Henry McPherson
 Henry McPherson, taken in 2006 © Carl Rose When I first came here, it was hard to find living accommodation. I had to move about fifteen time, live in other people's houses. Some people were so horrible that, if you go out onto the road, they won't let you go in back. They lock the door. And if you go to work, you have to take you shoes off out in the heavy snow and stand out in the cold, out there before you can go in. You can't go in the front door with your shoes on, you have them off and stand out there! You know, the hot shoes come off your feet and you're standing out in the cold, that's what I went through! After I got married, then I tried to get somewhere, to get my wife in. Two of us, me and another man, buy one house and we live there. Now that man's cousin came over from Jamaica and she took over! My wife cannot even o the stove! So then I have to leave and buy her a house on Petre Street. We lived there for a couple years and then we started to have the kids. Then the council say they want to demolish houses round there. They moved us to Pye Bank and every week they raised the rent, raised the rent. Finally, in '74, I said to my wife, 'Look, we can't cope with this, you know. We got to get a different place an' then we hear about this house here...an' we come roun' the evening an' see it an' we buy this one Burngreave has changed a bit now since the police cleaned it up. Before it was a bit rough, very, very rough. You cant even move about as you should able to move but now it's a lot better than before. You can even walk on the street now at certain times and feel safe. Extract from an interview with Henry McPherson recorded by Camille Daughma for the Burngreave Voices oral history project, March 2006. |