The memoirs of Cissie Ewen

The box iron we used to iron the clothes and had two pieces of iron, which we put into the fire until they were red hot. One was put in the iron to heat it, while the other was heating in the fire. Then they were changed over. We also had a flat iron, which stood on top of the coal stove or a gas ring to heat. Everything seemed to be heavy in those days; made to last. The kettle and pans were all heavy iron and Mam had some big ones we could hardly lift, all shapes and sizes; one large oval one she could boil clothes in, when not using the washhouse copper.

The backyard was a nice size. There was a coal shed and the toilet (we called it the ‘netty’), at the bottom of the yard near the door, which led out to the back lane outside. There was no flush toilet in those days. There was a trapdoor in the back wall that the nightcart men used to empty the "netty." The other trapdoor was for shovelling coal into the coal shed. When Alby and Eddy were working at the mine, we were allowed loads of coal. Many times as a young girl, I tossed in a load of coal because the lads were at the mine, and it was dumped in the back lane and had to be shifted as quickly as possible. The little trapdoor would have been higher than me, so it wouldn't have been easy work but I think I got quite a dab hand at it.

When the lads were working at the mine, we used to have the copper filled with hot water when it was time for them to come home. They weren't always on the same shift, and they came home all black and covered in coal dust. We lasses had to ‘dad’ (knock) their pit clothes against the wall to knock out all the dust ready for the next shift. We had a big zinc bath, also a half-barrel we called a ‘butt’, which the men used to bathe in by the kitchen fire. We lasses had to make ourselves scarce until they'd had their bath. Females had to have their baths in the bedroom. It was good when the schools were able to send the children from homes without bathrooms or hot water to the Public Baths to have a hot bath.

Life must have been very hard for Mam all the time, but I don't ever remember her complaining, or being sorry for herself. We were a happy, close-knit family. I know we had our grizzles now and then, but we all loved each other. As I got older and looked back on life, it has made me marvel at what Mam really did, and how she managed. She wasn't big, but she must have had plenty of strength. I remember Mam at the same time as doing a big, heavy wash, she would also sometimes have a baking day; mixing up to a stone (14 pounds, = about 6½ kilograms) of flour by hand to make into bread, which was a heavy job on its own. Maybe it was pension day and she was able to get the necessary things on the same day. Home baking didn't last long among us lot of kids.