The Dora Chronicles

My earliest memory is of standing in my cot, I think I would be about three or four and watching my father, brother and sister, gathered around the fire. There was no light on, just the light made by the roaring fire in the big black range. My father was burning my name on to a small stool with a red hot poker that he had heated in the fire. Someone in the place that my father worked (United Turkey Red in Alexandria) had made it for me to sit on.

If I stood on it I could see out of our top storey window across to the tenement across from us and down to the back lane than ran between the two tenements, we called home.

Sometimes a man used to come and sing down the lane between the tenements and people would throw coppers (money) down to him. He had a lovely tenor voice. I also remember there was a man who sharpened knives etc.....he would call out telling people to bring their things for sharpening... and people would take down their knives and scissors and garden tools to be given a nice sharp edge. (A lot of families had allotments.)

One day a week the dustbin men would come and empty the “Midden” dustbins into the back of a wee lorry, with slide-up doors on the sides....the midden was attached to the Wash House, where once a week on your allotted day, one of the women in the close would light a fire under the big copper and do their weekly wash. Usually after the wash was done the hot water would be used for washing the family members. (even if they didn't need it...aye right)...

Another early memory was lying in my cot listening to the snap of a mousetrap as it caught another mouse. There was usually one scrambling about at night. In the morning it would get tossed out the window to be eaten by a cat, of which there were many in the tenements. Or perhaps it was tossed hygienically into the dustbin.

 

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