Notes

Bath night once a week
One night a week was bath night and it was a communal affair. For some it was no more than a good scrub in a tin bath in front of the fire. Those lucky enough to have a proper tub didn’t fare much better though. Small hot water tanks and costly immersion heaters meant a few inches of hot water had to do the whole family !. No jumping in the shower or languishing in a steaming bubble bath!

As the children grew up, there was no lack of play areas for them. Most secluded was the grassy back-court where girls played at "shops" and "houses" while boys climbed on to the flat topped washing houses and dreeped (hung down) from the court's boundary walls. Older children made every street a playground with nothing to discommode them other than an occasional slow-moving horse and cart. There was an extensive repertoire of street-games - from "kick-the-can" to "leavo". If it rained then the tenement closes became the haunts of cigarette card games and "wee heiders" - heady football.