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PART II
From the memories of Nora Hillman. This article was first published in the West Sussex Gazette on 21 November 1996
'I grew up in Steyning at the time of the First World War, when we were all poor but did not realise it as everyone we knew was in the same situation.'
Those are the words used by the late Nora Hillman, a WSG reader from Storrington whose vivid and varied memories have featured in this column from time to time. Her detailed recollections of early 20th century humble working class life in the rural Adur Valley village of Steyning serve as a reminder of the enormous changes that have evolved since then to create our current comparative comfort:-
'Many working people lived in small Victorian terraced houses, one room and kitchen downstairs, two bedrooms above. Where did they sleep the large families most had?'
'No one had a bathroom and many houses had no water inside, but were supplied by an outside tap between each three or four houses, usually in a wooden case to hinder freezing up. Most houses fronted straight on to the street with just a small back garden in which would be the toilet: flush or earth as might be.'
'Lighting would be by lamps and candles, heating by coal fire and cooking by kitchen range. More fortunate families lived in the older detached or semi-detached cottages with large gardens, as we did. We also had gas lighting downstairs, though candles in bedrooms and a gas stove for cooking because my father was an employee of the local gas works.'
'Water for washing day or baths was heated in a copper by a small fire underneath. Baths would be taken in a large zinc bath, in front of the fire if you were lucky. Much later we did have a bath heated by a solid fuel stove - but not a proper bathroom. I don't recall electricity in Steyning before the end of the First World War, and the streets were lit by gas lamps.'
'The room we most used had a large table with leaves to let out, various wooden chairs, a larger one with arms for father, a leather armchair by the fire and an old fashioned sofa with high back and sides along one wall, a piano against another wall and an umbrella stand in one corner. A built-in cupboard on either side of the fire held on one side china, cutlery and tablecloths, and on the other, old books and periodicals, also our various board games.'
'On winter evenings we played the board games - Halma, Ludo, Draughts and others, while with cards we played Old Maid, Donkey With Tails, Pelmanism, Happy Families, etc. We knew a number of paper and pencil games too, such as Consequences, Word and Question, etc, and we might play these at small parties at home, or Dumb Crambo, Charades, Hunt the Thimble, How Green You Are - the list was endless it seemed.'
'In front of the fire would be a rag rug and a carpet of some sort on the floor. The table would be covered by a fringed table cloth when not in use for meals.'
'The sitting room proper, used on Sundays or for parties, had another sofa, several carpet chairs and chairs with upholstered seats and one armchair. A small table by the window held a plant and there was a book case of better books, a corner cupboard which held special treasures and a built-in low, polished cupboard on either side of the fire. In the bedrooms we did not have much but beds, a chair each and hanging space for clothes.'
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