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I enjoyed reading Graham Day’s piece in the October 2021 Newsletter (Issue 227) describing his time working for the Ipswich 1 Tax Office at St Clare House, Greyfriars. I was Christine Pyman then, and worked there from 1968 until 1976 and was part of the new district 3 that occupied the second and third floors.
I left Northgate Grammar School after my ‘O’ levels and wanted to go to art college but I was persuaded to ‘get a proper job’ and went for a Civil Service job interview ending up in the Inland Revenue, probably because I said I liked numbers. The pay was good and I began as a Tax Officer in the PAYE section. No computers in those days, of course, and we needed filing clerks like Steve as there were files stored in racks and each taxpayer had a ‘concard’ with all their details. All tax officers were given certain sections of the alphabet to look after and I was allocated employees working for companies beginning with E and F so looked after Fisons and Felixstowe Dock & Railway Company amongst others.
I do have fond memories of working there: the lovely tea ladies who looked after us and one in particular who I think was called Rose. She used to rattle along with her trolley full of goodies to tempt us, especially the scones – they were delicious. I also remember the evening overtime sessions when we were served up a very limited but welcome menu of ham, egg and chips. I have no memory of watching the illicit football matches that Graham mentioned, probably because we didn’t have the view that Ipswich 1 had up there on the 5th floor!
I was in my teens and loved making and buying clothes and spent my spare cash in the wonderful boutique called Abacus situated somewhere at the base of St Clare House near the roundabout. Very fond memories of going there to choose my outfit for the annual tax office Dinner and Dance at the Cavendish Hotel in Felixstowe.
I was promoted to Tax Officer Higher Grade at some time and packed off to Stanmore in Middlesex to do my training. I would have been able to rise to the lofty status of Inspector Of Taxes if I had stayed on but I didn’t feel that it was the career for me, my creative side had been unfulfilled.
I left the Tax Office in 1976 to have a family and started a machine knitwear business ‘Chrissy Norman Knitwear’ with my husband in the early eighties making all those animal jumpers that were so popular then. The shop was based in Woodbridge Road opposite Barclays Bank. This kept us busy for a few years and we then started up ‘Rumbles’ Sandwich Bar in Queen Street and ran it until 1995.
Since then I have finally concentrated on being an artist specialising in printmaking, in particular etching and I am a member of Sudbourne Park Printmakers, a community of artists based near Orford.
One postscript to mention: when I left the Inland Revenue I had the option of taking all my pension contributions in a lump sum or leaving it all in or taking some and leaving some. I did the latter and had forgotten about it but was pleasantly surprised to find out when I was 60 that my meagre pension sum had been index-linked and had grown into a reasonable amount – more than enough to keep me in pencils!
Chrissy Norman
‘London plane’ etching