AS: Cool Britannia (sort of): the British thread 2019

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  • Bishops FingerBishops Finger Shipmate
    edited April 2019
    Firenze wrote: »
    When we lived in a terrace house in the coal-fired 50s not only was there a pulley on the living room ceiling, but there were woollens layered in newspaper under the hearthrug.

    Before the clothes got to the drying stage there was the fun of putting them through a wringer, with the shirt buttons flying like shrapnel round the scullery.

    Spin dryers were a terrific advance - provided you loaded them correctly. Otherwise they waltzed madly round the room, gushing soapy water.

    Frankly I’m quite happy to bung things in a machine, push a button marked ‘Wash’, come back a couple of hours later and push another marked ‘Dry’.

    O Happy Times! Yes, back in the 50s and 60s, we had a wringer (aka Mangle, which my Little Self took great delight in working....

    I can't recall woollens under the hearthrug (though we had both hearth, and rug), but I do remember the first Spin Drier merrily jumping about.

    You Young People - you simply don't know what Delights, nay, FUN, we enjoyed back in the Dear Dead Days Beyond Recall..... :wink:

    BTW, @Firenze, you lucky wossname. We didn't have a scullery, just an open back yard!
  • Ah, but do you remember the problems of baling the damn washing machine out when it went wrong, plus the joys of washing everything by hand and nipping next door to borrow the mangle? (and before you ask, we were nowhere near a launderette and were reliant on public transport)
  • We have terribly hard water here. I add white vinegar to my final rinse, which helps.
  • When I was a Lad, we had a big Copper, gas-fired, which had to be filled with water before lighting the said gas. The washing was then pounded (by hand - with Big Sticks) in the boiling water.

    One day, My Old Dad filled the copper with water, turned on the gas, and went to light it. No matches in his pocket - where were they? Ah, on the living-room mantelpiece, but, on returning (with matches) to light the gas, Dad managed not only to blow himself across the kitchen, but also to overturn the copper (with water), and remove his eyebrows...
    :flushed:

    History (or my memory) does not recall what My Old Mum's reaction to all this was....
  • finelinefineline Kerygmania Host, 8th Day Host
    But how much electricity does it use?

    The dehumidifier? Not a great deal. Cheap to run.

  • Bishops FingerBishops Finger Shipmate
    edited April 2019
    This. I have one (iron/steel Ships have condensation issues).
  • Erm...my parents were born in the late 1950’s. I do remember us having a toploader washing machine when I was little!

    @Bishops Finger that sounds alarming!
  • Eek! to the story of the copper boiler!
    I did my own washing by hand from about the age of 10 as we didn’t have a washing machine until the early 80s - it was dried over the bath (bath day was Sunday and as the youngest of eight children I was usually shipped off to my Nan’s for that). I did it myself because if I waited for it to go to the launderette I wouldn’t have any clothes to wear. My brothers were obviously less bothered.
    My Nan had one of those twin ones though, where the water drains off into the sink. I presume she did some of my mum’s washing - I should have taken my washing there!
    When we had our first child we used a spin drier for the nappies.
  • Bishops FingerBishops Finger Shipmate
    edited April 2019
    It was - I remember it vividly!

    There is a Certain Irony inasmuch that My Old Mum, nearly 50 years later, died from burns received via a gas explosion.....(but that's quite another story).
    :grimace:
  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    edited April 2019
    Moving further back in the archaeology of clothes drying, my grandmother would spread some things to dry on the whin (gorse) bushes with which rural Ireland is so plentifully supplied. A perfectly good expedient for woven fabrics of course, but not so much for nylons...
  • BroJamesBroJames Purgatory Host, 8th Day Host
    My mother did the same in the early 60s on the London/Surrey border, and the items came off blackened by the soot on the bushes. She didn’t repeat the experiment!
  • Shouldn't have done it right by the A3.
  • BoogieBoogie Shipmate
    We had an electric mangle - scary beast!

    Like this one.

    I’ve been scanning my Dad’s old slides and found one of my brother and me in the tin bath in front of the fire!


  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    edited April 2019
    I remember my mum's 1950s top-loading washing machine, with an electric mangle attachment; my granny had a twin-tub and a pulley in the kitchen.

    We inherited a twin-tub with the house we bought in St. John's, but having had an automatic washing machine for the previous 15-odd years, it was far too much of a faff, so we traded it in at the second-hand appliance shop up the road and bought a top-loading* washer and tumble dryer.

    The present château came with a very cleverly-designed laundry: it looks like a big cupboard in the hall, but you open the bi-fold doors to reveal a washer and dryer, so you don't even need to cross the room to put the clothes from one to another.

    * top-loading washing machines seem to be more common here than front-loaders

    * * * * *

    Fortunately we didn't get too much more sn*w last night, but as the plough had been past and blocked us in I went out and cleared enough away that we wouldn't have any difficulty getting out for the funeral. The church was well-filled, and people seemed to appreciate the music.

    (eta: cross-post with Boogie - Mum's washing machine was very similar to that, except I think hers was English Electric).
  • FredegundFredegund Shipmate
    edited April 2019
    When I was a Lad, we had a big Copper, gas-fired, which had to be filled with water before lighting the said gas. The washing was then pounded (by hand - with Big Sticks) in the boiling water.

    One day, My Old Dad filled the copper with water, turned on the gas, and went to light it. No matches in his pocket - where were they? Ah, on the living-room mantelpiece, but, on returning (with matches) to light the gas, Dad managed not only to blow himself across the kitchen, but also to overturn the copper (with water), and remove his eyebrows...
    :flushed:

    Must be related to my late father-in-law. What he could do to a pig's head in the microwave wasn't a pretty sight.

    [edited for coding - Piglet, AS host]


  • Sorry - I will get the hand of this quotes thing, BF!
  • finelinefineline Kerygmania Host, 8th Day Host
    I remember when I was living in Canada, it was all top loading washing machines - quite a novelty for me. They weren’t so gentle with my clothes than the front loading washing machines I was used to - I got a hole in my favourite top the first time I used one. Though that could also be because of the settings I used.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    Now I think about it, the first proper automatic machine my mum had was a top-loader, but they were a rarity. The other thing that strikes me about North American laundry machines is their size - whenever I use D's mum's one when we're home on holiday, it seems absolutely squitty!
  • Boogie wrote: »
    We had an electric mangle - scary beast!

    Like this one.
    I used an identical one in our West Africa mission's HQ (where we had electricity and running water). I'm ashamed to say that I broke it by trying to move it when it was full.

  • ferijenferijen Shipmate
    The growth of our family and moving house means that we are now a two whirligig (rotary washing line) family. And on a “good” day I can fill them both. The one we inherited has a wind up handle which gets it another 18” higher. However we were a family of four and then five in a small 3 bedroom house (see daisydaisy above) and washing used to get dried on our heated airer in the conservatory.

    Mini ferijen has her first half birthday today. There isn’t cake yet, though it was her brother’s last week and her dad’s on Thursday, so hopefully it is just a temporary cake dip...
  • Birds crapped on my bedsheet - the drawback to drying outside! I’m not impressed.
  • ferijen wrote: »
    Mini ferijen has her first half birthday today. There isn’t cake yet, though it was her brother’s last week and her dad’s on Thursday, so hopefully it is just a temporary cake dip...

    Mmm, cake dip.

    Happy Birthday, mini Ferijen!
  • It's finding creepy crawlies on the washing that bothers me at this time of year. Not to mention inadvertently ironing cherry blossom if I'm not paying attention.
  • Piglet wrote: »
    .....The other thing that strikes me about North American laundry machines is their size...
    The thing that struck me about North American washers is how quick the washing cycle is - here I reckon on 45 mins for a 30 deg wash, double that for a 90 deg one, but the US wash was over in a fraction of that.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    Indeed - I think my washing machine takes little more than half an hour, even with a long rinse.
  • Birds crapped on my bedsheet - the drawback to drying outside! I’m not impressed.
    We have herring gulls nesting on the roof of the flats next door. they find the car, on the front drive, an easier target.
    The washing, in the back garden, gets hit occasionally, but by the time that is pegged on the line the gulls have moved on to the fast food places, or the sea, to find food, and I've taken it down by the time they return in the evening.

  • daisydaisy wrote: »
    Piglet wrote: »
    .....The other thing that strikes me about North American laundry machines is their size...
    The thing that struck me about North American washers is how quick the washing cycle is - here I reckon on 45 mins for a 30 deg wash, double that for a 90 deg one, but the US wash was over in a fraction of that.

    Maybe they have dual fill? Washing machines were much faster in the days when you could use the hot water you already had, rather than waiting for the cold to be heated by electricity!

    I blame the EU (there, I said it!)

    Mrs. S, defiant
  • Curiosity killedCuriosity killed Shipmate
    edited April 2019
    I used one of those top loading twin tubs for a while. And my mother's ancient washing machine, if it's still going, is top loading, with separate spin drier you hold down to stop it wandering. Washing times have changed for environmental reasons - to save water, work at lower temperatures and be gentler on clothes, but every time I buy a new machine the wash times are longer.

    We can't hang clothes outside at any time of year. We're in a flat and the communal whirligigs have to be shared. The one nearest the flat has a "helpful neighbour" (yes, that one) who will take clothes in for you before they are dry and it's a pain getting them back. The other end someone smokes cannabis and everything comes in stinking.
    daisydaisy wrote: »
    and sewing (a summer frock from an old duvet cover - it’s proving a challenge to get the pattern to fit me, but once I do will be useful for future summer frocks planned, with more expensive fabric).
    Pattern sizing has changed a lot since I last bought commercial patterns. The big four (McCall's, Simplicity, Burda, Vogue) are owned by the same company and are mostly putting almost 2 sizes of ease in for their normal patterns (Burda less so) - it really feels like vanity sizing to match ready to wear sizes. The standard industry model has an hourglass figure (and I do not). There's a lot of pressure on the pattern manufacturers for "inclusive sizing", which means bigger and bigger sizing, and less and less for anyone petite or small. The independents are more variable, some are getting bad reviews for making to size.

    It's also worth checking the standard heights - the big four design for 5'5" to 5'6", some of the independents design for 5'9" as standard.
  • Wesley JWesley J Shipmate
    Birds crapped on my bedsheet - the drawback to drying outside! I’m not impressed.
    I couldn't help start singing this to the famous Womack & Womack tune. Which is very satisfactory. :)
  • Wesley J wrote: »
    Birds crapped on my bedsheet - the drawback to drying outside! I’m not impressed.
    I couldn't help start singing this to the famous Womack & Womack tune. Which is very satisfactory. :)

    I’m glad it brought someone joy! Round two is on the line with lots of hope for a clean return!
  • HeavenlyannieHeavenlyannie Shipmate
    edited April 2019
    I’ve just received an email inviting me to interview for a doctorate in education! To say I’m excited would be an understatement, I’ve entirely failed to do the work I should be doing and have started doing interview prep instead :smiley:
    And it’s over Skype too, so I won’t need to travel.
  • Wesley JWesley J Shipmate
    Wesley J wrote: »
    Birds crapped on my bedsheet - the drawback to drying outside! I’m not impressed.
    I couldn't help start singing this to the famous Womack & Womack tune. Which is very satisfactory. :)
    I’m glad it brought someone joy! Round two is on the line with lots of hope for a clean return!

    I'm sure the bird was very relieved too!
  • Wesley JWesley J Shipmate
    I’ve just received an email inviting me to interview for a doctorate in education! To say I’m excited would be an understatement, I’ve entirely failed to do the work I should be doing and have started doing interview prep instead :smiley:
    And it’s over Skype too, so I won’t need to travel.

    That's really heavenly, Heavenlyannie. Well done, you, and fingers crossed! :)
  • Bishops FingerBishops Finger Shipmate
    edited April 2019
    Aaaaymeeeeennnnn......!

    ION, I have today performed a belated act of filial piety. My Old Dad died back in July 1986 at the age of 74, and bequeathed me inter alia a miscellaneous collection of old hand-tools. Many of them are probably older than he was, IYSWIM.

    They've been knocking around in various crooks and nannies of the Episcopal Ark since 1992, but I recently acquired a lovely old wooden Knife Tray - the sort of thing used by butlers in Victorian times.

    The tools (light Hammer, Chisel, small Hand-Drill, Awl, various Screwdrivers, Pliers etc.), all cleaned and oiled, now sit neatly in their Tray, making for easy access for any little Jobs that might need doing.

    A pleasant little Exercise, and tomorrow (if I live) I'll have a Rummage round the Ark for any suitable additions. I know modern tools are good, but there's something about antique, but still perfectly useable, tools, that's eminently satisfactory. Something to do with the way they fit in the Hand, perhaps?

    Either that, or I'm a Sentimental Old Fool.
    :worried:
  • My proposed title is ‘How can distance learning students with mental health challenges be empowered to become independent learners?’ It is going to be participatory action research where I work with my own students to develop individual learning strategies - it’s a very open project, they will be reviewing and challenging my work as part of the research.
  • HeavenlyannieHeavenlyannie Shipmate
    edited April 2019
    We’re fans of old hand tools here too, BF. When we do Tudor re-enactment my husband works in the coppice with a pole lathe and any work tools he has have to look authentic. So he’s always rooting through antique shops to add to his collection. I wish his were in a lovely neat wooden tray though.
  • Oooh, lovely use of the subjunctive there!
  • Lovely use of a Knife Tray made of Wood, Butlers for the Use of, too!

    Mr eBay is, as always, your friend. I thought I had one such tray to hand on the Ark, but no, it could not be found.

    Mind you, it wasn't particularly cheap. It seems that such things are not particularly common, most presumably having been thrown away in recent times. Antique 'kitchenalia' items command high prices.

    I will NOT, however, part with the various PIE Funnels, mostly Enamelled, that I retrieved from the house of My Old Mum, after she was promoted to glory.....

    O, her Blackberry-And-Apple PIES! They were truly out of this world, and probably illegal as to the amount of Butter used in the Pastry....
  • We’re fans of old hand tools here too, BF. When we do Tudor re-enactment my husband works in the coppice with a pole lathe and any work tools he has have to look authentic. So he’s always rooting through antique shops to add to his collection. I wish his were in a lovely neat wooden tray though.
    I enjoy ancient tools too, but with the non-negotiable exception of wooden handled tools such as screwdrivers and awls. I once had a handle split, and thereby discovered that it had been attached to the business end of the screwdriver by a sharp spike, which then stabbed my palm. I still squirm when I think about it. Never, ever, again.
  • finelinefineline Kerygmania Host, 8th Day Host
    I used one of those top loading twin tubs for a while. And my mother's ancient washing machine, if it's still going, is top loading, with separate spin drier you hold down to stop it wandering. Washing times have changed for environmental reasons - to save water, work at lower temperatures and be gentler on clothes, but every time I buy a new machine the wash times are longer.

    Opposite for me, with wash times. The quick wash on my current machine is only 20 mins for a 40C wash and 800 spin. Shorter if the temperature is lower. But it is a much longer wash if I want to wash at 60C - though I can stop the wash early and switch to a shorter one.

  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    I wonder if the shorter washing time over here is because our hot-water boilers are always on, so there's no need to wait for water to heat up? I do my laundry on the "warm" setting, and the water is immediately warm on one side of the incoming stream.

    We've got a pot-luck party this evening to say farewell to a couple from the congregation who are moving to Nova Scotia, so I must beetle off and make a paella. I've got everything chopped and ready to go, so it'll just be a case of part-cooking the sausages, taking them out and adding everything else then putting them back.
    I’ve just received an email inviting me to interview for a doctorate in education!
    Congratulations, Heavenlyannie, and good luck! :smiley:
  • MrsBeakyMrsBeaky Shipmate
    I have just returned from helping daughter number two and family unpack from moving back here after 10 years in Kent. We had her two little girls to stay for three days whilst they packed up so I am now somewhat knackered.......
    We also have to get up in the middle of the night to get to Cornwall in time for the early plane tomorrow morning to go to the Isles of Scilly.
    But it will be well worth it- It is so lovely there
    We arrive home late on Maunday Thursday and then all the family arrive for Easter- including dear Little Beaky.
    A busy but happy time for the Beakys!
  • finelinefineline Kerygmania Host, 8th Day Host
    Don't know about the boiler thing. My gas boiler is always on, and if I turn on the hot water tap, it takes a few seconds only for the water to run hot. But I would imagine washing machines use the cold water supply and heat it themselves, since each wash is at a specific temperature.
  • How does a piglet beetle?
  • congratulations @Heavenlyannie
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    Fredegund wrote: »
    How does a piglet beetle?
    Not as quickly as I might have done once!

    It was a very nice evening, with plenty of wine, good food and good company.

    The paella seemed to go down well - we brought about a quarter of it home, but there was a lot of food. It occurred to me to wonder - I don't think I've ever been to a pot-luck that didn't include meatballs in some form or another. Not that I have anything against them (tbh I could take them or leave them) but they do seem to be an essential element. Maybe some of our Canadian or American chums can enlighten me.
  • SarasaSarasa Shipmate
    Congratulation @Heavenlyannie . That should keep you out of mischief for a while, and a very interesting topic. I do wish I'd done my masters with the OU when I had the chance. I was all set up to go when work got busy and I thought I couldn't manage both. Now the fees are so high and I no longer work it's not something I can justify.
    My dad came from a long line of master carpenters and when my granddad died we had a whole workshop of moulding planes etc to dispose of. Some went to friends, my dad took some but I don't know where the rest ended up.
    We're off this afternoon for a long weekend with a bunch of Quaker friends. We only really see each other once a year so lots of catching up, walks, daft games and wine. I've made some vegan brownies that from the crumbs that were left after I'd put them in the tin taste rather good. Grab one before they all go.
  • Piglet wrote: »
    I wonder if the shorter washing time over here is because our hot-water boilers are always on, so there's no need to wait for water to heat up?
    Most - if not all - British washing machines are now connected only to the cold water supply and heat the water themselves. Ours certainly takes a bit longer in winter, when the cold water coming through the pipe is colder! (Conversely, the hot water tap in our kitchen always takes a long time for the hot water to come through as the tank's in the attic. So I tend to save washing-up rather than wasting hot water on just a mug or two).

  • Thanks for the encouragement, I’m slightly nervous about the interview (I’ve insisted my husband be home in case I have some kind of tech failure!) but I know my faculty supports me and the research fits in with the university’s current plans. I’m also lucky in that it will be funded as part of my work.
    A day of tutorial planning and writing, ready for end of module assignments. I’m writing an overview of a module on death, dying and bereavement, which is my favourite module, with a focus on the concept of ‘a good death’. But first a trip to Waitrose as we are out of fruit.
  • Scrap that, the work app I downloaded yesterday has ‘updated’ my Office app and removed my Word and PowerPoint! So it looks like I have the day off til my other half finishes fixing it this evening.
    By day off I mean housework, obviously.
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