mw0njm.
A Brummie Dude
yes it is you dont just throw the coal on you place it evenly
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Keeping Warm
- Thread starter mbenne
- Start date
RRJ
Brummie Boomer
That certainly was posh!!i remember us being posh when we moved to aston we had a electric fire like that below
View attachment 166635
We had the single bar version with no coal/log effect. Holding a slice of bread against the guard with a fork to make toast was always a dodgy performance. Apart from the risk of getting electrocuted you had to keep swapping hands to avoid getting burnt!!
Blimey, some posh people on here - bathroom? No, tin bath in the kitchen. Electricity? No, gas only. Running hot water? No, kettle or big saucepan on the kitchen stove. Living room? No - everything happened in the kitchen ; "The Front" was strictly special occasions only. Heating? Coal fire/hob/oven in the kitchen, nothing anywhere else. When we moved to a council flat in Alum Rock it was like moving to a different planet - electricity, a bathroom - Brave New World!!
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Richard Dye
master brummie
All we had was a round copper looking dish with a single wound could in the middle. The dish reflected the heat so they say! The biggest problem was the heating coil kept braking and we made is shorter an$ shorter and had less heat. And no we could or would not afford to buy a new one!
RRJ
Brummie Boomer
When my mothers marriage broke up in 1963 she fled the situation with us four kids in what we stood in,
I was the oldest at 7yrs. Throwing herself at the mercy of B,ham council we were housed in what I remember as a church building filled with bunk beds which in reality was just somewhere to sleep at night.
After a few weeks we were given the keys to 14 Allesley st Aston, we moved in with no furniture. The first few days sat on tea chests and sleeping on the floor until the Salvation Army provided us with some old metal frame beds, settee, table and chairs. ( they still get regular donations from us 'kids' today)
Mom got family allowance of £20 a week at the time to keep the five of us. Almost inevitably utility bills were not paid.
I remember at Allesley st and when we moved to Bracebridge St a year later until 1968 the electricity constantly being cut off through unpaid bills,( I'm not sure about gas but probably) Candles were novelty to us kids at the start but that soon wears off.
devonjim
master brummie
We had prepayment meters, one cold winter, could have been '63, the electricity meter became full so mom couldn't get any more coins into the slot, shillings I remember, it didn't respond to being tapped (bashed). So, my youngest brother, always mechanically very able, opened up the coin box, stacked the coins neatly within the box to create more space so more power could be bought. Mom gave a good act of sharing the meter man's surprise of how the coins had stacked so precisely.