"Rising early in the morning, we proceed to light the fire" Apologies to G and S!!

1950's. East Street
The daily ritual of lighting the fire each morning.


My sister has recently been to Rossendale from Yorkshire to take part in the filming of the dvd about Woodcroft in the 1950's and early '60's. A documenting of our childhood. 
(This particular photo was taken outside the house, number 12 East Street, in June 2008, when I met up with my childhood friends. I am on the left and  Maureen (née Fisher) on the right. I was born in that very house and stand beneath the bedroom window!)    

Shirley then had the excitement of a tour around the house where we used to live! (She writes her own blog about Woodcroft at (http://woodcroftfolk.blogspot.com/2011_05_01_archive.html)  The owner had come outside and asked why people were there with cameras and sound equipment, resulting in an invitation to go inside.
She then took them round the house as it is now. A day to remember for her for a long time to come.

Here I am on the right sitting on the wall outside!  

Inevitably, it sparked off more memories for me as I looked back through time. And thinking of each room in the house, two up, two down, an out-kitchen, and a toilet down the yard.The attic, which was hot and musty in the summer, and freezing in the winter, then the damp dark cellar, where the coal was stored, with various household cleaning tools at the top of the cellar steps. Brushes, buckets, and mops. 
The door to the cellar was to the right of the fireplace in the living room. A fireplace looking something like the one in this picture, but obviously still intact!  
There was no central heating, which set me thinking about how we got hot water into our taps in the kitchen and also the bath, which sat in glorified state in a corner of our back-bedroom.        
   We did not have an immersion heater, nor an electric wall water-heater in the small out-kitchen. So how did we get the hot water?
Then I remembered...............
At the back of the fire grate, behind the fire itself, there was a small water tank. It was known as the "back boiler". When the coal fire was burning away merrily in the hearth, it heated the water contained inside. There must have been a cold water supply pipe, or the tank wouldn't have functioned. There was a flue which was behind it and also at two sides, so air could circulate. Then the hot water would be carried by convection through such pipes as there were, to the kitchen taps, and the bath taps.
We only ever had a bath once a week up there, and when we were small, in a tin bath in front of the fire. The upstairs bath probably needed so much hot water that eventually it ran cold. (Which inevitably it did, meaning that if you had put too much cold with the hot, there wasn't enough left to warm it back up! And you ended up with a lukewarm bath, brrrrr!) 
So, for my dad, who was first up each morning, about 6.15am, as he caught the early X43 limited  service stop bus to Manchester at 7.05am. It was a chilly start in the autumn and winter. 
No fire, and no hot water, so washing and shaving took place in the kitchen, having boiled the water in the kettle. 
Before all that took place, there was the matter of cleaning out the fire-grate of all the previous day's ashes. No good doing that in a suit!
These were deposited in the dustbin, or ash bin, as the "dust men" then were known as "th'Ash chaps" in common parlance. 
Having cleaned out the grate, the fire would be "laid", using small wood pieces, kindling, which could be bought for the purpose. These came in bundles tied with a band of wire. They were also stored at the top of the cellar steps. There were one or two shelves there.
Old newspaper was scrunched up and layered with the wood. The coal was put on top, using "slack" and "cobs". Some coal was known as "nutty slack" !! Cobs were more expensive. 
If you were in a hurry, you could use "fire lighters". I liked the smell of them, as they gave off a tarry odour. 
Once lit, dad would sometimes put a large metal square, like a lid, up against the fire grate, and put paper over this too,(this was not then immediately up against the fire itself!) It had the effect of "drawing" air into the flue more quickly, and it had to be watched carefully, as many a time the paper set on fire! And at other times set the chimney on fire, as the soot would burn. You would be told about this by neighbours, who could clearly see flames coming from the chimney pot! We did have chimney fires, but doused the coal and waited! Others were not so lucky, necessitating a visit by the fire-brigade, which events were always of great excitement.  
Once the fire was crackling and burning, the initial sooty smoke having given way to yellow, red and orange flames, the sound was cheery and made a comforting glow in the hearth.
So, when we came downstairs, we were met by a warming room. 
In winter, the fire was "banked" up before going to bed, and the fireguard replaced. Then at least the downstairs room remained heated for awhile longer. 
But I loved to sit by the fire, and watch the flickering of the flames, and even now, a cosy coal, or log, fire crackling in the grate, can be so relaxing. No need for anything else for a time.........