My Grandmother

My grandmother was born in 1870, and gave birth to my mother at the age of 34 and my mother gave birth to me at the age of 37, so there was an age gap of 71years between us.

I have vivid memories of her from when I was young, even although she died when I was 10.

She looked rather like Giles’ Grandma (although smiling rather than scowling), wearing a long black dress with black lace up shoes, but she still had the energy to take me and my young brother to feed the hens. We would walk downhill towards the shore and often on towards the harbour. This was an outing we always looked forward to.

She and her oldest daughter lived together in a tenement flat, where the kitchen was a small “scullery” and where the living room had a bed recess. I can’t remember who slept where, but when I went to stay with my Aunt after my grandma died I slept in this bed recess. Also in this room was a cupboard which held the coal – the coalman used to climb 3 flights of stairs carrying the coal on his back to deliver it. The coal was burned in a grate that required cleaned out and black leaded. It must have required a lot of work to keep the small flat clean with all that dust. As my Aunt worked, most if not all of the housework was done by my grandmother.

My grandfather died in 1940 so sadly I never knew him.

My Aunt had the fire changed to a gas one, and whitewashed and shelved the coal cupboard to make a larder, but there was no washing machine or refrigerator (no room apart from anything else), so the flat became a one bedroom flat with bathroom, living room with scullery off and large sitting room as well as a walk in cupboard off the hall. There was a communal drying green and all the residents took their turn to scrub the stairs.

Changed days, these tenement flats are worth a fortune now!