Coalmen used to come and deliver sacks of coal in the sack erm, they’d come and, and the outhouse is still there, the coalhouse. ‘cause a lot
of the houses, have probably built extensions and that, but in, in mum’s house it hasn’t. The only th, as I say, the only change is we’ve got a toilet upstairs in the bathroom, but the outside toilet’s still there and the, w, we still call it the coal shed but it’s sort of, just stores stuff, but, erm the coal shed.
I remember as well, erm, again dad coming from, coming from the West Indies, and his dad had land and they used to erm keep animals, so I don’t know whether that was part of it, but I remember at Christmas, we used to erm, have a, a live turkey in the coal shed [Laughing] and at Christmas erm it, he killed the turkey for Christmas dinner. Erm, I’ve just remembered that, yeah. I remember we used to have a [Laughs] turkey, trotting around. I don’t know what erm, I remember it once. I don’t know whether it was like every year or what have you, but I do remember one time having a turkey! [Laughs] That was [Laughs] running around one day and no more the next! [Laughs]
Mr and Mrs Stanley, they were very elderly and they couldn’t get out and they loved their fish and chips so I used to go and run errands for them. And on a Friday they’d give me the money and I’d go and get fish and chips and scratchings in the newspaper, and … when I c, came back, they’d give me thruppence for going. And I used to think, ‘Well great!’ Well, when my father found out, he went absolutely mad. He marched me round, I remember, he marched me round and he said, ‘Do not give Kathleen any money for running errands.’ And they said, ‘Yes, but we’re really appreciative!’ And he said, ‘No. She does it because it’s the right thing to do and she wants to do it.’ And they said, ‘No, but we must pay her.’ And he said [Chuckles], ‘If you give her any more money she’s not coming round to do any more errands for you again.’
