Home Life

As told by Florence Eveline Jenner (1901-1994):

When we were kids our mum was always involved with social work and the like, and used to take in waif and strays. Our mum would say "Well that saved them from going to prison". So we didn't take much notice, well except Arthur - He said all his family were years older than him, except Ken, there being about a 20 year gap between them and the rest of the family. So, when all these waifs and strays kept coming and going he felt, being so much younger than everyone else, that he couldn't be part of the family and thought that he must be one of the waifs and strays.

Carrie Parks was one that we brought up - She was with us from her mid-teens, until she got married, but she thinks the world of me, so I don't mind - She use to read all my love letters! (Carrie Parks died February 1993).

One time I remember was when Mr Skidmoor came over and said "Do you mind if a few of us come over to tea, Sunday", of course our mum reckoned on about four or five, six at the most. So she had the shock of her life when the whole Corps from Frampton Cotterall walked in, fortunately they bought their own food with them, but our mum had to put on the big boiler to boil the water for the tea - because there was so many of them. Mind you it was a big house we had there - right opposite the Citadel in Ashley Road. It was a double fronted house with eight rooms in the front and as many in the back. Then there was a double storey out-house, the upstairs for the washing, and a place to hang your washing during wet weather. It had a long garden with a tree in it, and at the bottom a lane that led to Picton Street. And that's where we used to do all our courting - behind the gate because of the long garden and the tree - nobody could see us. I think most of the big houses that are left, are now all bed-sitters!

We never had a lot of money in those days, but we always had plenty of fun, and we weren't dissatisfied like they are now-a-days: Although I've had to work hard all my life; I was the oldest of eight -and with my mother always being ill - in and out of hospitals - I've always had kids tugging at me - I bought up our mum's last two - Arthur and Ken - I smacked their backsides more than once. Our Arthur made Grace laugh last time he was here - He was telling her how I used to spit on my handkerchief and wash his face with it. I told him that's how we got such good complexion. Our Arthur says that I used to grind my teeth at them when I got annoyed, and he says that's how I got my false teeth. In fact, the dentist said there was nothing wrong with my teeth - they just went soft. I was all right when they were first taken out, but shortly afterwards I had a haemorrhage and was laid-up in bed for a week.

When our mum was at home, she had it like clockwork: -

• Tuesdays - clean and tidy up the bedrooms,

• Wednesday nights - was `Patch night' - when we patched our cloths up, do any sewing and things like that, and

• Friday nights - was `Bath night' - we had to stay in to wash our hair and - Bath.

• We each one of us had jobs we had to do before going to work, or going our - washing up; clearing away; polishing; cleaning - things like that.

And when I wasn't working, everything had to be done before dinnertime - It was like that until I got married.