Norma Pratt recalled her mother giving her a 'dolly tub' when she was first married. It had to be filled with water heated in buckets on a gas ring. The clothes were then agitated with a 'posser'. It was hard work and went on most of the day.

For Jean Brown washing was an every day event - with four children there was no respite! She was fortunate to have an early 'Rolls' electric washing machine to help her. She remembers that it was white but didn't have a wringer attached so that had still to be done by hand.

Betty Edmunds remembered how her grandmother did the washing, and still finds it remarkable that so much hard work was accepted so readily without complaint. Her grandmother had 15 children who were always immaculately dressed.

Edna Burton remembers having to go outside to a designated area in the middle of which was a big washing up bowl with a fire underneath and bricks around. The washing would be boiled in the bowl before being taken out and rinsed.

Hilda Tanfield recalled having to cope with very primitive facilities in the first home she lived in after her husband returned from the War. Her first child was born a few weeks after they moved in to an apartment in a remote former stately home which had no electricity. She vividly remembers dealing with the nappies..............

And then there was the ironing......---»