[cleopatra]

Now go back 200 years and imagine life in the Scottish highlands
Silly questions but did they have underwear ? How often could they bath in winter. Did they have scurvey? Did farmers shave every day and with what?
 Wow = we have it easy.

the old farming books iv read stated that they just slept in their clothes, covered in dubs and muck which had dried to a crisp infront of an open fire. farm workers just slept in the bothy, just one room with a fire, where they ate and slept.

going back to old scotland - there was no underwear as people were too poor to afford it, they just had a pleat or 2 which wrapped around the waists and shoulders. we were shown how to wear them at culloden.

we never had central heating at all as kids, when the house was sold in 2005 with no heating the estate agent was shocked to see no central heating!
we have it now but choose not to use it cos its too expensive. we use a woodburner in one room and all sit together. now when my kids go to friends houses their faces go bright red as they are not use to the heat, and when friends come here they never take their coats off.

[mab]

Ah so I'm not the only one roughing it this winter 

It's like deja vue reading this - my mother & friend came to visit me today in my (30 yr old) static caravan, with bubble wrap over the windows, the old Parkray for a woodburner and me wearing four wooly pullovers.

They were reminiscing on how they grew up without central heating as I lit the Parkray.

Oh, and my mum's bought me some longjohns for christmas  they should keep me legs warm 

marcus

[nicandem]

we never had central heating at all as kids, when the house was sold in 2005 with no heating the estate agent was shocked to see no central heating!






when we bought this house last year the survey report said
"there is no central heating fitted.  In this day and age this is completely unacceptable!"


didnt want to point out we were no fitting any 

[Ina]

when we bought this house last year the survey report said
"there is no central heating fitted.  In this day and age this is completely unacceptable!"

Sounds like most council tenants and others in "affordable" accommodation live in "completely unacceptable" conditions.  But that's only the "undeserving poor", so that's ok.


It always amuses me to see this phrase in estate agents ads: "Property benefits from electric storage heating". Whoever wrote that quite clearly has never "benefited" from this kind of heating themselves... A wood burner, now that would really be a benefit.

[SallyintNorth]

I couldn't agree with you more, Ina.  Years ago, then-hubby and I had a long-term rental.  We replaced the antiquated and useless storage heaters in with a milti-fuel burner in one room and a refit for the Rayburn (mainly new fire bricks, properly intalled and cemented in) in the other.  We did this at our own expense - we knew the landlord wouldn't do it and we were happy that the rent being low and our intentions being to stay for many years, it would work out over the period to have been a good investment for us and the landlord.  When we did come to move on, the landlord grumbled that he'd have to replace the storage heaters we'd removed.  We'd lived there much more comfortably with the Rayburn and multi-fuel burner, and he understood that, but said he had to have 'central heating' installed to comply with the letting agency's criteria.     

[Ina]

We'd lived there much more comfortably with the Rayburn and multi-fuel burner, and he understood that, but said he had to have 'central heating' installed to comply with the letting agency's criteria. 

How can that count as "central heating"? Even if my storage heater is almost in the centre of the house, it still doesn't heat the house...

Puzzled.

[cleopatra]

How can that count as "central heating"? Even if my storage heater is almost in the centre of the house, it still doesn't heat the house...

Puzzled.
[/quote]

maybe it means - turn it on and it works!
we are going thru 5 dustbins full of wood everyday, and its only me that cuts it up, it can get tiring. we have a woodburner cos we cant afford the heating bills. i do think with radiators, id have 60 mins more time everyday from not cutting wood, and less time sweeping up the dust from the fire.

[sabrina]

When I was at school I had a friend who lived miles from anywhere. There was no electric anything, they used oil lamps, a stream going through the garden was their source of water. She had a mile to walk to get the school bus in all weathers. Strange thing is I thought her house and family were wonderful so content.

[goosepimple]

Didn't they make a programme about them Sabrina - Little House on the Prarie I think it was called!   

[Victorian Farmer]

This is hard          Too Long a winter                            HANNAH HAUXWELL

[Victorian Farmer]

Hannah Hauxwell - A Winter Too Many

[goosepimple]

watched both of those, unfortunately lost the sound late on on the Hannah one, but maybe just as well quite sad to see her leave.  thanks for that VF, there are times it feels like that for all of us I'm sure, but age gets to us all in the end, even with modern conveniences.

[Victorian Farmer]

i went dawn when she was leaving low Birk hat and seen her in her new house in co thistone the bainbridges still look after sheep lambing etc . Iv also don the trip up the tees .Very hard no power one Christmas she was that cold she slept in with the cows .When people say hard that's hard  .yest-er day droving sheep on the west coast 1000 sheep in 10 miles radius 4 hour es on the quad nearly got hypothermia i was that cold ice every where taking all the bad sheep out the bloke had a stroke and he ha dent brought them dawn from the hills .so there was 40 needing attention got back 9.30 last night.I dont need work like that the higher we went the colder just ice and snow .

[Sylvia]

My mother had the utmost respect for Hannah Hauxwell and Ma was very much like her, the same attitude to life and the same serenity in the face of fate.
VF, you take care and wear your thermals. You can certainly get 'round quicker on a quad but walking keeps you warmer.

[martyn parker]

Spent the early nineties, on a tree nursery at the bottom of the Yorkshire wolds. Durind mid- winter, ice
defrosting on woolly hat then running down into windswept eyes, was the only sign of the temperature rising.
Using cling film on inside of window frames made a cheap double glazing sustitute.
One thing though never over laid once.