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When I was a little girl, about 8yrs old, I used to stay at my aunt's and uncle's, a two up, two down house in Stapleford, a small country village, wrote Elizabeth Finn. They did not have any children of their own and as I was one of four, I really enjoyed my stay, especially as I came from a busy town.
There was no water indoors, it had to be pumped from the black pump in the backyard, then heated up on the blackened stove in the kitchen, which was where they spent most of their lives. The front room was only used on special occasions.
I remember vividly my Aunt saving the rainwater in a tin bath, warming it in the sun and then me having a bath outside; the water was so soft.
Every day of the week was the same. Monday being washing day, the boiler was lit in the washhouse boiling the whites first, after soaking them in water with the blue bag. The washhouse would become full of steam and my Aunt's face would become redder and redder. It was a day's work, and the next day everything was ironed, and all the white linen starched and carefully put away.
Another vivid memory was the outside toilet round the back, it was a wooden shed with a high seat and a low seat for me...... the sun shining on me and in those days it seemed to shine a lot. Also it felt warm and I could hear the birds singing. However it was miserable when it rained.
My Uncle had a large garden so the slops from the toilet were methodically dug in so all his vegetables were well manured, and he also grew lovely flowers. They also kept brown chickens and the smell of the chicken meal being cooked up was quite appetizing. Collecting the eggs was fun, they always felt warm, and the smell of the straw was comforting.
The most wonderful smell I remember from those times was when my Aunt cooked breakfast: bacon, eggs and fried bread, and the aroma wafted up to my bedroom.
It was a most memorable time of my life, of the beautiful countryside, and of picking primroses and violets in the woods to decorate the church at Easter.
Now there are two houses knocked into one, the large garden built on. All modern conveniences indoors and busy traffic outside. Wildflowers are protected and fried food is bad for you.
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