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Bygone days ....

Last time I went in a Wimpey there were ash trays on the table.
 
Last time I went in a Wimpey there were ash trays on the table.

There is one about 10 miles away from me and yes the last time I went in there they had ash trays those horrible tin things (shudder) that squeak as you move them across the Formica topped table ughhhhh
 
And for those of you watching (snooker) in black and white, the blue is behind the pink.
For years after colour t.v. came out my grandfather used to watch sport on his black and white rented t.v. - he could afford a colour one, but didn't want to pay for colour licence (and he rented as he could call out their repair man, who lived in the next street if he needed him! ). He could identify all the balls on his black and white screen easily - never worked out how he did it!
 
 
Just reading everyone's memories makes me smile, in today's world we would probably be considered really 'poor' the way in which we lived - outside loo, tin bath once a week with water boiled in the old 'copper' and ladled into the bath and topped up after each of us bathed (cleanest and smallest first). But I tell you everyone took pride in their washing blowing on the lines, and whitened doorsteps and window cills. We had very little but what we did gave we treasured and looked after. Phew .... Went on a bit there
 

Was washing whiter then, Its not that long ago, or maybe it is, I used to take great pride and a lot of smugness when putting out my babes nappies on the line, communal gardens, mine were white and the neighbours would rush out and take their grey ones in, then one day one said how did I get them so white so I showed them the bucket I used for boiling them before putting in machine, needless to say after that mine weren't then the only white ones on show
 
Donkey stones.
 
That's right!! My goodness.........
 
Donkey stones.

I may be getting senile but what are Donkey Stones or do you mean the iron rings that used to be in walls or set into some pavements for tying up the horses, god I'm showing my age here Horse Troughs
 

Washing machines weren't in our league ha ha. Not way back then ! Rubbing board - now that was a gadget!!
 
I may be getting senile but what are Donkey Stones or do you mean the iron rings that used to be in walls or set into some pavements for tying up the horses, god I'm showing my age here Horse Troughs
Donkey stones, local to parts of north west England. Chunks of red sandstone where I lived. Mams used them as an abrasive to scrub the front doorstep. Then wipe step with wet cloth. Came up really clean, especially if used Aunt Sally in the water.
 
Communal Laundry had a Hotpoint Westinghouse giant machine that looked like a oil barrel on wheels with a wringer on top 2/- for an hours use, luxury, for those things that needed a good scrub the old washboard was tops, Think my daughter has still got it a bit decrepit but gets those grass stains out of the kiddies socks cose you can't boil them any more, the passing years may dim my sight, my hair went silver now its white lol
 

Now you're talking, that was a big outing going to the 'baths' mum and nan did the washing in the big rooms and we went round to the other side where the public bathhouse was..... Very special treat that, probably only a couple of times a year. Isn't it great reminiscing ... We do forget these days where we first started from.
 
True but when I hear someone saying "Oh for the good old days" or "back in the good old days" I just want to scream back these are the good old days or they will be to the next generation, I may have gotten soft but I don't want to go back to getting up at the crack of dawn in the freezing cold to light a fire or have bleeding chilblains on hands and feet, lumps of newspaper stuffed into shoes to stop the leaks cose dad bless him has worked himself to a standstill and still hasn't the money to get his shoes repaired and the stick on rubber sole he put on fell off on the bus and he was too embarrassed to pick it up, having said that we always had full bellies and a new winter coat and shoes even if he bless him went without. I have as you can guess great admiration for my dad and I still miss his gentle manner and loving hugs.

Mind as things are nothing has changed since I was a kid.
 
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