How things have changed

[sean1981]

I know we all look back and think of the good old days, when in fact some of them were far from good.

However I was reminded of how it used to be in our area this week when I visited the street where I was born. I was in the area and on a whim turned the car on the road leading 'home.'

Mondays the washing was strung across the street and so no deliveries of coal were welcome that day. Some people still had ash pits, albeit in a covered outhouse, and you needed to be careful if it was your job to take out the fine ash on Monday.

Thursdays would be the day we baked in our house, not so much call for biscuits and wrapped chocolate things then.

I think Friday would be the day that the steps had to be scoured and a pale or deeper yellow edge put on. Everybody did that without exception in our street and there was a choice of scouring stones in most shops.

With regret I compared the street now with back then. Not as clean, gardens not so nice and even some furniture in a garden that looked as if it had been waiting for collection for some time. Of course everything looked smaller and nearer together than in my memory when I was small.

Happy days.

Sean

[barcroftlad]

Lovely memories Sean. I know exactly what you are talking about. The thing to remember is that we didn't know any different, it's all we knew. Do you also remember that when a truck HAD to go up the street on a Monday, the driver just tooted his horn and waited and all the mothers would go outside and lift the clothes line with their props to let them through? I remember well how proud I was when it was thought by my great gran at the top of Clarendon Street, Haworth, that I was tall enough to stand on the table with a lighted taper, to light the gas mantle. What a big day for me. Cheers.

[sean1981]

Yes I do remember the tooting so that the mothers could come out and lift the clothes line.

I also remember that there were only two cars that drove on the street above our house, one was the doctor and the other a coal merchant. Every one knew who had run over a neighbor's cat one time; or at least it was a narrow choice.

Sean

[barcroftlad]

That would be Dr Baird I imagine. We had Dr Fitzgerald from Bridgehouse Lane, his house is now a retirement home I think, Lindisfarne. Anyhow. when we were kids there weren't too many cars on the roads and the Drs used to visit at home when required, a bit different now eh? When we recognised Dr Fitz's car in the street we would hang around until he came back to it and he would give us a ride down the hill. What a thrill it was for us! Cheers.

[sean1981]

Hi Bill

A funny story from the days just after the war when Anne, my sister, came home from the Baird house with loads of tins of food etc. Apparently John had been playing shop with stored provisions.

They had to go back of course.