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Oral history recording with David Ferrero. 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 2 (AV 11410--11411

00:00:20 He explains more modern systems used in the farm. His father would find ideas in magazines or from people selling farm equipment. David was about two when he first went over and used to go every five years, then every two years. He last went out when he was fourteen or fifteen. They would drive to Italy in a Morris car. David’s father enjoyed going back- at that time everybody would be off work and they would have picnics in the mountains. They would go for a month- it was needed to see all the family..

00:12:15 The only thing he didn’t like was the heat- he had trouble sleeping. At that time the beds would be made of straw and lumpy. They stayed in his father’s home where his grandmother was living. David’s sister is now living there and they still have family there. His father had five siblings; one worked painting train carriages, another in farming. The oldest brother went to America for a while, his sister’s husband worked in a factory.

00:18:07 They would play with the other children when they were there, seeing different families every day. As he got older David would go out with a builder neighbour in his lorry to look at the work he was doing. He was interested in how they were built and explains how buildings were different there.

00:24:28 Family was an important thing in Italy ad they would see a lot of the family. He recalls bands playing in a park type area with a dance floor; they would play banjo, guitar, clarinet, drums and sing in dialect. The village was Novaretto which he describes; there was a huge monastery on a hill beside the valley where the village was. They ate mostly salamis, hams and different stuffed peppers, tomatoes. Everything was fresh and wine was also flowing. They weren’t there for wine harvests. There were a lot of pears and fresh fruit.

00:36:41 For leisure they would go to a type with an outside area where grapes would be growing. Though his sister has now moved to Italy, David doesn’t think he would consider moving, he has been here for so long. However, he still feels his Italian roots, having been brought up with the Italian way of life that he is fond of. He talks about a letter he received calling him up for Italian National Service.

00:43:00 He thinks he is more Welsh than Italian having been in Wales all his life and only having spent a few months in Italy in total. He still likes to know what’s going on there- he found Novaretto on Google Earth. He has never taken his children over, and they aren’t really linked to the family over there. His eldest son likes Italian food, but his youngest son will only eat spaghetti.