David Edwards

"When we announced we were getting married and we got engaged, it was kind of  dismissed, just to say, ‘Yeah, yeah’, it just an idea, sort of thing. Nobody actually believed that we were actually gonna get married; just as though it was probably just two immature people, but of course that made our determination grow stronger..." David Edwards

Born 5 August 1942
 
Educated Grove Infants School, Dorchester: Victoria Home, Bournemouth: Colney Hill School, Margate; Whiteness Manor School, Broadstairs; Lord Mayor Treloar College, Alton; Open University

David Edwards tape 1 Listen here:
Born 1942 near Glastonbury, in Somerset. Complications at birth. Father present at birth but returned to serve in North Africa and Italy. Ignorance of cerebral palsy among doctors. Air raids. American troops giving fruit... 00:31:29

David Edwards tape 2 Listen here:
Missed grandparents' golden anniversary. Facilities at school included physiotherapy room and a hydrothermal pool. Nurse Fox... 00:07:24

David Edwards tape 3 Listen here:
Victoria Home, Bournemouth. David learned to walk at the age of three. Father made a trolley to help him learn to walk. Grove Infants School Dorchester. Physiotherapy and speech therapy. Operation at the age of eight to cut... 00:31:34

David Edwards tape 4 Listen here:
Coney Hill, Kent. Friendly and happy atmosphere, but discipline strong, with staff keeping tight control over everyday lives. Daily routine was quite rigid and structured. Up at 7am, daily queue to use toilet. Book kept by... 00:30:57

David Edwards tape 5 Listen here:
Medical attitudes during school years. Victoria Home. DE prescribed glasses to correct squint. Surgical boots worn till 16. Night callipers for 2-3 years. Speech therapy at Margate. Physiotherapy. At 12 DE went to Shaftesbury... 00:31:14

David Edwards tape 6 Listen here:
Contact with girls from girls school nearby. Garden Party. Enjoyed camping at Sevenoaks. DE became Scouts troop leader. Dorchester, Woodlarks Camp. St Georges Day Parade, Windsor Castle. David talked to Duke of Edinburgh... 00:31:19

David Edwards tape 7 Listen here:
July 1958, at 16, had to leave Whiteness Manor School, Broadstairs. David passed Elementary English, his only academic qualification. Tradition of throwing red caps out of train as crossed over Medway Bridge. Ambition to keep... 00:13:06

David Edwards tape 8 Listen here:
Left Treloar College in July 1959. Tricycle. Dorchester Labour Exchange on Wednesdays and Fridays. Disablement Resettlement Officer. Assessment at Industrial Rehabilitation Unit, Bristol. Visit from Bill Hargreaves, Spastics... 00:31:22

David Edwards tape 9 Listen here:
Summer 1961, spent 3 months at Rehabilitation Unit at Odstock Hospital. Harry Lark, double leg amputee, and DE travelled to motor cycle scramble in Harry's invalid car. Pub crawl. Evening classes at local secondary modern to... 00:31:27

David Edwards tape 10 Listen here:
Holidays in Llandudno and Prestatyn. Proms concerts. Bromley Spastics Society proposed David for fortnight holiday in Jersey. West Kent Spastics Society Work Centre. Packing and assembly work. Church in Bromley and church you... 00:22:55

David Edwards tape 11 Listen here:
62 Clubs. Bill Hargreaves. Weekend conference at Nottingham University. London club in the basement of Spastics Society in Park Crescent. Travelling from Bromley. September 1963 camping. Spring Club. Eltham swimming pool... 00:31:23

David Edwards tape 12 Listen here:
Chicken pox. Peter Large, well-known disabled sportsman and involved in Disablement Income Group. Association of Disabled Professionals. 1967 to 1972 moved to open employment in a factory. Christmas relief at the Post Office... 00:26:36

David Edwards tape 13 Listen here:
Medical Officer of Health assessed housing. Offered a ground floor maisonette in Chislehurst. Doreen had job at Costalot (the tool operator) in Bromley then at Education Department offices. Honeymoon on a coach tour of... 00:13:05

David Edwards tape 14 Listen here:
Mini car automatic. Weekend in a hotel run by The Spastics Society in Westcliffe. Bathing baby. Disability Rehabilitation Officer. 1974 Open University degree course. April 1975 study tour to Rome. Bill Hargreaves arranged a... 00:31:23

David Edwards tape 15 Listen here:
Driving test in Sidcup High Street. Institute of Advanced Motorists. OU summer school at Keele University. December 1977 DE and family moved to Milton Keynes. Local group of The Spastics Society. Glynn Vernon. Peace Movement... 00:31:23

David Edwards tape 16 Listen here:
Problems of ageing with cerebral palsy. Messenger at post office headquarters in London. DE applied to the Civil Service. Driving to Scotland in a Sunbeam. Youth hostels.... 00:12:07

David Edwards tape 17 Listen here:
Milton Keynes in 1977. The Welfare Rights Group at Milton Keynes. Parents for Children, adoption agency. Arrogance of health professionals. David's protest at prices for Graeae theatre group. Milton Keynes Peace Campaign... 00:31:16

David Edwards tape 18 Listen here:
Exchanged houses with a bungalow in Marnhull in Dorset in 1984. Death of sister with MS in March 1983. Apollo Club at Yeovil. Sailing and canoeing at Sutton Bingham. DE became secretary of Parochial Church Council. Monkton... 00:31:14

David Edwards tape 19 Listen here:
Marriage break-up in 1985. Monkton Combe Junior School. Motability. Sidmouth Folk Festival. Quakers. Cape Wrath. Natural Friends friendship agency. 1989 met second wife Helen. Pembrokeshire Hostel at Broadhaven. Arts centre... 00:31:15

David Edwards tape 20 Listen here:
Citizens Advice Bureau. David elected to sub-committee of the Housing and Social Services. Painting. Midsomer Norton. Sustrans transport charity.... 00:16:59

David Edwards tape 21 Listen here:
living at Midsomer Norton. Long Sutton old Quaker schoolhouse. Public speaking. Weekend at Hereward College. Adapted ground floor flat in Somerton. Campaign about kerbs at bus stops. Community Relations Officer... 00:31:23

David Edwards tape 22 Listen here:
Part Three of the Disability Discrimination Act. Parking for disabled badge holders. North Dorset District Council. Nordis. Friends' Meeting Houses. Digby Hall in Sherborne. Disabled people's contact with opposite sex... 00:21:06

Download a transcript of the David Edwards interview (PDF, 736kb)