Very OT: Question for the Brits amoungst us

Same here. There's an obsession with hygiene.

Mary

Hurrah!

It's not just city folk though.

Mary

Mary

Bagwash was when you would take bulk washing (bed sheets, towels etc.) to the laundry and leave them there for the staff to wash them, dry them and just shove them in a bag (hence "bagwash"). No pressing or ironing - that you did at home if you wanted.

It was needed by people who had no facilities at home to do their own bulk washing.

There are several suppliers you can get it from Katherine.I just Googled for "soapstone supply" and it came up with about a dozen, some of whom are in the UK.

It is something I wouldn't have in the house because of the way it is mined. See:

I'd agree with you. What we have is mined in Cornwall and not in that way.

It's disturbing to know the origins of much of what we use every day without thinking of it.

Mary

Ours was collected - we've no idea where the laundry was - and items were properly folded, not just shoved into a bag. Perhaps ours was a superior service :-) they had very good business from our very poor streets.

Mary

That's all very interesting, where did you find it?

Ceramic for sinks, washbasins, bath(tub)s, lavatory pans and their cisterns was definitely used in Britain many years earlier than 1939. I've only seen metal (stainless steel) lavatory pans used for unattended public facilities. Nowadays plastic of various kinds is used for all applications but I prefer ceramic - except for kitchen sink and bath.

As a child I went to the public warm bath ones a week, the bath(tubs) were huge and ceramic. We always had to share with a friend and one very hot summer when there was a drought we were only allowed 5" of water. That must have been a lot because of the size of the baths.

The taps (faucets) were opened and shut by special keys, held by an attendant, so that she could control the amount of water. We were also limited to the length of time we could stay in but I can't remember how long it was. Linen towels were provided but not soap - soap was rationed I think.

The reason we couldn't have a ceramic bath in our house is that they're far too heavy for most 'modern' (i.e. 1937 in our case) houses. They're also frightfully expensive to buy. You might be interested in:

Bernadette wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@nomail.net:

lee

Katherine wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@u2g2000hsc.googlegroups.com:

exactly. which is why i use bleach & vinegar. bacteria can't build a resistance to those. lee

"Mary Fisher" wrote in news:4686201a $0$22491$ snipped-for-privacy@master.news.zetnet.net:

not in my house ;) i do worry a tiny bit that there may be traces of lead paint in the garden (flower) nearest the house, where the child is digging a pond... but he's not the sort that eats dirt much, so i don't worry excessively. lee

One of my sisters lives in her grandmother-in-law's house, and the tub there is ceramic over cast iron, and she says that that, plus the lack of insulation (the house is easily 100 yrs old), she has to fill the tub with REALLY hot water and wait to get in, because the tub takes so long to warm up.

Well, perhaps we mean different things by cheap mass housing. I lived first in the Jennyfield development on the edge of town off the Skipton Rd., and then on Westville Oval just off the A61 (toward Killinghall). I hope I haven't offended by my description!

Oh, I'm sure it was more recent; the houses were fairly new when I lived in them in the mid-1980s. The landlord catered to the U.S. population there and had central heating (radiators) installed in place of the gas fires in the living rooms. It was interesting to look around the neighborhood when it snowed to see who had central heating and who didn't (the snow would melt away from windows that had gas or electric fires in them, and if it melted away from all the windows you figured those houses had central). The houses weren't insulated to the degree that U.S. houses of the same type and vintage would have been, because central heating wasn't taken for granted at that time & place.

I see, a laundry service. Thanks for the enlightenment.

Good point, now that I think of it I'm city-bred myself (small midwestern college towns) but spent my childhood visiting farming grandparents, camping, and otherwise playing outdoors. Sweet clover (oxalis) is yummy, isn't it?

Thank you for this trip down memory lane! I google-mapped Harrogate and am gazing on both Westville Oval and Crowberry Drive this very minute. Do you know whether the Greyhound at Killinghall still has that statue in the ladies' room? The nude man with the fig leaf that's obviously moveable and when someone touches it out of curiosity, a bell rings outside in the pub?

Very interesting. We have a rubbermaid container full of the stuff, just sitting there while Keith sticks to wood.

Higs, Katherine

own soapstone. Also, AFAIK, it is only used for carving here.

Higs, Katherine

That's fascinating Mary. I heard recently (from a friend who lives near Bodmin) that it is becoming worthwhile to again start mining various metals in Cornwall.

Apparently the government is also thinking of starting up some of the coalmines that were closed under "Saint" Margaret back in the 80's.

Bernadette.