Fun in the Library!

The surprisingly colourful annual reports…

We spent a lovely morning at Exeter Library, satisfying our ‘inner geeks’ by ploughing through 24 annual reports written by Exeter Council for Social Service.

The reports spanned from the 1940s to 1970s and (in our opinion!) made for quite exciting reading.

From gentle queries: ‘Where can I take lessons in lace-making?’ and ‘Who is Prime Minister of Northern Ireland?’ (1949-50), to anxious appeals for help: ‘We put all our savings into buying a house, we have fallen behind with the repayments and the Building Society Solicitors are applying to the court for a Possession Order. I have six children, what can I do?’ (1955-6).

Scattered throughout the earlier reports were several requests from various spouses, for Exeter CAB to intervene in their marriage(s). For example: ‘My wife left home this morning leaving our two children under five in by themselves. She has done this before and not returned until 10pm. Will someone give her a good talking to?’ (1955-6).

It was fascinating to get a glimpse into earlier eras, and it is so brilliant that these records exist, and have been preserved and organised so well.

Bex was particularly delighted to note that they had been written on typewriters… today, it is difficult to comprehend the care and diligence that went into writing thousands of words, without making any mistakes (compared to how ridiculously easy it is to completely delete mistakes on computers these days.)

Sue concentrating hard!

We both got a bit wistful when wondering if the people who wrote and compiled these reports, ever thought that 65 years later, they would be of such interest and value… And yet, here we are, in 2013, with two self-professed ‘history geeks’ feverishly poring over every report. While Sue made notes, Bex photographed every relevant page (we weren’t allowed to take the reports out of the library), so we can read all the reports thoroughly at home (we may be massive geeks, but even we would have struggled to speed-read 24 reports, during our three hours in the library!)

These reports are another piece of the puzzle that is the 65-year History of Exeter CAB and we can’t wait to read them properly. And thank you to Westcountry Studies Library for digging them out for us.

Surrounded by books… and just look at our beaming faces!