A really great talk by Penny Legg at our 10 October meeting, with great audience participation as they told their anecdotes, of which they were reminded by old pictures screened by Penny, one of which was a railways steam engine.
That steam engine picture got me thinking how we romaticise the 'Days of Steam', forgetting the smoke and grime the engines belched out, making buildings black with their filth, and polluting the countryside.
Then listening to the nostalgic tales of 'The Good Old Days', I could not help but think what those days were really like for so many people - a cold water tap over a sink in the kitchen, no bathroom (Tin bath kept on a hook out the back), outside loo, lighting the paraffin lamps as it got dark, icy cold sheets on going to bed, frost forming on the INSIDE of the windows at night, cold lino to step onto in the morning, the kitchen range, copper in the scullery for the weekly wash, perhaps even the coal kept in a wooden cupboard under the stairs.
So much for the 'Good Old Days', with no double glazing, no central heating, no fitted carpets, no........hang on, it is the end of the meeting and the Rev. Robert is telling us about a trip he has planned for us next year. We will be going by train.....whoopeee....I really DO hope it will be a steam train.
JG
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