HC-One’s Roseberry Court in Redcar celebrates the achievements of women to mark 100 years since women won the vote.
93-year-old Emily Gregory, a Resident at Roseberry Court, marked the occasion by telling us her story, commenting:
“My mother always used to say hard work never killed anybody and that’s just what we did, worked hard and got on with it.”
Emily worked at Cargo Fleet Steel Works; she started working there on the chariots, moving the red-hot ingots over the pits.
As her husband was away at war, she lived with her mum who helped to look after her daughter whilst she was at work. There were many married women working in the shipyards and factories back then and were shown the ropes by older steelworkers who were too old for the army, these men became father figures to the women.
Emily found it really difficult to enjoy her work because she said it felt like they were taking a job off a young man who was fighting for his country, a thought she really struggled with.
When the war was over, Emily returned to her family life and went on to enjoy singing and entertaining in clubs such as The Darby and Joan’s Club in Eston.
Emily commented:
“I loved telling my story; everything came flooding back to me and I was once again back working in the works reliving my experience, it felt really nice.”
Roseberry Court’s Home Manager, Alison Corner commented:
“It was lovely to hear Emily reminisce about her past and it was amazing seeing how truly happy it made her to relive her history.”