George Spenceley recalls his childhood memories of Middlesbrough and how his large family coped with life in World War II and with the happy and sad events of family life.

My Mam, as I remember her, was a very reserved lady who would go out of her way to help anyone with a problem.

She was an excellent cook and one of her specialities was home made bread or 'fadges' as we called them, bread buns straight from the hot oven with a smear of butter coated with Golden syrup. We thought we were in heaven.

During the war Mam, like a lot of other mothers, worked at the ammunition factory in Aycliffe, which was some thirty miles away. It was known as working for the war effort.

My Mam with my sisters Edna and Emily and brother Ron

Mam with my sisters Betty and Olga and me

Monday was the day for washing the clothes. We had a gas boiler in the washhouse and when filled with water it was heated to boiling point. The water was then transferred to a large wooden tub.

After adding soap to the hot water Mam would start off with the white clothes and sheets, they'd be 'possed' with a wooden posser or 'dolly' as it was sometimes called. This would go on for a few minutes then they'd be wrung out and transferred to the boiler.

At this time the coloured clothes would be put in the tub and possed, overalls, socks etc. all got the same treatment. After the whites were boiled they were returned to the tub now filled with clean water for rinsing, then followed a final rinse with a little bit of dolly blue added to give the clothes a whiter look, and finally put through the wringing machine.

This had two large wooden rollers and a large wheel with a handle attached for turning, the clothes were put through the rollers and the water was squeezed out. This was very hard work especially when washing for a large family.

The clothes were then put out on the line to be dried in the sun and wind. The hot soapy water was then used to swill down the washhouse and all the paths around the house were cleaned each week. On Tuesdays the clothes would be ironed, then aired and eventually put away into the drawers and cupboards.

The lady who lived on our other side was Mrs. Wilkinson and she kept a very mischievous monkey as a pet. Very often, especially on a Monday washday, it would escape from their washhouse.

On numerous occasions it would make its way into our back garden, climb the washing pole then, swinging along the line, pull out the clothes pegs and let the washing fall to the ground.

You could imagine the frayed tempers of Mam and Edna when they saw the newly washed clothes scattered across the garden. One day in particular Edna was so annoyed with the monkey that she dashed from the kitchen, picking up the yard brush to chase it. The cheeky animal bared its teeth and made to attack her.

She dropped the brush, ran back into the house and was afraid to go out again to collect the clothes.

George Spenceley, 2002