149: Irene Williams Part 1

Nostalgia Interviews with Chris Deacy

My very special guest this week is Mrs. Irene Williams, a centenarian. Irene is an inspiring lady with a wealth of history and experience in terms of the development of Religious Studies at Lampeter and a considerable amount of international humanitarian work over many decades. We will hear more about these dynamics in the second part of this interview, to be broadcast in the next episode.
In this first instalment, we learn about Irene’s early years. She was born in October 1921, she talks about her father who had been in France in the First World War, and we discover that Irene is the eldest of four sisters, one of whom is still living in the same house.
We hear about Sunday School and her father’s pacifism and how he became the Baptist Church organist for 44 years. Irene met her future husband, Professor Cyril Williams, when they were both at school, and Irene talks about his brilliance.
Irene reflects upon her mother’s legacy and values – cleanliness and cooking. We hear about her and Cyril’s courtship and how Irene never got to meet Cyril’s father, and we learn about the time when her parents got to meet Cyril and how Irene’s father was keen for her to pass her driving test.
We find out about Irene’s time in London training for nursing and helping refugees and how she didn’t want to wait before she got married on 9 August 1945 – the day war ended. We also hear about Irene’s wedding dress experience and the birth of her son and Cyril’s appendix operation.
Then, at the end of this instalment, we learn about a refugee from Holland and the resulting ‘nutmeg’ experience, and why she and her family didn’t want to leave London. We also find out that their daughter, Anne, contracted polio on the train back from London.
Part 2 follows…