for Dinoaurs - a wander down memory lane

oil cloth struck so cold thats what we had until i was 9 

and living with my grandparents.

one coal fire thats all and an outside lav .

that was a killer.in the winter .

when we moved to our house with our parents in 69

we had two gas fires coal gas still , lite by matches 

yes and we survived. no outside lav this time.

but still, ice on the inside of the windows in winter.

but atleast we had carpets .

I remember the old paraffin oil heaters in the first maisonette we started in mainly, before moving in to a 3 Bedroomed house in about 74' or 75' - then we had coal fires in the lounge, kitchen, and in the middle and large bedrooms. However, even having small fires in the bedrooms didn't stop ice on the inside of windows freezing up with ice with the cold winters we had back then. We had coal and log fires, still bloody cold though, I'm sure one year we had temperatures of around -29 degrees!

We had special rubber chains that went over your shoes so you didn't slip on the icy roads or paths.

We used to have our milk delivered, but in 3ft of snow, we had to collect it from the bottom of the Avenue. At first we had no carpet, just mats on floorboards and the winding squeaking staircase made of wood. I remember my dad trying to cut and fit a stair carpet, and our mum telling him to stop swearing, everytime he hit his fingers instead of the carpet tacks with the hammer!

To this day I never knew why my brother done this - Where snow had built up along his window sil, he broke some off and ate it. About half a hour later he was sick! LOL Then again, my brother done a lot of things you wouldn't believe, firstly he is nothing like me - many people have asked the same.

do you remember those horrid galor gas heaters. you to make me feel sick

Strangely enough I wasn't sensitive to them (am now) and I preferred them to central heating and the radiators because they gave me headaches. Now I use greenhouse heaters, the blowy ones and tubeluar ones on the window cills. They save a lot of money and throw out more heat out than radiators.

iv never thought of using the tubular green house heaters on window cills proberly a good idea . not that steve would agree ,

we have a little panel electric heater in the down stairs loo thats right by the back door ,god its made such a differance it was so cold out there .

My neighbour was flooded by the pipes bursting and it was awful, he had to move out for days. If I keep the windows frost free with the gentle heat there's less likelihood of my pipes bursting and I have the same old pipes he had because our bungalows are joined together. Very cheap source of heat too and the blowly ones are fantastic!

Might Steve agree if he finds out how much money you'll be saving?

i doubt it hun he would just call me stupid like he always does when i come up with ideas ,even though he has to admit i was right sometimes

Sighs empathically!  At least alone I can make my own decisions. Swings and roundabouts I suppose.

Then Blu, did you suffer from those desperately itchy chillblanes on fingers and toes?.O! the delights of unheated bedrooms, hall, stairs, bathroom.

By contarst, the joy of a steamy bath and getting out pink and glowing. The rush to dress before you lost that lovely heat. Then when the bathroom cooled it ran with condensation.

Itchy chilblains, unheated bedrooms! That's nothin', we use to have handful of hot gravel for breakfast, have to lick lake clean, and if we got a good thrashing we were grateful! We had to get up before we went to bed.

chilblains arent strictly caused by the cold but by the sudden heating up of the hands by the fire or heater

certainly is hun, 

4 yorkshire men monty python brilliant sketch

Round t tea table we were forced t listen t Monty Python sketches every night from father or we were thrashed senseless!  

my kids dont get whats funny, about it. 

of course the parrot sketch 

the minstery of funny walks 

is this a 5 min argument 

the prince

ahhhhhh happy days

 

And do you remember how the gas fire went 'POP' a moment or two afte you turned off the gas?

O yes, the parafin oil heaters. They had a circular wick. When I got one side burning with a lovely blue flame the other side had a large yellow flame and enough smoke to make a smoke screen to hide a fleet.

Calor Gas Heaters - voluntary polution and they stank.

Radoators give out formaldehyde, bad for health, and the electric they burn pollutes the atmosphere. Green house heaters! They work for me, my electric company usually owes me money, calling all Scots!

Dear Georgia, you had it tough. But emtying the lake - that is heroic  he he, just kidding. Leaving a clean plant even if the food was like gravel. Yes, we HAD to leave a clean plate. We sat there at the table until we did. Rationing set the pattern and it did not change when rationing stopped. Mr Manners was a prewar matter. We only talked about a time when you HAD to leave something on your plate to show you had had sufficient - even , especially if it was your adsolute favourite.

Mmmmmmmmmmm Georgia, tellus more. I see that you understand the difficulty of having short arms and deep pockets. 

How exactly does the grenhouse heater solution work for you?

god did they alf . gave me stinking headaches to .

nope but i remember how it went pop when you lite it and lost half your eyebrows if you were to close at the same time