'My first school was in the Mission Hall across the road from where I lived at 13 New Street, Three Bridges,' declared Sybil Rouse(born 1920). 'Mother paid sixpence a week, she thought that entitled it to be classed as a private school. Slates and pencil, and a slimy sponge in a stone jar of water were the only aids to education.'

'Miss Mowl, a large lady in a black alpaca dress, a gold watch on a chain around her neck, fought a losing battle to try and control her pupils. Most of the day was spent in rocking the forms to and fro until we all ended up on the floor. The boys tried to score a direct hit on the watch on teacher's massive chest with a well soaked sponge. There were many shouts of bull's-eye. How we all managed to learn to read and write was a miracle.'

'The other 'Miss Mowl', very tiny and crippled with arthritis, tried and failed to give me lessons on the piano. Mother thought it was worth another sixpence a week. She had been given a piano with several notes missing and she didn't want it to go to waste.'

'Mother had odd ideas about trying to save money. She bought me plimsolls at the end of summer sales. I walked a mile there and back to my new school, through rain and snow until the plimsolls fell apart. At the end of the winter there would be a new pair of Wellington boots, most uncomfortable and smelly as the temperature rose. She made most of my clothes on an old sewing machine. They were never a good fit, but better than what came later.'

'Desperate for money (although father only gave her a pittance, he always expected the best), mother pawned the sewing machine and father's best black suit. Kept only for funerals, the suit was hastily redeemed when one of his mates died. The sewing machine was never mentioned and never redeemed.'

'My clothing from then on, came from a girl whose parents kept the local laundry. They were well off by mother's standards, the drawback being that Jean was two stone heavier and two sizes larger than me.'

'Dresses were belted tightly at the waist to take up the length. One dress, once red and white striped, was a wishy washy pink. The underclothes were hid under the mattress. Before school it was another of my tasks to make the beds. Knickers and combs came down over my knees, earning many ribald remarks from the twins and their friends, perhaps as mother hoped I would 'grow into them'.'

'The pair of strapped button shoes were the worst, like everything else, two sizes too big. I put so much paper in them my feet were forced out. I remember to this day the embarrassment of trying to stuff back in bits of paper that would creep out at the most awkward moments. Strange how the twins wore leather boots summer and winter.'

'My new school was opposite my maternal grandparents home in town. It was arranged that I would share their mid day meal. Gran was the worlds worst cook. I began to dread the tough, tasteless mutton, soggy cabbage and hard suet pudding.'

'My great-gran, who shared their house, asked me to collect her pension and to buy her a small bottle of gin. She insisted that I had a small glass before going back to school. I wondered why I kept falling asleep and got the cane for not paying attention. The headmaster was a demon, when it came to caning no one was safe. This little man with his plus fours and drooping moustache was himself a figure of fun.'

'His wife, still suffering from shell shock after nursing in France, ten years after World War One, was even more peculiar, poor woman. For years she rode her bike in the High Street still dressed in her uniform. She put newspaper instead of curtains at the school house windows. Any child who made fun of her was in for a hard time.'

'I often wonder why my brothers were not expected to do anything. Having to go to the shop before school often put me in bad books. The shop did not open until 9 a.m., the time I was supposed to be in school. I still had to go home first.'

'Because mother did not pay until the end of the week, the grocer served all his paying customers first. I stood there as time ticked by, getting in more of a state, dreading the punishment to come.'

'One morning, mother found big fat maggots in the bacon. Back to the shop I went. The grocer looked at me over the top of his spectacles, listened to my complaint, took the maggots off, squashing them on the counter and handed the bacon back to me. I made myself scarce as father sat down to his fried rashers that evening!'

'I almost forgot the bathroom when we moved into a Council house (3 bedrooms). The neighbours seemed determined to fill them as soon as possible. Our lovely family doctor, called it Incubator Alley.'

'An iron bath on lets, a stone floor and a boiler in the corner. We were sent 'wooding', with a pram. Even Father's gardening boots were used to heat the water, the copper was also used for the weekly wash and the boiling of Christmas puds. The window was never opened. Huge spiders emerged from under the bath when things became too hot. The twins never lost a chance to frighten me with spiders dead or alive. I am still afraid.'

'There was just room for the large iron mangle. It was just another of my tasks to hurry home from school on Mondays whatever the weather to turn the mangle, the clamp screwed down as tight as possible. I only weighed a few stones wringing wet. When we moved I thought we would leave it behind but it was a family heirloom.'