Zambia World Wide

I have already mentioned that mum and dad worked all week and so Sunday would be another busy day. We would get up have breakfast and the day would begin. The copper would once again be filled and the gas ring lit. While the water was heating mum would prepare the dinner which on a Sunday was always a roast with Yorkshire pudding (as I got older I would help prepare the dinner and by the time I was 12 cooking the Sunday dinner became my job which if I am honest I enjoyed doing). Whilst mum was cooking the dinner we boys and dad would do the cleaning. I really aren’t sure whether we were a help or a hindrance but we had fun. Once the dinner was cooking which would take time the water in the copper was hot and it was time to do the washing, all the bed linen and clothes were put in the copper with washing powder although if my memory is good in the early days it was a kind of soap. The washing powder I can remember is surf before that it was soap which was rubbed into the washing, however does it really matter. I don’t remember how or if the clothes were rinsed, it was a long time ago. Out in the yard was the mangle, it stood in the corner under the window of the sitting room. When the washing was done it was time to put it through the mangle and hang it out to dry. What happy days. We also had the scrubbing board which also hung on the garden wall. Mum would check the washing and decide which needed to be scrubbed, then the fun would start. Us boys would turn the mangle whilst mum put the washing through, by dinner time it would be done. We took it in turns to turn the mangle, after all we were young and it was hard work but believe it or not it was also fun. It would seem from what I have written that life was a chore, that is not so we had a lot of fun. Once the washing had gone through the mangle it was hung out to dry, job done. Sunday afternoon was a time to chill all the work was done, there was no TV back then (how did we manage). After Sunday lunch for a moment time stood still. We all sat around the fire, hot fronts and cold rears but that was life. Back then families were families and stayed together can that be said today. I think not. When I say families I mean uncles, aunts, grand parents and great grand parents also cousins and nieces, all lived within the same area. It was quite normal for families to live within the same area, in my case we all lived in Southtown and Cobholm, two areas close together in Great Yarmouth.

Most evenings were spent listening to the wireless and playing table games such as cards, they were a great favourite, there are so many games that can be played with a pack of cards but enough, time to move on. Before I do I must mention the Archers, it was on the wireless every night and god forgive anyone who dared speak while it was on, to do so would be a crime and so we all sat in silence until it was over.

Last I should mention the GUZUNDER, what is it some will ask. It is a chamber pot why is called a Guzunder because it goes under the bed. When we were kids there was no way we could get to the outside toilet in the night so we had chamber pots under the beds, every morning before going to work our dad would come round with the pail and empty the pots from under the beds. On a Saturday he would take the pots outside and wash them out ready for use the following week. Some will say having read what I have written that we were dirty and must have been unhealthy which was not the case, it’s just the way things were back then. Last but also to show the way we lived, personal washing was carried out at the kitchen sink. At the side of the sink there was a soap tray and towel and that was where we washed every morning when we woke up, how we all managed I really don’t know however we did. There were no bathrooms back then. Today what you accept as normal did not exist in the days when I was young.

I don’t ever remember having new clothes, because I was the second son all my clothes were handed down from my older brother, as he grew out of them they were handed down to me, my younger always had new clothes as did my older brother, I can only assume that the hand downs were worn out by the time I finished with them. Shoes were always repaired it was very rare for anyone to buy new shoes. Our dad had a last which was stored in the shed and when our soles or heels wore out he would with help of the last resole and re-heel them. He always fitted steel toe-studs which I assume helped prevent wear. Socks also were not thrown out but darned, I can remember my dad kept a tobacco tin which he would slide into the sock to open it up and then darn the hole. Socks would have to be in a really bad state before they were replaced.