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Recordiad sain / Audio recording: Francesco Laforges
Oral history recording with Francesco Laforges. Recorded as part of the Italian Memories in Wales project (2008-10), delivered by ACLI-ENAIP and funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
00:00:10 The immigrants travelled by boat and train and were given sausage and mash on their arrival finding the difference in food difficult to cope with. They stayed in a hostel with workers from many other nationalities. He talks of some difficulties he faced, as did his wife who was Welsh, with regards to his nationality.
00:05:15 Francesco worked five days a week, getting time and a half for half day Saturdays. He talks about mining and the atmosphere in the mines; pitch black with rats. Horse would be kept down there for work and would often go blind when they came out. Francesco worked for twelve months on the top- loading coal on the wagon for the boiler. There was more money working underground so he shifted machinery there for some time. He worked with another Italian from the North, for whom he had to translate, who was a specialised stonemason. There were a lot of Italians in the Llanharry mine.
00:14:42 One of Francesco’s brothers was working in Venezuela but wasn’t enjoying it. There was such a big demand for mine workers that Francesco was able to send for him. He became ill soon after he arrived and then died. Francesco moved to Ebbw Vale.
00:20:34 Francesco recalls his first holiday back in Italy after 18 months; the nostalgia and emotion he felt. For the first four years he remembers being called an ‘alien’ when he first moved over- having to report every time he moved house. He was made to feel like an outsider for that reason and experienced other difficulties. He remembers the first Welsh people he met- one called Charlie who told Francesco to pretend he was Spanish because of the war. Then Britain started having problems with the Spanish and he said ‘what do you want me to be now’. Emigration was seen as a good thing in Italy when he came over. He talks of the situation now and about Berlusconi and the failures of the government regarding industries.
00:29:22 Francesco would never go back to live in Italy, yet he would spend a few months a year there if he had a place there. There are a lot of people that moved away from Italy so people are used to it when he goes back, though they are surprised that his dialect is very old fashioned and broad as the language has changed. He has now lived longer in Britain so feels more at home here; also because of his wife and family. Francesco explains how he met his wife and asked her to the pictures, though he didn’t have a lot of time to court her as he would always be working; whenever it was a sunny day he would have to go and sell ice cream. He holds a lot of respect for Mr. Sidoli.
00:36:17 He recalls getting together with the Italian community every now and then, however many have now moved back or died. He continues to talk about going back and how he keeps the culture alive in his children and grandchildren here in Wales; through language and food. He always planned to stay in Wales and only now misses the weather in Italy. He took his children to Italian classes but they didn’t stick with it. He used to speak dialect to his children but found it difficult to keep it up as his wife spoke English. Though he values the link with Italy he considers English as a more important language.
42.00 He still feels very Italian, but has a very strong Welsh accent which people notice. He learnt English straight away, and doesn’t see Welsh as an important language and thinks that too much money is spent on that. His grandchildren have visited Italy when they all went to Italy together. His son likes Bari; the avenues with flowers and the sea. He talks about spending more time in Italy as good for him. Finally, he doesn’t wish to be disrespectful but he wished that he had moved to a better country weather wise!