Teenage Kicks: Full video

All eight stories from Teenage Kicks, exploring what life was like for eight girls growing up in Britain between 1956-74 https://www.manchester.ac.uk/teenage-kicks

What was it like to be a teenage girl growing up in Britain in between 1950s and 60s? Was life really a whirl of pop music, miniskirts and women’s lib? Teenage Kicks tells the stories of eight girls as they navigate growing up in Britain at a time of huge social, economic, and cultural change. Teenage Kicks is based on research from the Girlhood and Later Life project at The University of Manchester. It is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.

teenage kicks girls growing up in Britain between 1956 and 1974 Britain was transformed by the huge social and economic changes which followed the second world war looking back at the period between 1956 and 1974 it is easy to imagine that life for teenage girls suddenly became a whirl of minis skirts pop music and women’s lib but how accurate is this the pill was revolutionary but it was a revolution that took a long time married women could take the pill from 1961 but it wasn’t until 1974 that it was made free and available to all and there could still be barriers to access for some women the law was starting to recognize women as the equals of men from 1969 it became easier for women to get divorced abortion was legalized in some circumstances in 1967 some young women were starting to leave their parents’ home for work rather than marriage a good education could help girls get a good job but not all girls had an equal chance it was harder for girls from poorer families to turn their hard work at school into a good career any teenage girl with a little money to spend was spoiled for choice in the new department stores record shops and coffee shops more girls started to go to university and some of these began to get involved with the progressive politics so associated with teenagers in the 70s others were politically involved via trade unions life was changing for some young women but not for all these stories that follow show what life was really like for a series of teenage girls growing up in Britain in the 50s and 60s Joyce born in 1948 into a large workingclass family Joyce grew up in to London Joyce lived with her mom dad and five of her nine brothers and sisters in a three- bed Council house her dad was a laborer and her mom looked after the children Joyce was very bright so while her sisters went to secondary modern she went to grammar school she did well and her head teacher encouraged her to apply to teach a training college she enjoyed school but she was aware of being poor unlike her school friends she wore hme down uniforms and her shoes had holes one day they all stopped to buy sweets after school Joyce had to use the money she had been saving up to get her haircut so she could buy some sweets and avoid being the odd one out by the time she was 14 Joyce was earning a little money doing errands for Neighbors this meant she could buy some of her own things and groceries to help her parents money stretch further I remember one year white boots came in and I saved up and bought myself a pair School Leaving age was 15 and Joyce could have stayed on to do a levels but her mom became ill and she left school to help out with cooking cleaning and looking after her younger brothers and sisters Joyce’s mom died a few years later even when Joyce started work as a receptionist at 16 she and her friends didn’t have lots of money for socializing they would walk to the coffee shop to save the bus Fair buy a coffee and make it last all evening they went to a nearby club called Spangles on Tuesdays but even now Joyce was older and had her own job there was still a strict 10 p.m. curfew at home Joyce had to go to night school to learn shorthand typing for her job her sisters all learned typing at school but it was a assumed that grammar school girls wouldn’t have jobs that needed typing I was a mod we were all very smart one of my boyfriends had a scooter you felt like the bee knees going around on a scooter though Joyce had more freedom after leaving school and starting work there were limits a 5em radius of the road you grew up in basically that’s where you stayed one time she and her friends went to Brighton for a few days staying in a B&B it was quite an adventurous thing to do by her late teens Joyce and most of her brothers and sisters were working full-time and their earnings made Family Life a bit more comfortable they got a secondhand black and white television then a washing machine and her older brother bought a record player Joyce got engaged to gram age 20 knowing firsthand the struggles of bringing up a family on a small budget she and Graham planned carefully for a more comfortable future Joyce carried on working fulltime and went on the pill and they saved up for marriage a house and later children thanks to their careful saving Joyce and her husband Graham were much more comfortably off than her parents by the time they had their two boys when they were in their late 20s Joyce gave up work to look after the children when they were small later she started work again taking a part-time cleaning job meanwhile Graham worked his way up to a managerial role now retired Joyce feels lucky that she is still happily married unlike friends whose marriages ended in divorce she is pleased that her family have done well for themselves and that her sons are both homeowners sometimes I wonder if I could have carried on at school and been a teacher because I would have loved to have taught but I was too young to realize how important the exams were and life as different things in store for you Andrea born in 1951 Andrea grew up in a rural Village in glester Shere in a lower middle class family Andrea’s Family Life revolved around their non-conformist church on Sunday she went to church in the morning and the evening with Sunday School in between she loved going on ramble with the church youth club you felt you were part of a little community that valued you Andrea dreamed about what it would be like to wear trousers or drive a car Andrea had her own bedroom where she did her homework or wilded away the hours reading or dreaming she even wrote poetry her head mistress believed that girls should not have to restrict themselves to traditionally female subjects she gave Andrea the confidence to follow her passion for science though she loved her classes Andrea was picked on for being more interested in sport than makeup and boys I was quietly suffering really and the teachers knew I had a crush on one of them for years possibly and she asked to talk to me after school she asked me what do you think will happen as you get older but I knew it wasn’t something I was going to just grow out of Andrea did well in her a levels and got a place at University in London instead of living at home with her parents she now lived in student digs with friends it was a world away from her life with her family a time of political Awakening like-minded people and a chance to experiment with sex and drugs the first time I heard Lady Madonna I was really struck by it it’s about women’s struggle it’s about poverty it’s about unfairness that was really what my mind was turning to in those days now and Anda spent her Sundays exploring the docks on the south side of the temps wandering the little alleys and Wars Andrea’s College was going through a pretty Lefty period and like many other students in the late 60s she became more politically active often joining in student marches at night she sometimes went to nightclubs including the infamous Gateway club which was the only Club in London for gay women it was down the King’s Road a crummy Place really down in the basement and small hot and dark I used to go there secretly despite the freedom and experimentation of her life in London Andrea did not come out to her family concerned that they would find it difficult to come to terms with Andrea stayed in London which she felt gave her the space to be openly gay she had her first serious girlfriend in her late 20s she met the love of her life Linda in her 30s and they are still together Andrea started work in pharmaceutical research later retraining and moving into charity work looking back she feels that a combination of workplace sexism and her own anxieties sometimes held her back Andrea was pleased to retire at 65 and she and Linda moved further out of London to enjoy their retirement Andrea spends a lot of time at her alotment and volunteers at the local food bank she is still politically active and campaigns against climate change she was arrested for the first time in her life at an Extinction Rebellion protest aged 69 Andrea celebrated her 70th birthday with a walk and a picnic with Linda and her friends Cynthia born and sent kits Cynthia left her family aged 18 and moved to Liverpool Cynthia was the sixth out of 12 children in her family they didn’t have much money and everybody had to work hard including the children we all helped out on the farm my brothers fed the pigs and me and my sisters planted cotton we worked together as a family Cynthia and her family like most of her neighbors were regular churchgoers church was like a second family for her I was in the girls Brigade it was such fun and a welcome relief from doing jobs at home Cynthia didn’t usually travel far from home but occasionally she and her family traveled to the other side of the island to visit her cousin they took Gifts of food and her uncle a fisherman gave them a huge Lobster in return Cynthia’s mother was in poor health and so Cynthia left school at 15 to help look after her brothers and sisters she also took a part-time job as a waitress aged 18 Cynthia decided to go to England her mother went with her to the port in St kits the boat Journey took nearly a month and Cynthia missed her family desperately England was finger num numbingly cold and damp so much smoke came out of chimneys that Cynthia mistook them for factories she was particularly shocked to see young women smoking jobs were easy to find in Liverpool Cynthia quickly found work as a machinist she earned £3 a week working alongside other West Indian women a work colleague noticed Cynthia’s needle skills and helped her get a job making children’s clothes earning £5 a week all the other women hated sewing the Pockets because they were so fiddly but this was Cynthia’s speciality Cynthia went to night school to learn touch typing swapping sewing machines for typewriters she eventually found a better paid job at a solicitor’s office two years after arriving in Liverpool Cynthia received a telegram telling her the sad news that her mother had been taken ill on Friday and died the next day Cynthia was 20 finding a church had been almost as important as finding a job when she first arrived in England her faith and her church gave her strength and support particularly after her mother’s death it was here that she met her husband Roy adjusting to married life took time for instance do you wash the dishes in the evening the St kits way or in the morning as Roy learned growing up in Jamaica Cynthia had her first child in 1969 when she was 26 and after a short break she returned to full-time work two years later she had her second child and stopped full-time work later becoming a part-time cleaner at this point she and Roy bought the Terrace House in the Manchester area where they still live they have a modest workingclass standard of Life Cynthia feels fortunate in later life to be supported by her family and is still actively involved in her Church community as is Roy her philos has been to live life one day at a time she went on to have six boys and girls who have all been upwardly mobile social workers entrepreneurs professional musicians and has one grandchild while her husband spends time on their allotment growing produce that they share with friends in the church and neighborhood Cynthia now devotes more time to her long-standing love of singing and writing her own songs she made her first gospel album when she was 60 Pamela born in 1952 Pamela grew up in penrith Cumbria in a workingclass family her father had a small holding and Pamela and sisters and brother helped her parents prepare and sell the meat eggs and vegetables on their Market stall in town Pamela’s mother was against secondary education for girls because she thought it was unnecessary if a girl was going to get married and have a family Pamela’s Headmaster saw her academic potential he convinced her mother to let Pamela stay on for an extra year to take her cses Pamela dreamed of being a secretary but her strong math skills earned her an accounting job in a manufacturing firm on her first day at work she was made to take papers across a metal walkway in the factory all the men working on the factory floor below gathered to look up her skirt at weekends she started going to dances in local pubs to the background of baby sham bell bottoms and flowered tops she met and fell in love with Paul like most girls she had not had any sex education and did not know much about pregnancy or conception when she got pregnant her mom tried and failed to find a doctor to perform an abortion the abortion Act of 1967 had not come into Force so abortion was still illegal Pamela tried all kinds of herbal remedies to stop the pregnancy but they didn’t work her mother would not let her tell Paul that she was pregnant but Pamela arranged to meet him one last time he missed his train and Pamela thought he had stood her up at 17 Pamela was sent away to an unmarried mother’s home in the country to have the baby it was horrific we were all in doorm they made us do chores I had to polish this big bloody staircase her baby girl was adopted 6 weeks after birth and Pamela returned home she met Mick the mod at 18 sadly Mick turned out to be a possessive and manipulative boyfriend Pamela felt pushed into getting engaged at 19 and married at 20 Mick’s Granddad paid for Pamela to have driving lessons it was to stop Mick drink driving once they were married Mick became physically violent Pamela made excuses for the bruises i’ say I’ve had a filling or I was playing blinking squash and gone right into the wall meanwhile Pamela’s career took off she got promotion after promotion working her way into management with two fulltime time incomes plenty of money and a new car on the drive most people would have thought that Pamela LED an idilic life Pamela went on the pill determined not to have children with Mick she vowed to herself that the next time she got pregnant it would be in a caring relationship where she could look after the baby eventually benefiting from the divorce Act of 1969 Pamela divorced Mick by 24 she had secured a Mor on her own house just having that key to my own door being able to bolt my own door Pamela later met and married her second husband John this was the loving relationship that she had hoped for they had two children and in her late 30s Pamela was reunited with the daughter who had been adopted Pamela gave up her successful management career to look after her children while they were young later returning to work part-time after coming up with a genius idea Pamela became a very successful entrepreneur she formerly retired in her 60s but is still involved in the business now 68 she lives alone after her husband passed away looking back she doesn’t regret not becoming a secretary though she does wonder what would have happened if she had been able to stay on for AEV s and go to university Liz born 1948 Liz grew up in a small middleclass family in basilon Essex Liz was an only child and always fiercely independent she had a paper round by the time she was 13 her father was a manager in a large Railway company which meant that his family including Liz got free travel by train across the UK taking advantage of her free rail travel Liz would go with friends to South End where they would browse the department stores go for coffee and go to the cinema Liz failed the 11 plus and went to a secondary modern where she was in the a stream female students were funneled into nursing office work factory work and maybe teacher training but Liz had other ideas from her basilon bedroom she dreamed of traveling the world she wrote to piano to inquire about becoming a ship’s nurse and she dreamed of being an air hostess until she realized she was too short taking inspiration from a magazine article about a young woman called Tilly who traveled the world with her job as a writer Liz stayed on at school for an extra year to take French and shorthand typing Liz traveled much more and much further than most girls of her age when she got her first job she spent some of her salary on holidays to Spain and France with her girlfriends aged 17 she flew on an airplane for the first time to go to Greece on holiday lizza’s first job on leaving school was with the railway company after some training she was posted to far away humberside but she was lonely and found it intimidating being the only girl working in an office full of men meanwhile while Liz’s father became ill and died she returned home to look after her mom keeping her company and attending church with her on Sundays by her late te London was swinging Liz had a very active social life going to clubs and shopping in the city a c and a department store had recently opened and Liz and her friends would go and try on clothes off the rack a new and exciting idea at the time but Liz still had it chiefy she knew that extra skills would help her to get the job she wanted so she went to night school to get more qualifications quickly gaining a promotion to be a personal assistant age 19 after searching for a job in the US or Canada she was hired as a PA at a travel company based in Boston Massachusetts there was so much going on I wanted to experience the world I wanted to be able to tell my future grandchildren I’d had a life she only planned on staying six months the length of her contract but she loved it that first year in America was the happiest of my life it was the making of me at 21 she met and married an African-American serviceman despite going on the pill she soon got pregnant her husband was unfaithful and the marriage fell apart quickly soon Liz was a single mother and an immigrant in a foreign country at 24 a divorce e with a 2-year-old mixed race son she reluctantly returned to the UK Liz felt a responsibility to provide a good life for her son Michael she felt guilty about being a single mom and because Michael was the only child in his class who wasn’t white determined to better herself Liz bought a house on the verge of collapse and did it up to make a home for her and Michael she worked hard and is proud of her career as a paralal Liz regrets her marriage to the wrong man and having a child with him even if her son has been a joy but she doesn’t regret following her dreams to America recently retired Liz had planned to continue her travels but this hasn’t happened yet with the covid-19 pandemic making it seem less likely Michael recently moved back in with her together with his girlfriend and daughter so home is quite full Liz would like her own space but has always tried to provide security for her son to make up for him not having a father Meg born in 1950 Meg grew up on a farm near Halifax Meg’s family lived in squala her father was a poor farm laborer when Meg’s sister was born her mom developed postnatal depression and couldn’t take care of the house or the children properly at Junior School Meg’s teacher humiliated her in front of the whole class she ran a finger around Molla said I was filthy and sent me out to the cloak room to wash by Secondary School Meg had a few good friends money and soap were still scarce at home but Meg felt less alone Meg left school at 15 and got a job in a cotton mill earning her own money changed her life now she could afford Essentials like toothpaste and soap to wash her own clothes she even treated herself to a huge black umbrella having a job not only helped her financially it also allowed her to gain confidence and Independence outside of her claustrophobic living situation eventually she saved up enough to buy a smart secondhand bike cycling to and from work even in the snow she rested her radio in the bike basket and listened to music on her comp mute at 15 Meg started dating Alan she was allowed to see him on Tuesdays Thursdays and weekends there was a strict 10 p.m. curfew Meg remembers a rare moment of Freedom When Alan drove them to the seaside for their first holiday when she was 17 her father became terminally ill dying soon after life at home had always been tense but now it became unbearable Meg’s options for escape were limited in a bid to leave home she got pregnant and the young couple moved into Alan’s parents living room sadly her new home was not much better Alan’s mother was a bully Allan himself was more and more controlling and their relationship became abusive Meg Learned to Drive she was only allowed to use the car for the weekly shop Meg would take her best friend Sue turning what would have been a chore into the highlight of her week Meg had a second child at 23 and started working part-time after he was born picking vegetables cleaning and factory work she loved being a mother taking the children on long walks and fitting her paid work around child care in her 30s Meg volunteered then worked in a school for children with special educational needs she enjoyed this work and decided to build a career out of it she took courses at her local College gaining qualifications in Health and Social care and making new friends sadly her marriage became increasingly stormy fearing for her life she left her violent husband but this meant leaving behind her teenage children Meg eventually rebuilt relations with one of her sons but remained estranged from the other a second marriage followed but this was shortlived Meg now lives with her third husband in a council house on the same estate where she raised her children since her 40s she has had several serious health issues including cancer twice she now uses a wheelchair and her husband is her carer despite her limited Mobility Megan Joys occasional trips away she gets great pleasure and a boost to her self-esteem from her role as a Treasurer at the local Social Club Valerie born in 1946 Valerie grew up on the Family Farm in the country Valerie and her sister Moren were born after their dad came back from the war there was a big age gap between them and their big brother and sisters who were all born before the war the family farm was in the middle of nowhere 10 miles and a long bus Journey out of Portsmouth the children helped on the farm Valerie was up early to do the milk round every day weekends Christmas day you name it we work it as kids we were always looking for a way of making money you’d pick up fizzy pot bottles and take them to the shop to get the three PE back or we go out at 500 a.m. picking mushrooms in the woods she went to a brand new secondary modern school on the outskirts of Portsmouth it was a long journey on the school coach sometimes Valerie bunked off school dinners with her friends and went to the cafe for chips and free batter bits they loved the Jukebox going to the pitches in Portsmouth was a mission we couldn’t get there till after 6:00 p.m. and we had to be back on a 9:00 p.m. bus we never saw the whole film returning home after a night out Valerie and Morin would walk back across the Moors it was Pitch Black absolutely pitch black just us and our little torch no lights I left school at 15 and started work as a counter girl at w wors after a while I moved up to the office counting all the money and the wages at 16 Valerie moved in with her big sister in Portsmouth it was a bit of a squeeze but it felt liberating it was so much easier getting to work and socializing than it was when she lived on her parents farm at 17 Valerie met Andy a sailor in the Navy they were soon married living together in a little flat and with a baby on the way Andy went back to see soon after the baby was born with Andy away at sea for over a year money was tight Valerie remembers feeding her son and eating only his leftovers when Andy came home life was easier they had more money and saved up to buy and furnish a house Valerie learned to drive by 21 Valerie was living with Andy and their two children in a house on a new estate there were lots of other young families and ex-service people it was lovely really sociable we play cards have friends over and watch each other’s kids we were all in the same boat after the children were born Valerie started selling Avon Cosmetics to bring in extra money and for company she went back to part-time shopwork in her mid-20s as a teenager Valerie’s dream was to have children and travel and she has done both looking back she feels that 18 was too young to become a mom though she knows it wasn’t unus usual at the time when her children were 10 and 12 Valerie went back to full-time office work I’d not worked since I was 19 and so when I went back to full-time work Anna was good at it it surprised me it was a real confidence boost Valerie wishes she could have had more of a career but a few years later Andy retired from the Navy and the family moved to the Midlands with his new job shortly afterwards Valerie fell pregnant they went on to have two more children and Valerie gave up work to look after them motherhood in her late 30s was quite different she felt more in control and could enjoy it more she went abroad for the first time aged 30 and has since been all over the world from America to Zimbabwe now in her mid 70s Valerie has lived alone since Andy died s years ago she still has the travel book and goes on regular adventures with her sister Morin Sarah born 1944 in Bango Wales and growing up in a professional middleclass family with one sister education was really important in her family and her parents were Keen for Sarah to go to university and have a good career as a grammar school teacher my dad took me to a Beethoven concert As a treat for passing the 11 plus once a month she was allowed to go to the cinema and the ice cream parlor her mom would know the exact show she was seeing and which bus she would get home Sarah loved Elena Rigby by The Beatles it’s this business of wearing the face that she kept in a jar respectability and outward appearances were vital in my family Sarah spent a lot of time at the beach with her friends during the summer holidays when naughty things happened this was of and behind the beach huts away from the grown-ups when she was 16 she went on a school exchange to Germany it was her first time abroad and she went on the train on her own it was a fascinating experience and Sarah went to classes and traveled a little one Saturday afternoon Sarah was out driving with her boyfriend in his mother’s convertible car when she was spotted by a teacher the teacher thought Sarah should have been doing her a homework instead and reported the sighting to her mom who told her off Sarah was in six form at the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis she and her friends were convinced that they would all be blown up before the summer exams with the future suddenly much less certain Sarah abandoned her plans for University and switched to nursing training her parents were not pleased at 18 Sarah left home to start nursing training in London living with other students in a nurse’s home when she wasn’t doing classes or on shift Sarah had a taste of freedom and leapt at the chance to explore the SES of London but this moment of Independence was shortlived living in the nurse’s home was like being at boarding school with very little Independence for the student nurses the matrons measured their skirts to check that they were the regulation length student nurses often dated male medical students but the girls were treated far more harshly by the staff if they broke the strict rules one sister would wait on her balcony and pour water from a watering can onto any couples she thought were lingering too long when saying their good nights you’ve been out there quite long enough nurse Sarah met James in her first year of training they started dating and got engaged when Sarah was 19 marrying a year later they had to ask Sarah’s father for permission to marry because Sarah was still a minor looking back I was totally sheltered by my parents this is not to denigrate them because they did their best but I had been controlled and when I left home I was a bit lost Sarah was unprepared for married life I had no idea I can remember trying to cook chops and asking how does the oven switch on Sarah had three children by the time she was 27 the family lived abroad for a while because of James’s work she stopped nursing because shift work did not fit around caring for young children later retraining as a teacher she was good at her job and worked her way up to being a head teacher Sarah loved teaching and retired at 60 before becoming a magistrate and working part-time until 70 with two well-paid jobs Sarah and James bought a large house in a desirable village within an easy commute of town they love travel and going to the theater and Sarah loves spending time in her garden her children are in their 40s now with Children of their own it took me longer than most to gain in confidence I love seeing my children especially my daughters being so much more sure of themselves