THE LIVES of ordinary people will be recorded for future generations in a time capsule.

The historic record, which will be placed in the clock tower at Yeadon Town Hall at the end of next year, is intended to be listened to in 2080 - the 200th anniversary of the town hall.

The scheme’s instigator Carlo Harrison says it will reveal “long forgotten times spoken by the people who experienced such times first hand.”

Mr Harrison has interviewed 38 people so far as part of his ‘Back Chat’ initiative to record the lives of ordinary people.

He is also planning to interview many more to give future generations a valuable insight into the past.

In co-operation with Jamie Hudson, of Yeadon Town Hall CIC, memory sticks from interviewees and other contributors will be placed in a modern time capsule in the clock tower.

Mr Harrison said: “One of the contributors is Jackie Watkinson who was born in May 1950. People will be able to listen to Jackie talking about her life which started some 130 years before the date the time capsule is to be opened, a bit like us listening to a young woman telling us about her life in 1889.

“Jackie lived in Haw Street, a street which no longer exists. It was situated up past St Andrew’s Church near to where Whitestone Crescent is now, an area when she was young, she says was full of hen pens.

“Her parents’ house had no electricity, just gas mantels etc, and just one cold tap.

“The toilet was outside and shared with next door which she says often meant queueing outside to take your turn.

“Her mum did the family clothes washing in a wash house which used to take her all day - my guess is that was a Monday.

“There were some 19 children in the street so plenty of playing out friends and memories of bonfire night, with a Guy Fawkes at the bottom of the street with his customary sign around his neck ‘Penny For The Guy’.”

Jackie also describes “chumping” - collecting wood for bonfire night in Novia woods - and the bonfire on her dad’s allotment.

Mr Harrison added: “Bath nights were Friday nights in a tin bath in front of the stove. There is a romantic edge to this scene, but I think only by the people who have not lived through it.

“Jackie said that the tin baths were uncomfortable and had ridges on the bottom. They took an age to fill from a kettle with boiling water from the stove. She said that a trick known to people in those days was to put bricks under one end of the tin bath and so by tipping it up you could get a depth of bathwater quicker.

“When people listen to her many years from now, they will be astounded to hear just how we lived. This story is made even better because it’s spoken in the words of a person who was actually there.”

A traditional time capsule is already buried under the Town Hall from when it was built in 1880.