Friday 22 February 2019

Industrial Revolution


The Industrial Revolution


 It is hard to realise today, that sixty years ago there were hardly any motor cars, no petrol stations, no buses or lorries, no wireless or television, no public telephones, power stations or electric light. In those days the railways were the pride of our transport system, steam powered locomotives attaining speeds of sixty or seventy miles an hour, this has been only slightly improved on by our present day modern system. The horse sixty years ago was the most important form of transport used for practically everything, anything to do with horses was big business. Sixty years ago very few roads had tar macadam surfaces the roads were more or less rough gravel tracks, and the mud in winter and the dust in summer was something that had to be seen to be believed.  I well remember people throwing up their hands in horror when they surfaced the roads, they said all the horses would fall down and break their legs. As there was no public telephones, when anyone was ill, someone in the village had to ride either into Bridgnorth, Shifnal or Madely to fetch a doctor, then wait till he returned from visiting the patient in a horse and trap, the doctor then had to mix the medicine in his dispensary, the person who had fetched the doctor then returned home. And remember the doctor had to be paid, no health service in those days. The lighting in houses in the village in those days was parrifin oil lamps. What a difference today, sending rockets to the moon, not even thought of when I was a boy.

I start School


I was lucky, I had only a short distance to go to school, I started when I was four years of age. The school was an ordinary village school, comprised of two class-rooms, one large room one small room. The teaching staff was three, a headmaster and two lady teachers. As far as I can remember I got on fairly well in the lower classes under the lady teachers. I do not remember getting into too much trouble; I imagine I was of about average intelligence, not brilliant by any means. 



Holidays


Our holidays were spent according to the seasons, Easter holidays were usually spent in the woods picking primroses and running errands. Whitsun holidays were spent in the woods, picking bluebells and collecting firewood, and helping in the garden, there was always plenty to do in the garden at Whitsun. The summer holidays were spent almost entirely in the harvest fields, carrying dinners and teas for the men who were working there, chasing rabbits as they ran out of the corn as it was cut by the machine drawn by horses, there were no combine harvesters as we know today. If we managed to catch a rabbit, as we often did, we were allowed to take it home to be made into rabbit pie for our dinner next day. Xmas holidays were usually spent sliding on the frozen ponds and snowballing, the winters were much more severe when I was a boy, than they are now.

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