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Coalmen/coal yards

My coalman has a slightly smaller lorry and no fairisle pullover but otherwise similar in appearance. He will be here Friday.
 
I don't have a lorry but I do have a fairisles jumper. It was knitted by my mother over 60 years ago and I have seldom worn it as the long sleeves are a wee bit short and I live in a pretty temperate climate. I can't bring myself to part with it but fear the worse for it when I depart etc.
Cheers Tim
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Liked the fire Lyn when it really got going. But can do without the lighting, smoking, drawing and emptying of ashes bit! Used to love looking into a glowing fire and making up stories and pictures in my head. Viv.
 
Funny to think that lots of people had the coal store in the house. Our first council house had one in the Kitchen
 
Vivienne14 said:
Liked the fire Lyn when it really got going. But can do without the lighting, smoking, drawing and emptying of ashes bit! Used to love looking into a glowing fire and making up stories and pictures in my head. Viv.
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funnily enough viv those chores never bothered me back then and would happily do it now as i did when i lived in the north of scotland during the 80s used to cook the trout/salmon we caught in the ash pan ( wrapped in foil of course with bit of seasoning :)) .. it was just part of life when we were kids and we thought nothing of it ... the rewards of having baked spuds cooked in the ash pan was well worth it (no foil just chuck em in)...different taste altogether and lovely and crispy on the outside.. oh and must not forget making toast either...happy days :):):)
 
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Ah, Frothy, have set the newspaper on fire occasionally when it got too hot as well! :-)

Had a minor chimney fire as well on one occasion. Wouldn't miss the huge bills for heating oil we get here either!

Maurice
 
Chimney fires, were at one time, the 'bread and butter' of fire brigades. They can be very dangerous if your flues are old and if you have a thatched roof. Once a fire is into thatch it is very difficult to deal with, after all it is designed to keep water out so spraying with water is only a part of things to be done. The main thing is to make a break ahead of the fire and pull the thatch apart. Sometimes that can be extremely difficult if wire netting had been used in the construction of the roof.
As for the 'chores' of cleaning out the grate and lighting the fire, well, ten minutes at the most is all it takes. The hardest part is not the work, it is for many, the getting up and down bit!
I keep to open fires for many reasons the main being is that central heating does not seem to warm the structure like an open fire - just the air in it and in my home the fire downstairs warms the upstairs sufficient enough as we do not like hot bedrooms. The first thing we do in a hotel, on the few occasions we have been away from home, is open the windows;). With open fires there is no need for humidifiers and it allows us to burn our correspondence and similar items plus some rubbish. Another good reason is this: it is a threefold warming. One collection fallen tree boughs or trees cut down in gardens, sawing them up (admittedly the easy way with chain saw or electric saw) and finally appreciating the warmth when being burned. :D
 
funny little story here about our coal man mr simkiss....he had to come down our entry to drop the coal in the back cellar...any how mom gave him the money and he needed to give her some change and on looking in his pocket said to our mom im sure i had a five pound note it was then panic set in as he started to rummage in all the pockets to no avail..he then asked our mom if he could go in the bathroom to check if it had falling in the lining...it really was so funny to watch...we had a long kitchen and by the time he got to the bathroom his trousers were virtually round his ankles lol....no fiver was found and he was not very happy...so out the kitchen door he went just as as dad was walking in..whats up mr simkiss you dont look very happy said dad..im not happy george ive lost a fiver..sorry to hear that said our dad...as soon as mr simkiss had gone dad pulled out a fiver gave it to our mom and said here you go bab go and get some shopping in...dad found the fiver in the entry:D:D:D

lyn
 
We had coal fires when I lived in Dibble Road and it was lovely to come home from school on a autumn day like today and get warm in front of it. Nan used to bank up the fire after I had gone to school, but it was still warm for me.

It was especially useful during the 3 day week when we were having power cuts, all the lights and TV would go off, but we had the coal fire, gas cooker and 2 really pretty reproduction Victorian paraffin lamps which gave a cosy light.

I remember occasionally watching dad lighting the fire, firelighters and screwed up pieces of the Evening Mail on the fire, then lighting it with the box of matches always on the mantelpiece, usually used to light the fire and his Park Drive cigarettes, mom smoked Embassy and collected the coupons, if the fire wouldn't start he would draw it with a piece of the (then) broadsheet Evening Mail until just before it caught fire, throwing it quickly on the fire. I always loved to watch him do that, but strangely, though we must have had a coalman, I can't remember him delivering, I can remember when we had the bathroom built on, dad built a brand new coal bunker and I spent hours playing on it or quietly reading on it.

Loved nan making toast in front of it and just lying in front of the fire, making up stories.
 
Lovely memories brummiegirl. We had coal fires for a very long time. Lighting the coal fire paper was sometimes tricky in our house as we didn't usually buy matches. So we would screw up a piece of newspaper into a 'wand', go to the kitchen and set it alight on the electric hob, then dash to the living room with the lighted wand.

Sometimes bits of burning paper would drop off before reaching the coal fire, these had to be quickly stamped out on the carpet before setting that alight too ! What a performance, all for the sake of not having matches in the house.

So it was with great relief when we had a gas fire installed. Viv.
 
I remember well the coal man making deliveries to our house in Acocks green, it was put in the coal house which was inside the house in the kitchen under the stairs. Lester Brothers was the company in Lincoln road Acocks Green, me and my mates used to get a ride on the back of the lorry holding onto the front board, imagine doing that today, the health and safety brigade would have something to say about that. Happy days.
 
I don't know how many coal yards the Lester company had, but their lorries were to be seen in the Solihull district. The livery was dark blue I believe or maybe black?
How do I remember them, especially as they did not deliver to my home.
They had a slogan on the roof of their lorry cab which stated "HERE COMES LESTERS". I recall, a very long time ago, a master, who taught English, telling us that the signage was incorrect. It should read 'here come Lesters'. This was a good way of emphasising a grammatical point because many of looked out for these coal lorries - and strangely it is something still firmly fixed in my mind. :D
 
Any one know of the local Coal man who deleverd to sherbourne rd in mid late 50s / 60s he used to knock about with Victor and Roger southall
 
Unfortunately our neighbour has a multi fuel burner, leaving our windows open or window vents is a no no as we have a prevailing South westerly wind that blows directly from his flue into our house. Roll on the day when the environmentalists get their wish and get coal and wood burners banned.
 
I remember the coal man 100 cwt, on his back all the way down the garden to the coal hole as we called it and had to repeat it a few more times
 
Jeannie said:
I remember the coal man 100 cwt, on his back all the way down the garden to the coal hole as we called it and had to repeat it a few more times
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I remember, in the 40s, domestic coal was really poor stuff, my Dad reckoned it was more slate than anything else. Every so often there would be an explosion in the fire and fragments would whiz across the front room. We kids thought it was great but looking back, it was downright dangerous.
 
I believe the better qualities of coal were desperately needed b our industries at that time.
Then there was the infamous 'nutty slack'.:eek:
 
Jeannie
I think your coalman might have had some difficulty with 100cwt on his back (1 cwt is 112 pounds weight). I think you meant 1 cwt
 
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Rogers the coal man
was my grandad. I remember him covered in coal dust every night and had to be scrubbed in the bath. I remember the coal yard and the big scales and he used to swing the coal sacks on his back. He was a hard worker. He started to sell bundles of wood as a youngster and then owned his own coal yard. Fond memories of him. Coal yard was in Edward Road, Balsall Heath.
 
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