Childhood memories

[harrier]

How many of you had a 'coil oil'? In other words, a coal cellar under the house. We lived in Hainworth Lane in Ingrow and underneath our house was a cellar house which was occupied and which backed out onto Ebenezer Square facing all our dustbin shelters behind which was Mr Utley's pig stys. We only had one door to our house which fronted Hainworth Lane, our only window over looking the square. Thinking about it, our coal cellar must have been at the back of the Cellar house. And when the coal man (Mr Wilkinson) came, we as kids were detailed to count the sacks as they were emptied 'down t'oil' to make sure we got the required number!!! I don't know whether it occurred to mum or dad that if Mr Wilkinson wanted to fiddle us, he would have just delivered  under weight  sacks!!! The coal bill was only paid weeks later when the next load of coal was required; this seemed to be the accepted practice ... just the same with the doctor's bill - it was only paid when the next illness required treatment!!
I think I have mentioned on another thread, that in the run up to bonfire night, the local coal cellars were all filled with prog to stop the 'spring bankers' raiding what we had collected for our bonfire which we held on the waste ground in the middle of Ebenezer Square next to the pig stys ... a situation Mr Utley was far from pleased about.

[fsharpminor]

Aye we 'ad a coil oil. At 51 Malsis Rd we had a cellar which was actually at ground level on our back road. Coal men (in our case Billy Foster) brought the lorry round the back and loaded 10 x 1 cwt bags through a grating on the wall into t'coil oil. It was a small room under to kitchen which led off the cellar, the cellar having our back door. Other houses in the row of 11 houses used different coalmen and they did the same (One was called Balch I think) . The ladies often had washing out across the back road and if a coalman appeared they had to take the washing in , then put it out again when he had gone. Sometimes more than one coalman would come on the same day, displeasing the ladies.

[harrier]

I was non too sure that my memory served me correctly so I thought I would check first before posting again. I mentioned "'coil oil' in Hainworth Lane" to my sister, those five words only, and she immediately came up with the same story confirming without any prompting from me that my memories were correct!!!
We didn't have a pavement in the Lane, so the outside entrance to the 'coil oil' used for tipping the contents of the sack into the cellar was just covered by a stone slab standing vertically in front of the cellar hole. I have already observed that we only had the one door to the house and a tiny kitchen window which fronted the Lane, our other window towered over Ebenezer Square. The door had a single yale lock for security which was a constant source of irritation because one of my parents used to forget the key or the door would blow shut while hanging the washing on the line which was strung across the Lane. It was my job to go down the 'coil oil' into the cellar, up the steps into the kitchen to lift the yale lock latch. The only problem arose when the coal pile was low which then entailed a drop of a couple of foot (feet?)to land on the cellar floor. Then I had to wait a little to get used to the blackness down there before I could feel my way up the cellar steps. (no lighting down there - the house was lit by gas, a mantle in the kitchen, one in the other downstairs room and one upstairs!)
Neither my sister nor myself could remember what mother did about me being covered in coal dust - the only water in the house was a single tap at the kitchen sink, and yes we had a tin bath in front of the fire in our downstairs room. ............... and try doing homework in gas light clothed in winter in gloves and a balaclava to keep warm!!!!!!!!!!!!