THE FLATLEY DRYER

[Stanley]

Nice to see the old ideas are still alive! I can still remember the clothes maiden in front of the fire on a bad drying day. Just think of the work a houewife had to do then and compare with modern women who say they haven't got time to cook....

[Stanley]

Almost all my cooking being done on the stove in the front room. No leccy burned, lovely even heat and great for slow cooking. We lost a lot when we went over to gas and electric cookers.....

[Stanley]

Whatever happened to hair nets, and for that matter, the snood. Are they totally redundant these days?

[Wendyf]

Hair nets,(and snoods)are still used by horse riders when showing or competing in dressage where there is still an established dress code. The catering industry too....

[Stanley]

Thanks for that Wendy, nice to know there are still some pockets of resistance to change! When I was a lad it was still common to see women out on the street with curlers in and usually a head scarf covering them.



Salford 1976. The woman on the left had curlers in....

[Stanley]

We've come a long way since this early washing machine. Question is, what have we done with the time we've saved? (Note that it uses the old fashioned rotary posser and not the more modern copper one which was used with an up and down motion)

[Stanley]

In 1946 a brand new Servis electric washer arrived at home in Stockport and mother plugged it in and washed everything in the house. When my dad came home in the evening it transpired that it wasn't ours, father had managed to get hold of one for a mate through his contacts in the trade. Mother was devastated and father realised that he had to get another for her to presrve marital harmony. It arrived a week later and all was well! We forget the shortages after WW2 and how they affected people.

[Stanley]

We don't need these nowadays. The brick and concrete air raid shelter at Bancroft Shed. The windows were put in after the war and it was used as a fire proof dirty waste store.

[Stanley]

Reading Ian's post about Liverpool reminded me of the old overhead electric railway. (LINK)

[PanBiker]

They have one of the carriages in the Liverpool Museum and the story of its construction, use and demise.

[Stanley]

When I rode it in the war there always seemed to be a lot of Chinese people using it.

[cloghopper]

We don't need these nowadays. The brick and concrete air raid shelter at Bancroft Shed. The windows were put in after the war and it was used as a fire proof dirty waste store.

More memories with this photo. We had an air raid shelter just like that outside Heasandford Infants school, where I started school. Must have been about school year 1945/1946 because I remember the
VJ day parade, and all the talk of 'atomic bombs' on the wireless. Miss Butterfield was the headmistress. The shelters were demolished with pneumatic drills shortly afterwards. On the other hand the tanktraps and bunker at the top of Marsden Road where it became Higher Reedley Road survived well into the 50's.
cheers,
cloggy

[Stanley]

There are still some pill boxes left, can I remember one at the junction on the back road when you came over Widdop from Hebden Bridge?

[chinatyke]

There are still some pill boxes left, can I remember one at the junction on the back road when you came over Widdop from Hebden Bridge?

Yes, your memory is correct. I remember that one. I was brought up in Colne and we frequently walked over that road. It may even still be there. My memory is that it was on the junction where the road went off to Briercliffe above Thursden Valley. I've a feeling that there was another one on that road also near Tum Hill. I always thought it was a remote place to find Germans.

[PanBiker]

I've a feeling that there was another one on that road also near Tum Hill. I always thought it was a remote place to find Germans.

Probably the very reason that it was there. German airborne troops would be more likely to land in a remote area rather than a fully populated area. Hence the tank traps that can still be found in rural areas on strategic routes.

[Wendyf]

The pill box on Halifax Road is still there. Link

[Stanley]

Sue mailing us from the ferry and Janet flying half way round the world in a day. I can remember when we had to book phone calls to Oz in advance and they cost a fortune.

[Stanley]

A 'modern' posser. It was used with an up and down movement instead of turning like the old stool shaped posser. The vents in the side circulated the water in the dolly tub. Of course it was mounted on something like a broom handle.

[Stanley]

There was a discussion on R4 this morning about the reduction in the amount of washing dried on outside washing lines. This is of course because most people use dryers which guzzle energy. Therefore, the demise of the washing line is damaging to our energy usage.
One thing I noticed in the US. Due to the fact that the public leccy supply is 110v standard, you won't find electric kettles in America because the heating coils would have to be far larger and more expensive. The same thing applies to domestic clothes dryers and washing machines. The heating of the water and air is done by gas-heat and not electricity.
So, bring back the clothes line and the maiden!

[Whyperion]

Demise of outside drying useage might have something also to do with less time for domestic duties for those whom have to go to work longer hours , more flats without outside drying spaces or balconies , more rainy days compared to good drying weather days. My local laundramat uses gas for the heating to the dryers. When up in Barnoldswick the dryer is rarely used , but the household decorations are often towels and socks over the radiators ( something I am told is inefficient but does not seem to affect house temps too much ). The back yard is north facing and in deep shadow so no use really for drying in.

[Stanley]

A few days ago Ian commented on the highly polished boots in one of the pics I posted on 'Forgotten Corners'. Funny how things pop into your head and this morning, out of the blue, I remembered brown boots in the army. I don't know what the present situation is but 60 years ago when I was doing my bit for Her Maj only officers were allowed to wear brown boots with their uniform. However, if an ordinary squaddie went to the QM stores for a replacement pair of boots, this was triggered by the regimental cobbler, if he condemned a pair of boots you got new ones, and if they hadn't your size in you could get issued with a pair of officer's boots. This was good luck actually because they were better quality than the ordinary black ammunition boot. However, there was a downside, you had to go to the NAAFI and get a bottle of Radium Leather Dye, scrub the boots with hot water and soap and then give them about three coats of the dye to make them black. Once you had done this you had to get plenty of polish on and take them back to the cobbler to have the regulation pattern of studs hammered into the soles. These weren't hobnails but heavy flat headed studs like clout nails but a lot thicker, that had a hatched pattern stamped into them when new but this soon wore off.
I always saw this brown boot thing as another example of the way the class system was reinforced in the army, not surprisingly, it annoyed me! Especially the fact that they were better boots!
[I've remembered what triggered this memory. It was seeing colour footage on the TV programme last night about the mining war on the Somme of French WW1 soldiers and they all had brown boots.]

[Stanley]

Must get all me boots out and give them a refreshing polish.....

[Stanley]

Where have all the ice cream men gone? Not too many years ago the sound of the chimes echoed round the town as soon as the sun came out. I knew one woman who told her kids that they only sounded the chimes when they had run out. Anyone remember the Walls Ice Cream man on their tricycles?



Steve's Ice Cream. I think this pic is at Townhead at the end of Esp Lane and the building in the background could be the old Spiritualist Church. We did some detective work on this on the old site.

[EileenDavid]

Don't remember the Wall's ice cream man on a tricycle ours were Sabini or Manfredi, we used to also have a mister softee which I hated yuch! Dave also was told the ice cream had run out when the chimes sounded. The Asians have taken over the van trade in our area but are not as plentiful as they used to be. Eileen

[PanBiker]

Steve's original van was built round a motorbike tricycle before progressing to a van. Not sure which is in the picture, looks like an early van. Good ice cream though, he would originally ring a bell on arrival but later progressed to "Greensleeves". Always stopped at the top of our street. Joe's wife Madge was always first with her jug or bowl. She could see him coming from the back kitchen window and he always stopped right outside their house.