Lincolnshire's Invisible Churches

by Christopher Kenyon

If you are looking for somewhere to visit during the holidays seek out some of the county's 'hidden' churches

You may have read in previous issues of The Poacher my articles describing what life was like in the nineteen-forties in our small cottage which had none of the utilities that are regarded as essential to modern day living. I have tried to give some idea of what the cottage was like inside and described the ways we coped with cold winters and hot summers. There's plenty more to tell so let's get back to nineteen-forty-eight.

Mam has to cook our meals but, as we have already seen, there is no electricity and no gas so how does she manage it?

Well, first we must look to the fire-place in the living room as the main source of heat. Remember it is a small fire-place set into the chimney breast. It is only about thirty centimetres wide but quite deep with bars across the front to hold the fire. I told you earlier how the fire has to be lit using newspaper, sticks and then coal. This is a seemingly simple process but it is surprising the number of people who would not have a clue where to start. I'll tell you how it's done. The paper is put at the bottom then covered with the kindling (sticks) and lastly the coal placed on top. The paper is set on fire with a match, the flames from the paper then set the kindling on fire which in turn sets the coal burning. That sounds easy doesn't it? Well it is if the sticks are dry and the right sort of wood and when the coal is a good quality. But, as I told you before, this is not always the case. Sometimes the sticks refuse to burn or the coal is not good, then there is a lot of smoke but no flame. A wicked wind could blow the smoke back down the chimney into the room choking us and covering everything with smuts. When the coal is burning well we can put the kettle on and soon have a cup of tea. Mam has to do this when she gets home from work just after three o'clock in the afternoon but she has no time to relax with her cuppa. The immediate job is to get the saucepan and steamer on to cook potatoes, vegetables and a steamed pudding; when Dad gets home at a quarter past four after working all day on the land he expects his hot tea to be ready. On Sunday mornings a saucepan for eggs, either boiled or poached, will take pride of place on the flames.

We also saw that at one side of the fire there is a small oven and that heat can be directed to it by means of a flue controlled by a sliding plate damper. With a good fire the oven can get quite hot but it takes more than a little skill and experience to produce the required temperature for whatever dish is being cooked. An added complication is that wind direction and strength can seriously affect the way that the fire burns and sometimes no amount of coaxing can persuade the fire to burn properly.

How does Mam cope with the cooking, bearing with an oven that is only big enough for the Sunday roast? (I remember one Christmas we had a goose and it turned out to be far too big to get into the oven.) Do you remember when we looked into the kitchen we saw a paraffin cooker? Well, this is what Mam uses for most of her baking. Made of sheet metal it encloses two paraffin burners. One of them will heat water for cooking vegetables and the other has an oven on top of it. Neither this oven nor the one at the fire have a thermometer so the temperature must be judged by experience alone. It is quite remarkable that this arrangement will generate the correct heat to cook pastry and cakes but it does. Of course, inevitably, there are problems using these somewhat haphazard methods. Yorkshire pudding is one of the things that can be a bit tricky and Mam is always worried that it will not rise but, surprisingly, there are few failures.

On Sunday morning, as well as cooking the full Sunday dinner for the four of us, Mam does the baking for the whole week. This is mainly aimed at supplies for packed lunches. There are jam pasties and ‘Dad's' cake, a fruit cake big enough to last the whole week. Needless to say Dad does not eat it all himself. Mam also makes some jam tarts and, maybe, some little cakes. Most of these are eaten for Sunday tea along with sandwiches and a piece of ‘Dad's' cake. Occasionally Mam makes coconut pyramids although they are not really pyramids because they are dome shaped using an egg cup. We look forward to these.

The other appliance for boiling a kettle of water or a dinner pot is a primus stove. This is a round paraffin stove the right size for a saucepan. It is pressurised and must be pumped up after the burner has been heated with methylated spirit. This is a bit of a dodgy job especially for us youngsters. First you must fill the trough with methylated spirits then light it with a match. When you judge that the burner is hot enough, start pumping. If everything goes according to plan the vaporised paraffin will start to burn with an intense blue flame. On the other hand, if the meths has not generated enough heat the paraffin will not be vaporised, will not burn and we get a kitchen full of horrible fumes. When this happens the whole process must be started again but we must be aware that putting more very volatile meths into the hot trough can (and often does) cause a nasty flare up.

Despite what seems a rather primitive arrangement meals are always well cooked and on time.

Let's have a look now at the laundry arrangements.

Without electricity there is nothing to run a washing machine. Well, you may have heard of the ‘dolly tub' and ‘dolly peg', maybe used one yourself, that is what has to be used in this house. The dolly tub is about the size of a dustbin but has slightly bulging straight fluted sides. The dolly is rather like a small, four-legged stool on a shaft with a T-handle at the top and is used to agitate the clothes in the dolly tub. There is also a ‘posher', a copper dome on a shaft which is worked up and down in the dolly tub. It's hard work with these tools but it has to be done. Mam usually works on a farm all week so she washes the clothes on Saturday morning with help from my sister and me. We can work the posher and turn the handle of the mangle that squeezes the water out of the clothes.

If you remember, we saw the copper shed when we first came into the yard. This houses the copper or wash boiler. It is quite simply an inverted dome shaped container set into brickwork. Underneath it is a fireplace which will burn pretty well anything and I often get the job of lighting it with sticks and coal. All the ‘whites' are boiled in it and it is also used to heat our bathwater. There is no outlet for a tap to drain off the water so it has to be scooped out with a ladle, either clean hot for the bath or dirty from the boil wash. More work to add to the washday chores.

After the clothes have been washed and then dried on the washing line in the garden they need to be ironed. This is another job that has to be accomplished without the benefit of electricity. Not for our Mam an iron that is plugged into an electric socket. She has to use a pair of flat irons. These are made of solid iron and are the same basic shape as an electric iron. Or rather, the electric iron has retained the same basic shape as the flat iron. These must be heated on a wire rack that is fastened to the bars in front of the fire which needs to be good and hot. How do we know when the irons are hot enough? A very simple method is used to find out. Carefully, using a thick cloth wrapped round the handle, remember the whole iron is very hot, take the iron away from the fire. Hold it so that the flat face is upwards and tilted away from you. Spit on it. If your spit just sits and sizzles the iron is not hot enough. When your spit gives a sharp ‘splat' and shoots quickly off the sole of the iron then it is ready to use. But not before giving it a wipe to make sure it is clean.

Mam starts by ironing the cotton things while the iron is at its hottest then, as the iron cools down, the more delicate items can be pressed. Eventually the iron becomes too cool, so it goes back on its rack to reheat and the second iron, which has been heating up as you iron with the first one, comes into use. The same procedure is used to make sure it is hot enough and away she goes again. Now you know why flat irons are always in pairs.

There's more to tell so watch out for further issues of the Lincolnshire Poacher.