Time for a Cuppa!

The Magazine

For all the Family

A trip down memory lane

When I was a child, we lived in a two-bedroom property with no bathroom and no running hot water. So when we had a wash, it was either use cold water from the single tap above the earthenware sink in the kitchen, or wait until our aunt boiled a kettle and added a drop of hot water.

On bath night, which was usually on a Saturday night so we would be nice and clean for church the next morning, consisted of having a good scrub down in a large metal tub in front of the warm range fire in the living room. We always had to be careful not to splash any water onto the fire, as it would be ages before it could be lit again, and this meant having a bath in a cold room, especially if anyone came in from the street, as the front door opened directly from the living room. A small threadbare carpet just wider than the bath was placed just at the side, this gave us something other that the wooden floorboards to stand on when we got out of the bath. There were five children and two adults, and we used to take it in turns from the youngest upwards.

I'm the one sat on Jean's knee

with Eddie on my left and Alan on my right

It was an arduous task by my aunt, and she usually half filled the bath from buckets of cold water, then took boiling water from the huge kettle that was being kept hot on the range. The water was usually lasted for two people depending how dirty the water got, and was then changed, which usually meant that the youngest and the third child received the clean water.

The boys were given their baths with no privacy at all, as they would usually line up and wait for the first one to get a quick bath, then it was the turn of the next. But our sister had a small curtain hung around the clotheshorse, usually a bed sheet, and no one was allowed in the room except for our aunt.

On one special day, my birthday, a party had been arranged for me, which I looked forward to excitedly as it meant presents and playing family games and receiving fresh apples. Also as a treat, I was allowed to have the bath first so that I had the clean water. The rest of my brothers were upstairs, and I took advantage of this by taking my time in the bath and washed myself thoroughly with the carbolic soap. My aunt came over and scrubbed my back, and then informed me to be quick, as the water was getting cold, and then she went into the kitchen to finish preparing the food for the party.

I had soap in my eyes and I reached out for the towel, but couldn't find it. I stood up and as I did so, I felt an icy cold blast of wind as someone opened the front door. There were a few girlish giggles and I realised that something was wrong and I was no longer alone. I bent over and reached down for the small carpet that I knew was at the side of the bath and quickly picked it up to cover myself. By now my eyes were stinging with the soap, so I raised the carpet and rubbed my eyes, which brought about more laughter from whoever was in the room. I managed to open my eyes in time to see my neighbour's children, three girls and a boy, being quickly ushered into the kitchen by their mother who was finding it hard to contain her own laughter. This was nothing unusual as the neighbours were always popping in and out without knocking. For a while I stood there embarrassed, waiting to see if it was all clear and I heard my aunt and the neighbour talking and laughing in the kitchen.

I decided that no one was coming and stepped out of the bath complete with the small carpet covering me and a large splinter from the now bare floorboards went into my foot. I screamed out in pain and dropped the carpet as I made an automatic grab for my pain racked foot and at the same time there was a rush of bodies from the kitchen as well as from the upstairs bedroom to see was the screaming was all about. When everyone saw me, the laughter was ringing in my ears. I was now clearly embarrassed and tried to ignore the pain and made a grab for the towel that I had just spotted, and as I did so, I placed my sore foot on the floor and once again the pain shot up my leg. I fell backwards and my bum landed on the edge of the bath and caused it to tip up and the warm soapy water splashed everywhere.

The tears were now flowing down my cheeks, as I knew that I was in a situation that I could no longer control. My aunt came quickly across and placed the now wet towel around me. The neighbour got another towel and began drying my foot and then removed the large splinter and placed a makeshift bandage on it. I was taken upstairs and I got ready for the party while the others cleaned the mess below. My aunt placed her arm around my shoulder and then kissed me on the forehead. 'Here you are lad,' she said as she gave me a tiny package wrapped up in tissue paper. 'Happy birthday.'

I quickly removed the tissue paper and found two silver threepenny bits. I was delighted as it meant that I could now afford to go to the matinee the next day and see the latest "Roy Rogers" film at the local cinema. On top of this I had enough to get an ice cream as well. The next day before I left, I had decided not to get the ice cream, I decided to treat my brother Roy instead and took him with me to the pictures.

Mike Coatesworth

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My novels can be seen at

http://www.btinternet.com/~mikeco158/onetear1.htm

http://www.btinternet.com/~mikeco158/cuppa1.htm

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