The Tin Bath

The Tin Bath

This was a similar bath and range to the ones that we had.

It was way to cold to take a bath outside here in the UK but the tin bath was hung on the wall outside until we used it on Sunday night when Dad would take it off the wall and blow the spiders out and bring it inside and place it by the black range stove that we had.

Just the way our was hung outside the house.

We only had a cold water tap inside and all the hot water had to be heated in a gas boiler that Mother used for her washing on Monday mornings. I think someone must have come up with the idea of the cleanest going first so that the next cleanest could use the water after the cleanest if you get my drift.

There were five of us and I was only five years of age I think, I was always the last probably because I was the grubbiest kid you ever saw. My parents were caretakers of a church and Sunday evenings people would be knocking on the door for the keys or different chores that caretakers had to do. When that door opened boy did it blow a draft, but I soon got warm again by the fire that sparked in the grate as the logs flamed and eventually glowed red in the old black range that Mother still black leaded until it shone like black glass. Wow did she work hard.

As a child I found it quite luxurious having the bath all to myself on a winters evening it felt so good feeling safe and loved, the radio would be tuned to Radio Luxembourg with all our favourite shows on, I could listen to ''Dan Dare pilot of the future'' whist playing with my submarine in the bath o what sheer bliss. Life, and time has moved on and I am the last one of that loving memory. I thank God for seeing us through such hard times that we had just after the war and I thank him so much for those wonderful memories of times long gone.

Mum, Dad my two sisters and me bemused with the camera.