The OS Doorstep - a helpful and supportive thread in these tough times

fuddle

My mother never put the heating on when I was growing up. Her mother didn't have heating in the house.

Both mothers did have a coal fire which was the heat source for the houses... until smokeless zones and gas fire installation. My mother had a toasty living room growing up but because my mother was scared of paying for a big gas bill when my dad died she was opposed to switching on the fire let alone the heating. I grew up bliddy freezing with icicles on the inside of my bedroom window.

No it wasn't nice and I bet theres plenty of people that had to endure similar situations pre 80's

Although I rebelled that life in my early 20's I now realise life doesn't owe me anything and I don't expect anything. A toasty warm house is a luxury. A toasty warm house is kind of wasteful in my opinion. I can't afford luxuries so I can't afford a constant toasty warm house.

It's good to read that there is financial help for heating/water for those with difficulties. I wouldn't want anyone to be brought up in a house without heating and poor insulation. It's horribly depressing and I fear there are so many innocent people whose finances are so bad they they can't afford to hit the on button at all. Power to the sheep, our only tool in helping ourselves with an awful problem I think.

FairyPrincessk

I agree, Fuddle. I'm so glad that those who need heat have financial help. Our house is mostly pretty cold, and I guess we could have it toasty warm but it would either mean going into debt or giving up a lot of things we find more important--and even still I doubt it would add up to a toasty warm house.

However--we do put the fire on sometimes, and when it gets really cold we'll heat the house--but in the mean time I think jumpers, hats, dressing gowns and socks are just fine. Heating the house before we do these things would absolutely be a luxury for us--and a wasteful one at that!

katieowl_2

Anyone who is still looking for Flannelette sheets, I just saw in the Chums catalogue they keep sending me, that they have them in four colours @ £13.99 for a single in one brand, or a set of fitted, flat and Pillowcase from £19.99 for the single.

Kate

Possession

katieowl wrote: »

Anyone who is still looking for Flannelette sheets, I just saw in the Chums catalogue they keep sending me, that they have them in four colours @ £13.99 for a single in one brand, or a set of fitted, flat and Pillowcase from £19.99 for the single.

Kate

Katie I put mine on that I'd bought for the children, and my son complained the bed is too hot! I've had to switch him back to his summer duvet. The pickle.:doh:

Pooky

I grew up in a Victorian terrace, one of the big rambling ones with far to many windows and no heating. We had an electric fire in the sitting room and a paraffin heater on the landing, replaced with a calor gas fire at some point. There was a fan heater in the bathroom but it was a once a week bath and hair wash so as to not have the heater on to much. The rest of the time it was a strip wash at the kitchen sink after dinner when the kitchen was still warm (warm wasn't a word I'd use for it). The net curtains were always stuck to the windows with ice in the winter and a trip to the loo was a real experience. This was late 70's and even when I left home it wasn't until I was 25 that I had a house with central heating. DD1 was brought home to a house without heating, it snowed,the midwife wanted me to move in with relations rather than put the baby through the cold....well millions of people coped over the years without central heating and she's grown up despite it!

I think I've learnt how to deal with cold because of that, layers, heating one room, keeping active etc. nowadays everyone seems to think its acceptable to walk around in December in a t-shirt indoors and has the heating on all night.....I mean come on, you're under a diver, you don't need heating on!! I remember getting into bed when I was little, Dad used to read our bedtime story and we used to have to "run a race" in bed before he found the right page in the book,......his way of getting us to warm our beds by moving our legs back and forth....did the trick.

katieowl_2

Possession wrote: »

Katie I put mine on that I'd bought for the children, and my son complained the bed is too hot! I've had to switch him back to his summer duvet. The pickle.:doh:

They are too hot for me possession!!! I prefer to have layers on ME that I can take off. I've got a couple of Microfleeces that I wear in bed when it's really cold, which keep my arms and shoulders covered. They were both pale colours, so I soon discovered that I am too much of a mucky pup to wear them during the day!

Kate

[Deleted User]

I grew up in a 2 and 1/2 up and 2 and a small kitchen down terrace with the only loo in the back yard. No hot water let alone heating, and single glazed windows that didn't fit properly. The only room that was heated was the living room in the middle of the house, to start with we had a black range but in the 60s that was replaced with a tiled surround that didn't give nearly as much heat, Brrrrrrrr it was cold indeed. Ice fans on the windows and breath you could see as steam when you breathed out in the bedrooms was normal but, we were healthy on it and everyone else lived the same way as they were all in the same boat, so we didn't feel deprived or hard done by, it was just the way it was!!! Lyn xxx.

Nargleblast

I remember as a little girl having to wear vest, knickers and a liberty bodice under my dress. I absolutely loathed that liberty bodice!!Obviously layers of clothing did the trick in those days.

[Deleted User]

Oh God The Liberty Bodice if ever there was a misnamed piece of clothing that was it, All those horrid little white buttons down the front.............

Nargleblast

My best friend was wearing a bra at the age of 10 - I really envied her, and wanted the free-and-easy, glamorous bra and pants set look, rather than all my layers. Now I haul on a vest or teeshirt when it gets cold and don't give a toss about glamour! Any fool can be uncomfortable.