An East End Lady

[Will.B]

An East End Lady

This is a photo of my Gran a real old East End Lady, notice the slippers with the bobbles on top, don’t think you would be able a get a pair of them in Clarks now, and the wrap around overall that Mum and so many of my Aunts use to wear then.

My Gran was a wonderful old lady, as you can see she was only small but she had 9 children and was 90 years old when she died in 1960. She loved having a tanner each way bet on 2 or 3 horses in the National, and had a few choice words to say if they did not win. When we use to go Hop Picking with her I never knew anybody that could pick hops as fast as she could, she had a lovely sense of humour and was always a joy to visit

I remember when making a cup of tea she use to have the cups and saucers on the table, a bowl of sugar, a tin of Carnation milk with two holes punched in the top and the teapot with the cosy on, I have a special reason for remembering that layout because when I was a boy she came in and caught me taking a swig out of the Carnation milk tin, (I could not hear her coming in those slippers) but apart from her telling me off, I got away with it lightly.

She was the only Grandparent I had living when I was born, and if the others were like her, then I have missed a lot in not knowing them. I am grateful however that I have been able to live long enough to see my own Grandchildren grow up and they visit me regularly.

I wonder if some of these people were alive today what they would think of all the changes now made, I remember my late father walking from Plaistow Broadway to Stratford to try and buy an enamel bowl because he did not like the plastic ones.
He had a pair of leather shoes that he kept highly polished and when they were not in use he would pack them out with newspaper, when they finally wore out he tried to buy the same ones again, but was told by the chap in the shop that they had not sold them shoes for many, many years.
Addendum.
My Gran's name was Alice Jane, in 1881 as a 9 year old  child she lived Tucker Street,West Ham, she married at Trinity Church,Canning town in 1890 when she was living in Warmington Street, after that she lived in Denmark Street (1901) Luton Road(1908),,Carlton Street off Hermit Road,(1911),Graham Road (1927-1950s) where the photo was taken and Whitwell Road where she died in 1960. So I think she qualifies as a typical West Ham Lady. Will.

[MBrennan]

I love seeing those old photos of real characters.


I note from the window ledge "A pint of sterra and a pint of cows"  

[Will.B]

Mark,
         Yes I noticed those bottles, but when the photo was taken Gran was living with her married son and his family, so I guess they were by the all on the bottle by then.
Will.

[MickG]

It's also interesting to note the sash windows in the photograph. I know they still exist but they are fast disappearing. If the sash cord broke, it involved removing the entire window section to prise of the beading which contained the other half of the cord and lead counterweight. No matter how much one tried, I never found it possible to make them entirely draught proof.

Although we may not think of them so, sash windows will soon be a historical item that the next generation will have no knowledge of.

[DougT]

Mick

Your post about sash windows brought back memories. My grandmother lived in a 1st Floor Flat and, as a child, I remember seeing her lift the bottom sah windows of her flat, sit on the window cill with her legs inside the flat, bring down the sash window on to the top of her legs to stop her falling and then proceed to clean the windows. She was in her late sixties when she used to do this!

Doug

[Will.B]

Mick

You was certainly right about those sash windows, when I lived in Plaistow we had a three bedroom house which had sash windows throughout, and I had the little box bedroom at the back, the thing I remember most about that bedroom was those draughty windows, like most of the houses at that time we never had central heating, we had a coal grate fire in that room but it was never lit and as we never had a duvet, it was a case of a hot water bottle or a quick dive under the blanket, why we never had more coughs and colds than we did I shall never know. Also I remember the window catch which worked on a sort of cam; whenever we got locked out we would slide a knife up between the windows and move the cam round.
Will.

[MBrennan]

Re the sash windows. We have quite a few on the house I live in now. It cost a fortune getting them renovated and draft-proofed. Some of them had been painted shut for donkeys years. (The house was an old doctors surgery and we even have a couple of brass gas lamps on the wall in one room as well as a bakelite bell for the doctor to ring for the next victim   ) You can get a new type that a lot of people use in conservation areas that work on some kind of ratchet system rather than weights & pulleys. They are excellent but cost a fortune (they were the double-glazed type). A couple of years ago we got a quote from Everest and the amount they wanted to replace a few windows could buy a house in some parts of the country! - will have to make do with what we have, although we are only allowed sash windows as it is a conservation area - no UPVC allowed here  

Doug - what you described your grandmother doing, I also did that until last year when a woman 100 yards up the road  fell out of a 2nd floor window and was killed. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-14619377 It was early morning and there were suspicious circumstances but still...

Hard to get a window cleaner thesedays as H&S insist on having 2 people for anything over about 12ft!

[nelliesgirl]

Nice photograph Will!

I remember my Mum sitting out on the windowsill to clean those sash windows. First Mum would pull one down to her lap, then clean the bottom one, and part of the other, then pushing, the one on her lap up, to clean the top part of the other that she could not get at. This Mum would do each week without fail.

Nanny Allott loved to have a bet on the horses, I remember being in her house next door, and she would get excited, when the hoses were running, she would listen to them on the radio. One horses name comes to mind, Loppy Luggs!  Nanny wasn't my real Nan! I adopted her as one, because I didn't have one, her husband we called Bompa!

Nell

[Will.B]

Hi Nell,
           After reading your post I seem to recognise the name Loppy Luggs, if my memory is correct I seem to remember my Mother telling me of a newspaper reporter that use to go to the seaside towns and if you saw him,you had to say I recognise you Loppy lugs and you got £1 or a £5 what ever the prize was. I wonder if any of the older posters have ever heard of this.
Will

[ALANF]

Will

I remember that. I think it was run by the Daily Mirror. They advertised in advance where the reporter was going to be and how to recognise him. There was a set challenge of words that you had to say. Something like 'You are the D.M. reporter and I claim my £5' or whatever it was. The catch was that you had to have a copy of that days newspaper in your hand.

Alan

[Barry N]

In the photo in the middle window is that a set of nets for only the bottom half of the window and were sash window replaced by crital windows . Barry

[Will.B]

Barry,

As far as I can remember the bottom half of the all the sash windows shown had net curtains, with full curtains coming down behind them. I am sure the sash windows were never replaced as the house was demolished in the 1950s and there is now a line of garages where the house use to be.

Alan
I have just found out on the net that it was Lobby Lug , it was started by the Westminster gazette in 1927 and was then taken up by other papers including the daily mirror.
Will.

[Bert]

"I have just found out on the net that it was Lobby Lug , it was started by the Westminster gazette in 1927 and was then taken up by other papers including the daily mirror.
Will."

I think you will find that he was "Lobby Lud", Will. He was quite a talked about character when I was a boy.

Bert.

[MBrennan]

Seeing the title 'An East End Lady' reminded me that on the West/East Newham site, there used to be a photo on the home page on my nan (I never knew her) pushing a pushchair along High Street North with my dad in it (taken around 1936). The photo changed to one of Canning Town station. I have searched for the photo but can't find it on there. I posted about it a couple of years ago but there were no replies. I should email my uncle to see if he can email it to me. I think there was another one of her going past East Ham town hall. She was probably quite young then but people always seem to look older in old photos.

[MickG]

There is a photograph in a back edition of the Daily Telegraph that fits the photograph you described of a lady with a push chair in High St North. Check the link below.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/4670844/Co-op-admits-to-Somerfield-takeover-talks.html