 - I couldn’t believe it, And she was a great one for sewing tapestries. She had a massive one on the wall which ruined her eyesight, but it was a marvellous thing. I don’t know what ever happened to that tapestry because she must have died over the years now. She probably is. She’s long dead. Presenter: Dick said, ‘there was no hardship’ – because although he had to share a room, his rent was only ￡2.50 a week. For that amount of money, Dic