I used to spend my school holidays in Sheffield from the age of 11.
My maternal grandmother lived there. She was a real character, but in a very different sense to my mother. I say this because I feel that I am becoming a carbon copy of Muti. My Grandma was as thin as a rake......and had about 5 jobs, even though she was past the retirement age.
She cleaned the offices at Bassetts in the evening........It was wonderful that she worked at Bassetts, it meant that she was allowed to buy huge bags of mis-shapes of jelly babies, liquorice allsorts and torpedoes and bring them home with her. I didn't care what shape the allsorts and jelly babies were.......I just gobbled them up.
She cleaned in about three local public houses and she had two very posh ladies that she used to 'do' for.
I didn't go with her in the evening to Bassetts, but I went with her on all her other jobs.
I would empty the ashtrays in the pubs and wash and polish the tables while Gran went round with the Hoover and cleaned the toilets and did various other little jobs........when the work was finished in the pubs it was customary for Gran to have a refreshment.......a glass of beer. Me, I got a lemonade and a bag of crisps......but I always used to be allowed the froth off the glass.
With Gran working in the pubs, it meant that if we called in in the evening I was allowed into the living quarters while gran had a bottle of beer.
My first 'crush' was on a son of one of the Landlords......he was called Roy and he was 14 and I was 12......we used to sit on the sofa watching TV and holding hands.
When the school holidays were over he used to write to me....it was all very innocent stuff......pop music and that sort of stuff. Roy just sort of grew out of me I suppose.
Tuesday and Wednesday were the days at the posh ladies.
They were posh, but they were always very nice to me.......Mrs Taylor had a grown up son who was in the Navy.....he was an officer of some description, there were photographs of him all over the house. He looked very handsome in his uniform.
The house had a huge garden with two lawns out the back.At the very far end of the garden there was a fruit and vegetable patch.
I used to be sent to pick green beans for the lunch, or gooseberries. I think it was just to keep me occupied.
The other lady that Gran used to clean for was called Mrs Barber.....she had been the head teacher of a girls school and she used to give me spellings to do. If I got them all right she would give me sixpence. She would let me help her with the baking too......I was allowed to weigh out ingredients. She used to take me out shopping with her in her little car.......I felt like a little princess. I always wanted to be an only child and in these school holidays I felt like I was one and I revelled in it.
We always came away from Mrs Barbers with fruit from her garden and freshly baked cakes.
Gran lived in a One-up-One Down house.......she didn't have a kitchen......she just had a slopstone at the cellar head.
All of the cooking was done on the big cream enamel range in the living room.
The toilet was up the communal yard and was kept locked........Gran had a window box on her scullery window.
One day I was having an 'all-over' wash and Gran was tending to her window box. She had a variety of geraniums in the window box......it added a bit of colour and stopped people from peering in when you were in just your vest having a wash. I was bent down washing my knees when I heard Gran say 'those effing cats have s**t in my window box again' I could hardly believe my ears. Although my Gran liked to have a bottle of beer, and a bet on the horses, she was a gentile lady......who insisted on manners and speaking properly always wore a hat and gloves when she went out and never went anywhere without a clean hankie. Here she was leading me astray.
My maternal grandmother lived there. She was a real character, but in a very different sense to my mother. I say this because I feel that I am becoming a carbon copy of Muti. My Grandma was as thin as a rake......and had about 5 jobs, even though she was past the retirement age.
She cleaned the offices at Bassetts in the evening........It was wonderful that she worked at Bassetts, it meant that she was allowed to buy huge bags of mis-shapes of jelly babies, liquorice allsorts and torpedoes and bring them home with her. I didn't care what shape the allsorts and jelly babies were.......I just gobbled them up.
She cleaned in about three local public houses and she had two very posh ladies that she used to 'do' for.
I didn't go with her in the evening to Bassetts, but I went with her on all her other jobs.
I would empty the ashtrays in the pubs and wash and polish the tables while Gran went round with the Hoover and cleaned the toilets and did various other little jobs........when the work was finished in the pubs it was customary for Gran to have a refreshment.......a glass of beer. Me, I got a lemonade and a bag of crisps......but I always used to be allowed the froth off the glass.
With Gran working in the pubs, it meant that if we called in in the evening I was allowed into the living quarters while gran had a bottle of beer.
My first 'crush' was on a son of one of the Landlords......he was called Roy and he was 14 and I was 12......we used to sit on the sofa watching TV and holding hands.
When the school holidays were over he used to write to me....it was all very innocent stuff......pop music and that sort of stuff. Roy just sort of grew out of me I suppose.
Tuesday and Wednesday were the days at the posh ladies.
They were posh, but they were always very nice to me.......Mrs Taylor had a grown up son who was in the Navy.....he was an officer of some description, there were photographs of him all over the house. He looked very handsome in his uniform.
The house had a huge garden with two lawns out the back.At the very far end of the garden there was a fruit and vegetable patch.
I used to be sent to pick green beans for the lunch, or gooseberries. I think it was just to keep me occupied.
The other lady that Gran used to clean for was called Mrs Barber.....she had been the head teacher of a girls school and she used to give me spellings to do. If I got them all right she would give me sixpence. She would let me help her with the baking too......I was allowed to weigh out ingredients. She used to take me out shopping with her in her little car.......I felt like a little princess. I always wanted to be an only child and in these school holidays I felt like I was one and I revelled in it.
We always came away from Mrs Barbers with fruit from her garden and freshly baked cakes.
Gran lived in a One-up-One Down house.......she didn't have a kitchen......she just had a slopstone at the cellar head.
All of the cooking was done on the big cream enamel range in the living room.
The toilet was up the communal yard and was kept locked........Gran had a window box on her scullery window.
One day I was having an 'all-over' wash and Gran was tending to her window box. She had a variety of geraniums in the window box......it added a bit of colour and stopped people from peering in when you were in just your vest having a wash. I was bent down washing my knees when I heard Gran say 'those effing cats have s**t in my window box again' I could hardly believe my ears. Although my Gran liked to have a bottle of beer, and a bet on the horses, she was a gentile lady......who insisted on manners and speaking properly always wore a hat and gloves when she went out and never went anywhere without a clean hankie. Here she was leading me astray.
