Web Page 2004

29th November 2013

Pictures: Practical Householder

Lower Picture: Berry’s Magicoal Electric Fire

New school pal today, welcome to Bob Barlow.


Board it in!

Back in the early 1960’s DIY was becoming very popular and in some cases essential if your father wished to ‘modernise’ your home. TV DIY programmes featuring the infamous Barry Bucknell and the appearance of magazines such as Practical Householder all helped to add fuel to the desire to make things look up to date.

This period of time should really be called the boarding in period because everywhere men, and some women, were busy carrying around sheets of plywood or hardboard to board something in.

The first thing normally tackled were the doors, normally those downstairs. The original, heavy four panelled doors were declared old fashioned and so the covering of these doors seemed inevitable. After careful measurements had been taken, the board was cut and tacked onto the pre-marked door to make sure it was central. This is where Mum and the kids came in as they had to hold the door in position for Dad whilst he fixed it into position. But this was not the end of it there was the other side to treat in this manner and then the tricky bit began. When panelling in such a door it was not possible to cover the entire door because if that was done, the door would no longer fit within the existing door frame and so would not close unless the door was re-hung, and that was too much like hard work especially for my father.  The solution was simple the panel was cut smaller than the door and then fixed so that a three inch gap was left around the sides. Now the tricky bit began, the edges had to have beading fixed all round the panel to finish it off and this meant four mitre joints per panel and I seem to remember to get these joints a tight fit with the rebates the right way round always seemed to cause my father much sweat and head scratching. But why was it done? All this in the name of modernism; and to give a nice flat surface to paint, the bye product of which was a nice flush door panel with dribbles of paint somewhere on the surface if you were not careful. After the flushing of the doors we always hoped that dad had not forgotten to modify the door catch and handles!

But it was not just door that faced the boarding in process fireplaces were also treated in this way. With the increase in the cost of coal (did your folks always buy their coal at summer prices ? Mine did! It meant that all summer long there was a great pile of coal sat in the coal bunker outside the back door) the general public were persuaded by the electrical retailers, manufactures and the SEB that electric fire were the clean modern way to go. No one mentioned the higher cost and the social loss that followed. I refer to the evenings sitting around the coal fire making toast and crumpets; toast over an electric fire did not taste the same. But the modern family were convinced this was the way to go so out came the fireplaces, the mantelpieces and over mantles along with the hearth and grate and the resulting hole was then framed out and boarded over with a small piece of skirting board added to the bottom. Unfortunately most dads, mine included could not plaster so having filled the gap around the edge of the boarding with polyfilla the board was sealed with a coat of wallpaper paste, allowed to dry and then when the room was decorated this area was papered over, boarding and all, in the hopes that no one could see the join. Then a Berry’s Magicoal electric fire was placed in front of the boarded out piece so that it looked like we had a fireplace again!!

The biggest benefit was obviously that there was no longer a draft coming down the chimney into the room. The biggest drawback was if a bird fell down the chimney. In that case all the boarding had to be removed and the corpse removed, can you imagine the terrible smell that would eventually occur if the body were left there? It would even worse if the bird was still alive and it was left in the struggling to get out!

 So there we were with a modernised living room, all dad had to do now was to make and fit the ribbed hardboard pelmets! 

Keep in touch

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com

Pj.keat@ntlworld.co.uk

You Write:

Anida Writes:

Going back a couple of weeks I had a chat to Mum about Charlotte Street and I also have a tape of my Grandmother talking about her childhood and Charlotte Street also features in her memories.

My Grandmother was born in 1896 and therefore her earliest memories would be from around the turn of the 20th century.  They lived just off Lake Road, just a short walk away. her mother would often take her to Charlotte Street market in the evening when, in the winter, the stalls would be lit with flares.  She particularly remembered Christmas they would go to the market late on Christmas eve, to buy a piece of meat cheaply for the next day.  The atmosphere was very exciting to a small child who was anticipating something special from Father Christmas, and doubtless would provide the oranges and walnuts to be found in the Christmas stocking..

This tradition of going in the evening carried on as my mother was also taken there in the dark, after tea her mother would say she was going to the market and Mum would jump at the chance to go with her.  She remembers a shop that sold only eggs and day old chicks which she loved to look at and hold if they would let her.  Part of the reason for going in the evening was to save time the following day, shopping for dinner (always at 12.00) was a daily chore and if you could get some of it done the day before it allowed more time in the morning. 

I also remember going to Charlotte Street as a small child and taken as a treat to the British Home Stores Restaurant for lunch, where they had red leatherette banquette type seating (strange what you remember)..  The hustle and bustle of the market was fascinating to children and adults alike.  I well remember the man who sold the china and displayed it along his arms, "I am not going to charge you £5, not £2.00 the lot for a £1", with lots of cheeky banter in between.

Food was plain, wholesome and above all fresh and free from all the nasty substances we eat with our meat and veg today. What a long way we have come from this friendly busy market to sprawling supermarkets with too much choice.

News and Views:

Joan Regan has died aged 85. She was a leading light of the 1950s variety performance circuit whose popular singing style drew on the sunny delivery of her American contemporaries and belied her Essex roots .

On this day 27th November 1960-1965

On 29/11/1960 the number one single was It's Now Or Never - Elvis Presley and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Labour Party Political Broadcast (all channels) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 29/11/1961 the number one single was Little Sister/His Latest Flame - Elvis Presley and the number one album was Ipswich Town. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25.The big news story of the day was Sunday Night at the London Palladium (ATV)".

On 29/11/1962 the number one single was Lovesick Blues - Frank Ifield and the number one album was Out of the Shadows - Shadows. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 29/11/1963 the number one single was She Loves You - The Beatles and the number one album was Please Please Me - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was 119 killed in Montreal jet crash.

On 29/11/1964 the number one single was Baby Love - Supremes and the number one album was A Hard Day's Night - Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 29/11/1965 the number one single was The Carnival is Over - Seekers and the number one album was The Sound of Music Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news of the day Mrs Mary Whitehouse formed the National Viewers Association