Kendal Oral History Group aims to compile a picture of earlier times through the recorded memories of the area’s older residents. Doris Sharpe was born in 1929 and interviewed in 1999.

When we moved to my granny’s, it was called Waterloo Place.

People used to say: “Oh Fellside was slums.” Well they weren’t. They were poor houses a lot of them but they were always clean.

You’d no money, my mum used to go out and scrub a lady’s house for two shilling, (twenty pence) and she used to go for a day to scrub this lady’s house out and clean it. She said yes she would for two shilling, because she could get some meat for Wednesday.

I had an old uncle that lived on Spital View, which is further along Fellside. He was my great uncle actually and he used to work at the coal yard so, of course on certain days of the week, if Mam hadn’t any coal I would have to go down with the pram and get two shillings-worth of coal.

If uncle was working at the yard he used to put me one or two little extra bits in, which was wonderful.

We had a bath once a week, Monday was usually bath night and after Mum had finished the washing she had plenty of hot water.

Girls were always first and then the boys. We didn’t have a bathroom we had a tub in front of the fire.

Nearly every night we used to have to kneel down and my mum used to look in our heads and clean them if there was any dirt in.

She used to buy a black soap called Durback Soap and she used to wash our hair in this.

At least two or three times a week she would get a special comb and look for lice. We had no money but we were always clean.

www.kendaloralhistory.com