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Description: 1955. View shows the kitchen of a house on Camp Road. Two women are sitting beside the range which is possibly the only source of heating in this slum dwelling. This was probably one of a group of photos taken to illustrate the poverty which many people had to endure at the time. Photograph courtesy of Terry Cryer. User Comments: Name: Janet Goldstraw (nee Ellison) Comment: I remember my grandmother had a fireplace exactly like this one in the house behind her shop in Roger Row, Beeston. She boiled the brass kettle on it for a cup of tea. I never thought of her as living in imopoverished housing though, was the way life was was for many in the 1950s. Date: 27-Jul-2012 Email: Not displayed ________________________________________________________________________________ Name: Brenda Scott nee Johnson Comment: This is almost identical to the black-leaded range in my granny's living room, off Kirkstall Road back in the 1950's > and most of the 1960's. I know we habitually look back and revise history, putting our own spin on what we assume people lived through at the time, but these weren't slum-dwellers, they were hard-working people who didn't have much and who knew nothing of 'modern-day' living. Yes, demolishing the old back-to-back housing stock was inevitable, as they had not been properly maintained nor modernised, and by the mid-'60's people were starting to look towards the possibility of inside toilets, gas cookers and open fires with back boilers to heat their water, and nobody could blame them for that. But please don't persist in calling them 'slum dwellers!' That's a middle class consciousness showing it's rather prurient face. My Grandma had a gas cooker in her scullery, and a set-pot for boil-washing clothes, puddings, and scrubbing grubby grandchildren in, but the range was lit every day in cold weather and she would sit in front of it, just like these two old dears, smoking her tabs ( she was Capstan Full Strength woman, my Grandma ) in her patterned wrap-around pinny - where can I get one of these nowadays? - I guess if I could acquire good quality glazed cotton I could make my own! This is a posed photograph of course, as the fire in the range isn't lit so there would be no need to sit hugging the fender. TWO teapots? Maybe the neighbour has brought hers in to join her friend's. Both women appear to be well shod and look exactly like every other woman I remember from my childhood. The range could do with a good black-leading, though! Rather than make me weep at the poverty of the 'slum dweller' in the mid-1950's, all this photo' does is make me remember what a lovely, warm, safe homely time I had in a sitting room just like this, only cleaner, with my Gran and the smell of pastry tarts and pies baking in the range. Date: 29-Jul-2012 Email: Not displayed ________________________________________________________________________________ Name: John Bean Comment: My memories of my parents and my home in the 50's, come flooding back with this pic. We had a slightly larger fireplace with chrome hinges to the oven door. These oven cooked the most superb Yorkshire puddings and roasts.In winter my dad used to wrap the hot removable oven plates in a blanket and place them in our beds for a few hours before we went to bed. Making the fire each morning was something most children were taught to do by the age of 10. The cobble streets these homes were surrounded by, were always clean of rubbish, as almost all waste was burnt on the open fire. The 'middens' bins were generally filled solely with ash from the fires.Each house had the front step and pavement cleaned by the occupier regularly so the streets always looked smart. 'Stoning' the front step edges with ironstone was a task most mums will recall. Date: 31-Jul-2012 Email: bean-j@o2.co.uk ________________________________________________________________________________ Name: donald rhodes Comment: echoing brenda's comments.i'll bet anyone entering this house would have been offered a cuppa.notice the 2 teapots above the fire,that i would say is not lit and providing heat.looks like a piece of paper in the fireplace. in clovelly place beeston we had a facsimile of his fireplace too. Date: 31-Jul-2012 Email: donrhodes@pac.com.au ________________________________________________________________________________ Name: anne Comment: I wonder if Don Rhodes remembers anyone named Gomersall who lived in Clovelly,s. My mother lived there as a child.Does anyone remember anything about Khandella Place, my adopted grandparents Thomas and Miriam Gomersall lived there in 1901 They had a daughter called Hilda who died age 3 yrs in 1903. Date: 01-Aug-2012 Email: Not displayed ________________________________________________________________________________ Name: Sheila Jubb Comment: I fully agree with Brenda Scott on the use of the remark "slum dwellers". This remark is used quite often, particularly with regard to back-to-back housing. A lot of these properties could have been refurbished and brought up-to-date with all the modern amenities. About 20 years ago my son bought his first house and this was an old stone cottage in Morley and this had been completely modernised. In the same area there were some back-to-back houses which were made into through terrace houses with gardens. This property was turned into family housing. This fireplace would be quite sought after by antique dealers or someone refurbishing an old house and wanting to install fittings and fixtures in keeping with the age of the property. Just because the houses are old does not mean they are slums. There are lots of modern houses that are slums due to neglect and lack of care and pride Date: 25-Aug-2012 Email: Not displayed ________________________________________________________________________________ Name: annette Comment: most ladies of this era would have been ashamed of this fireplace, i remember my grans and hers was gleaming, not dusty and unused looking as this one... which makes one wonder was this taken in a house that was ready for demolition and the women his models.. Date: 30-Aug-2012 Email: Not displayed ________________________________________________________________________________ Name: donald rhodes Comment: reply to ANNE's question to me. Anne,I lived and was born at 19 clovelly place.The name Gomersal does ring a slight bell,did any of your friends go to rowland road school? My older brother might know I'll ask him. I am now in melbourne australia,(we both are),do you know which of the clovelly's they lived in? Date: 01-Sep-2012 Email: donrhodes@pac.com.au ________________________________________________________________________________ Name: anne. Comment: My memory is ageing but I remember my mother speaking of clovelly avenue or place but I,m not sure if she lived there with her adopted parents Thomas and Miriam Gomersall or when she married my father (Mallorie) in 1936.Thomas and Miriam also lived at 3 Khandella Place in Hunslet but I cant find anyone who still remembers this street as it was so long ago.I went to Cross Flatts School 1955-1961 .Thank you Don Rhodes for your reply. Date: 11-Sep-2012 Email: Not displayed ________________________________________________________________________________ Name: Frances Hainsworth nee West Comment: Like Brenda's grandma mine wouldn't have allowed her range to get into this state, hers was always gleaming and the oven cooked the most wonderful Yorkshire Puddings and Rice puddings. Grandma's house was in Brompton Terrace, off Trentham Street, Beeston and as far as I know is still there. They definitely weren't slums just back-to-back houses with a shared outside lavatory which was always spotlessly clean. Date: 24-Sep-2012 Email: Not displayed ________________________________________________________________________________ Name: Janet Dickenson Comment: The back to back houses on Camp Road certainly didn't have kitchens like this!! This is the range in the main room. It certainly needs 'black leading' and some cleaning. My grandparents back to back 'slum' never looked like this. The range gleamed, the fire roared and the Yorkshire puddings made in the oven were a delight!!!! Date: 24-Sep-2012 Email: Not displayed ________________________________________________________________________________ Name: Michael Kirby Comment: When I was a kid in Seacroft, in the 50s lots of women would sit close to the coal fire with their stockings rolled down to their ankles, warming their legs. They would end up with red blotchy marks on their legs. My mother called this ABC, which meant 'Always Bloody Cold'. That Range and fire surround and mantelpiece would probably be worth a fortune now. Date: 11-Jan-2013 Email: michaelkirbychow@btinternet.com ________________________________________________________________________________
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