Just put on extra clothes

PEOPLE moan about not being able to afford to keep the home warm in the winter, and that people might die from the cold.

When I was young in the ’40s and ’50s all we had was a coal fire in the living room, the rest of the house was just cold. The bedroom sash window was open at the top, day and night, all year round no matter the weather with ice on the inside as well as the outside. But mum did put a hot water bottle in the bed to help.

There was no bathroom, just a bath with no plumbing sat in the corner of the kitchen filled with big pans of water boiled on the cooker, then emptied by hand afterwards by mum.

You had to go outside to get to the toilet, it would have a paraffin heater in it to help stop the water freezing up and of course we had to clear the snow to get to it. We seemed to have more snow in the winters back then. Don’t worry about freezing to death. Just put on some extra clothes and take a hot water bottle to bed.

David Hambling

Cheltenham