toasting fork . There was a coal bucket kept at the side of the ' Range ' and when the bucket was empty it would be re-filled from the coal bunker in the cellar.

The cellar floor was made of heavy brown tiles and there was a grid quite close to the tap . The cellar also contained a coal bunker which was directly below the grid in the doorstep. There was a cold water tap which was sited not far from the coal bunker, there was also a coal fired 'Copper'. This heated the water for washing clothes also for bath water. The bath was sited in the cellar corner furthest away from the coal bunker . It had a draw curtain across the front for privacy . There was also a galvanised wash tub, a rubbing board and a dolly peg . There were also two small windows which looked out on an 'Area ' and so gave a bit of daylight to the place.

The fire under the Copper helped to warm up the freezing cold cellar on bath nights .

There was no gas light in the cellar so we had to use candles . When you had finished bathing you 'd pull the plug and the water would run across the floor and down the drain so there was a duck board at the side of the bath to stop you getting wet, mucky feet !

Wash days were hard work for my mother ( and most pre-war housewives ) . She would have to carry buckets full of water to pour into the ' copper ', chop wood to start the fire under the 'copper', then put some coal on it when it was lit . Once the water had boiled she would have to transfer the boiling water to the galvanised wash tub, put the clothes in and then twist and turn the dolly peg in a tub full of clothes . Once the clothes were washed she had then to twist them and wring out the water before putting them through a Mangle . The Mangle was made of cast iron, it had two wooden rollers and a large cast iron handle to turn the rollers and so squeeze out most of the water . There was a board either side of the rollers . The front board carried the sheet or whatever to be rolled and the back board caught the clothes as they came out of the rollers . Rollers could be adjusted for pressure by turning a crossed handle at the top of the mangle to squeeze out as much water as possible . After all this effort in a dim steam-filled cellar she then had to carry the washed linen up the narrow wooden staircase, through the kitchen into the yard and hang the clothes out to dry . This method of washing has long since been replaced by the Automatic washing machine and drier - and a good job too !

I can remember Christmas times distinctly when my father would bring home dozens of dead turkeys, geese and chickens still fully feathered, head, wings and legs - everything still intact . These birds had to be plucked, cleaned and dressed ready for sale . Our kitchen was the ' operation area ' for the first process .

PLUCKING - My Mum, Dad, Stan and I would sit on a couch or chair and start stripping the carcases of their feathers . This would go on all night until bedtime, and as the evening wore on we would eventually be knee deep in feathers ! The carcases stripped of feathers would then go on to the next process - TENDON PULLING .

My father would place the birds legs over the top of the door leading into the back kitchen and then jam the door closed with his foot, so trapping the legs between
See previous pageTree7next page