Page 17 - COBH EDITION 3rd MAY DIGITAL VERSION

It was a challenge going out there on a cold, wet, windy, winters night and the
howling gale coming under the door would guarantee that your visit would be a
short one. There was no triple-ply soft tissue paper either, but we won’t go there.

For a child, it was no fun going to the loo in the dark, especially if there was any
mention of ghosts and things that go bump in the night. I’m sure my mother often
had to stand guard at the top of the steps until I was ready to come back indoors.

There was a scullery, just outside the back door, which was basically a small porch
that was used as a kind of cold storage area. There was a small press on the wall
that was covered in wire mesh and that’s where the milk and butter were kept be-
cause there was no fridge either.

Brown bread was always being made in the kitchen and other loaves were delivered
by the breadman who made his rounds on a horse and carriage from O’Reilly’s bak-
ery. Bottled milk was delivered every morning and it had to be brought in straight
away before the birds pecked through the foil top to get at the cream. The milkman
was a useful alarm clock too because you couldn’t miss the sound of the bottles
banging off each other as he went from door to door.
There was no such thing as hot running water, only a cold tap that sat over a large
white ceramic sink that weighed a ton. If you wanted a cup of tea you had to boil a
kettle on the range. The range was constantly on the go and was rarely allowed to
go out. It would be banked down with slack at night so it would be ready for action
again first thing in the morning.
Slack was like coal dust with little scraps of coal in it and that went on top of the fire
to form a kind of crust that would keep the fire ticking over for the night as long as
the door was closed on the range so the air couldn’t get at it.

Before central heating came into fashion, the fire was the main source of heat so
the only part of the house that was warm in the winter, was the room with the fire in
it. If we were sick in the winter time, my mother would light the fire in the bedroom
and that was a real treat. I can’t imagine the parents of today carrying a bucket of
coal upstairs somehow.

It all sounds strange now, but it doesn’t seem that long ago either. Or maybe I’m
just pushing on.

Read more from Trevor on his blog at www.trevorlaffan.com
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COBH TIDTY TOWNS NOTICE

A reminder to election candidates that Cobh has a poster free
zone from the Tay Road into Cobh as in previous elections .

Best of luck to all in your campaigns over the next month and
thanks to all those who are respecting the zone