GROWING UP WITH GRANDMA

PAT WHALLEY

Grandma’s house was typical of most post war homes in northern England. The house had three bedrooms upstairs, a front parlour, the living room and a back kitchen. Down the yard was a flush toilet and next to this was the coal shed.

The house only had one kitchen so I don’t know why it was referred to as the “back” kitchen, but it was described as such in most of my friends’ homes too. The front parlour was never used as it was too cold to sit in. It was nicely furnished and was always kept clean, ready for guests, but I never remember anyone ever using the room. Visitors were always welcomed into warmth of the living room.

There was a big table against the back wall of the living room and this was grandma’s favourite place to work. The big table was always covered in a dark red velvet cloth, but on this cloth would be a smaller cloth to keep the big one clean. One corner of the table was where I sat with my crayons as I coloured in pictures in the newpaper, while gran worked. Bread was kneaded here, then set by the fire to rise. Vegetables were peeled and chopped on a big wooden board on the table and grandma’s sewing machine went on there when she needed to use it. As my cousins were born, the table was also used to change diapers on.

A big shiny sideboard or dresser, complete with mirror, was on another wall. This sideboard had the usual big drawers, where grandma kept linens, but it also had two little secret drawers, which could only be opened with a hidden catch. These were always a fascination to me but, nothing secret was kept in them, it was very disappointing, so this is where I kept my crayons.

On top of the sideboard was grandma’s collection of “artwork”. There were two large statues, one at each end, one was a little boy carrying, on his back, a little girl who had lost her shoe. However, she had also lost her foot in some unknown mishap. The offending foot was kept on display, but never mended. The other statue was a little girl carrying a goose. In the middle was a head and shoulders of a little boy with curls. He was always referred to as Our Benny, I didn’t know why and never thought to ask. Whenever various aunties and uncles arrived, they would pat Benny;s head and ask him how he was. Strange but just part of our life..

There were two big easy chairs in front of the fire. I don’t know why but Lancashire people, well most of the ones I knew, used to store old newspapers under the chair cushions. Eventually the seat would be too high to sit on and there would be a clear out. The newspapers would then be taken to the chip shop, where the owner would use them to wrap chips and fish in, to keep them warm on the way home. Doesn’t seem very sanitary but that was then, when nobody worried about germs.
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The dominating feature of the living room was the big, black leaded fireplace..
The fire was kept in day and night, summer and winter, as this is where grandma did all her cooking and the only source of hot water was the boiler, behind the fireplace.

Surrounding the huge fireplace was the Prom Railings. This device had been made by one of grandma’s sons, in the foundry, where he worked. It consisted of three levels of horizontal brass tubes, connected with black iron knobs. The whole thing was about eight feet long with sides of approximately two and a half feet.

The English seaside towns had promenades, which were wide sidewalks, along the ocean front. Separating the sidewalk from the beach were railings. Grandma’s prom rails were so named after the ones at the seaside.

The railings were used to dry damp dish towels and anything else that needed to be “aired”, however the most often things seen draped over the prom rails were my uncles backsides. My grandma’s adult sons lived nearby and they would quite often drop by for a cup of tea and a snack, their favourite place to sit was on the top railing with their feet on the bottom one. It was the warmest place in the house and much appreciated on a cold day. The weight of their rear ends put a permanent bend in the top rails.

The best time of day was just before bed when gran and I would eat our fire browned toast and drink our coco with our feet propped up on the prom rails. A nice, warm, safe place to sit before bedtime, just gran and me, together.