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Oral history recording in English with Vittorio Morillo. Recorded as part of the Italian Memories in Wales project (2008-10), delivered by ACLI-ENAIP and funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Part 2 of 4 (AV 11441-11444)

00.15 Vittorio met Welsh people through their shop and through being the hospital gardener. They opened the ‘Old Cottage Chip shop’ and the family sold fish and chips thinking this would be more successful than a farming business. They bought another shop to make a coffee shop but ended up letting both shops. Italians wouldn’t come into the shop very often as Italians were competitive.

04.35 Vittorio managed to get a permit to work in Wales through a friend who was a prisoner of war in the area and stayed on to work on farms. He talks about prisoners of war being treated like family in Wales. When talking about the prisoner of war camp he compares it to National Service in Italy with regards to the curfew. Vittorio carried out National Service when he was twenty and gets a pension of £150 a year he laughs. Vittorio recalls his journey over to Wales; he had a medical and had no expectations of Britain. As part of the contract the farmer had to pay for him to emigrate, if he didn’t like it the farmer had to pay his return fare. The journey was three days and three nights, when he got off the train his shirt was black as it was a steam engine. The journey was hard as he didn’t understand the language, he had to trust people to tell him when to get off the train. Vittorio recalls his first impressions on arrival in Wales; he expected something grander. The language problems were very difficult, but he learnt from meeting people or buying and selling cattle or farming equipment.