Up to my being 8:
We had no heating, bar the cast iron range in the kitchen, which apart from
cooking/baking, heated the bath water (once a week, and one bath served 4
girls, after which my grandfather had a bath - and he got clean water).
The water for bathing, washing (dolly tub type) and flushing the toilet was
taken from a well in the garden, which we once filled with tadpoles, and
then my mother went to do the washing .... lots of squashed tadpoles between
the
rollers of the wringer.
We managed to set fire to the kitchen, after reading how to make candles.
My big sister and I went to the local church to pinch the candle stubs for
melting down. I was about 5 and the lookout. Back home big sisters 1&2 and
some of their friends set out to melt the stubs in an empty can, it caught
fire, and
someone threw water onto it. Needless to say, when my parents got back to a
very black kitchen, we were not popular. The friends did not c ome around
for weeks.
We had a radio, then the first tv in the street arrived about 1958, with one
children's programme on Sat afternoon, so most of the children in the street
would go to this house to watch. (we did not get tv till 1963, when I was
12).
My father grew all his own veggies and fruit, whilst grandpa grew
price-begonias, and we were not to go anywhere near them. a lot of the
poduce was bottled by my mother for the winter months.
We had chickens, rabbits, pigeons, goats and the odd other feathered/furry
creature, not as pets but for food.
At school we used pencils, and there were nuns everywhere from the convent
behind the school. some could barely speak Dutch as it was a French order,
but it taught me my first bits of foreign language, and I did end up being a
language teacher.
The worst bit was that I was daughter no. 3, and my mother made most of our
clothing, buying meters of the same material, making 4 identical dresses, so
I had to wear the same dress 3 years in a row. Not as bad as siter no. 4
under me, who had to wear them 4 years. My little sister being born a lot
later, did not have to put up with this.
But, I suppose everyone we knew was in the same boat, so it did not matter.
In year 6 (11-12 years old) we were finally allowed to use pen and ink (from
the well in your desk).
By now we were living somewehere else. My father was in the army, had a
promotion and things got a little easier. Moreover, grandpa no longer lived
with us, because the place we moved to had no railway; he had gone to live
with his sister. He had been a train driver, and spent his days watching
trains arrivng/departing, and complaining when any were late.
On 6th December (Sinterklaas - Saint Nicholas) we got maderins, walnuts (the
ones from neighbour's tree that feel into our garden, which my mum would
collect), a small chocolate letter and a toy (which often was something we
could all use, so one present fits all).
We played marbles, skipped rope, skated, swam
I think, some of the hardships were a result of after-war poverty which
gripped most of the Netherlands.
It was not easy, but we did not know any different, and I loved my childhood
and what my parents managed to do for us.
Most of today's children do not appreciate this, and my own children think
that we were deprived.
Agnes Boddington - Elloughton UK
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