|
 | |  | |
The following are memories recalled by Florence Hinton, as recorded by Hanover Housing Association in their book 'Tale of the Century' published in 1999.
I was born in 1906 and lived in Battersea, London with my nine brothers and sisters. In our kitchen we had a range, which was a coal fire with an oven to one side. I remember we used to cook our toast using a toasting fork in front of the bars. We would put dripping on the hot toast and it was delicious. The washing was put in a brick copper (a copper vessel on a brick base) filled with water and heated by the fire underneath.
I went to school when I was five years old, where we drew on dark brown paper with chalk or coloured crayons, or copied the letters of the alphabet. On May Day we wore white dresses decorated with red and blue ribbons. Our parents came to watch as we sang and danced around the Maypole.
I was a child during the First World War and I well remember sitting under the kitchen table when the bombs were falling. After the war ended we celebrated with street parties with tables set down the middle of the road and lots of flags and decorations everywhere.
I left school at 14 and went to work in a factory. I started at 7.39 in the morning and worked until six in the evening, earning seven shillings a week. After a while I went to work at a laundry as a checker/packer where I earned ten shillings a week. When I left to get married I was earning two pounds ten shillings.
During the Second World War my husband worked in a munitions factory and also two nights a week as a fireman, as directed by the government. He often went to Brixton to put out fires after the bombs dropped.
One day I was out with my baby, when the sirens sounded and we rushed to the street shelter. When I came out all the windows were broken and the pub had been flattened. After this I went to stay with my father in Berkshire, and my husband visited at weekends.
Now at the age of 93,I live by the sea and am very happy. I think we older people enjoyed the good old days because people had time for life and for each other; now things are one mad rush. I can't help but think the younger generation are missing out on the things that really matter.
| |  | |  |
To add a comment you must first login or join for free, up in the top left corner.
|
|
