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NATIONAL TRUST BACK TO BACKS AND MEMORIES OF OUR BACK TO BACKS

We only paid 12/6 in the 1950's. 2 rooms (no kitchen, cooker in the living room) and an attic. This was Vicarage Rd Aston. Eric
The house I am living in now was divided before or during the war. It was sub let and several people over the years came and said they lived in our bedroom. There were no locks on the doors and the landlady was a tea leaf, my ex colleague then and her young fiancé rented our bedroom as a bedsit and they had to use a baby belling on the landing to cook on. There was an outside loo and a well in the garden and this couple told me they went to the slipper baths. I don't know how much they paid.
 
The house I am living in now was divided before or during the war. It was sub let and several people over the years came and said they lived in our bedroom. There were no locks on the doors and the landlady was a tea leaf, my ex colleague then and her young fiancé rented our bedroom as a bedsit and they had to use a baby belling on the landing to cook on. There was an outside loo and a well in the garden and this couple told me they went to the slipper baths. I don't know how much they paid.
It isn't a back to back but it is very old. 1900. When you look back to what a lot of people had to live like then. And I see people living worse now.
 
When the National Trust first opened those houses they invited an old lady, a former resident, to have a look and she was disgusted at how their "experts" had perceived living conditions in those times pre WW2.
There were no fancy lace curtains, pretty wallpaper, all nicely plastered walls etc she said, just cold, damp walls, rotting window frames and draughty rooms. Her and her siblings always hungry with runny noses from a cold that went on for weeks. Seeing their neighbour have debt collectors take everything except one bed and one chair because they were behind with the rent.

I remember a big search they made for a correct chimney pot of all things whilst someone was busy inside making it look pretty.
I realise health and safety are involved but as someone who worked in TV scenery I had to age and weather sets accordingly. They should therefore have engaged a scenic painter to replicate the peeling paint and wallpaper, stained and damp walls and ceilings, broken glass in some windows with paper stuck over it. A Typical NT restoration unfortunately.
 
When the National Trust first opened those houses they invited an old lady, a former resident, to have a look and she was disgusted at how their "experts" had perceived living conditions in those times pre WW2.
There were no fancy lace curtains, pretty wallpaper, all nicely plastered walls etc she said, just cold, damp walls, rotting window frames and draughty rooms. Her and her siblings always hungry with runny noses from a cold that went on for weeks. Seeing their neighbour have debt collectors take everything except one bed and one chair because they were behind with the rent.

I remember a big search they made for a correct chimney pot of all things whilst someone was busy inside making it look pretty.
I realise health and safety are involved but as someone who worked in TV scenery I had to age and weather sets accordingly. They should therefore have engaged a scenic painter to replicate the peeling paint and wallpaper, stained and damp walls and ceilings, broken glass in some windows with paper stuck over it. A Typical NT restoration unfortunately.
Made me think of ‘distempered walls’ but I am not sure what distemper actually consisted of?
 
I always thought distemper contained lime which would have had some antibacterial properties. If so, then that might have been an advantage in those conditions
 
It’s a very old type of paint that’s based on glue as its binder. It more resilient than whitewash but can still be marked and rubs off a little bit.

Emulsion paints that have oil as a binder superseded distempers.
In my recollection it was often to be found underneath wallpaper, usually green and had a very strong smell.
 
I always thought distemper contained lime which would have had some antibacterial properties. If so, then that might have been an advantage in those conditions
It was generally based on whiting (Calcium Carbonate) with a small amount of pigment. It was a breathable coating so ideal for damp houses. Distemper was either white, light blue or buff. I know Reckitts blue was used to give the blue hue, but don’t know what was used to give the buff colour. It had more or less gone out of fashion before I started work, but we were taught a little about it at college.

I do have a very old decorators handbook that has all of the recipes. I have to dig it out sometime.
 
In my recollection it was often to be found underneath wallpaper, usually green and had a very strong smell.
The smell was most likely the glue size used either to make the distemper or used on the walls prior to wallpapering over the distemper.

Glue size was made from boiled up bones. We used to say it was made from boiled up horses. The smell when you made it up was horrendous.
 
Generally, distemper was used as it was a cheap solution for wall coverings as it had animal based glue in its make up . It was not that durable and marked / flaked easily, but was seen by most local authorities as a cheap, and available supply of wall paint to brighten the back to back and terraced type council housing stock at those times.
I only know this as a building design course I attended many years ago had a ex council housing manager on and distemper and it use came up in a discussion.
 
my first dog bought from pimms in the bham market had distemper and whent mad she had to be out to sleep:sob:

Distemper paintor is an ancient type of paint that can be traced back to the earliest eras of human history. It is an early form of whitewash made of water, chalk, and pigment, and it is often bound with an animal-based glue-like egg or the adhesive qualities of casein, a resin that comes from solidified milk.
Historically, distemper has been a popular interior paint for homes. In fact, it has been used since antiquity for painting walls and other types of house decoration. It is easily marked, but cannot get wet. Because it's not waterproof, it has been used almost exclusively for interior surfaces.
 
When I first started work in 1961 the painters had been using Walpamur water paint that came in a square cardboard box, it's texture was like butter, it had to be beaten in a tub and other things added to it before it could be used and applied with a whallop brush! Emulsion paint had only just arrived on the market for the first time so was ready to use straight out of the tin ( plastic containers came later on)
 
When I first started work in 1961 the painters had been using Walpamur water paint that came in a square cardboard box, it's texture was like butter, it had to be beaten in a tub and other things added to it before it could be used and applied with a whallop brush! Emulsion paint had only just arrived on the market for the first time so was ready to use straight out of the tin ( plastic containers came later on)
You may also recall Nine Elms Ceilingite another distemper that had to be prepared prior to application. It had a nice small of almonds

Im19490422ABN-Farmiloe.jpg
 
dad bought a white oblong block that looked like chalk he would break it up in a bucket add water and keep stiring and adding the bits of block untill it was thick enough to slosh on the walls
1665478801003.png
 
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