Old Wash Houses

[gilberthorpe 10]

Tara was telling me that there was a lot on here about Dr Wynne. I had been waxing on about him on Facebook.

 

My parents knew that he was not whiter than white, but I think as long as he could do his job they didn't worry. She said he had an uncanny knack of being able to sober up when there was an emergency.

 

Mum knew he drank - most doctors did at that time, and some still do, to cope with the job. Doctors were also the worst people for smoking, but cigarettes were often recommended for patients with 'bad nerves'. It must also be remembered that doctors as a profession used to (and may still do for all I know) have the worst rate of suicides. They worked all hours, and were 'on tap' 24 hours a day. No wonder they needed diversions!

 

Wynne didn't leave his family until well after he had established his second family. I don't suppose he decided one day to do this. Like most of us, he just slipped into this day by day. He was an Irish Catholic so he and Mary Wynne may have been trapped in the marriage. Divorce wasn't recognised in Southern Ireland until several years ago. At a time when many other people got divorced and started a new family legitimately, he and his families were forced into a situation they had no power to change.

 

My parents were satisfied with Wynne. The only time mum was displeased was when my dad had terrible pain and Wynne said he thought it might be appendicitis, but he didn't want to send him to hospital and look a fool. Another member of the family said "well you're going to look even more of a bloody fool if he dies!" And off my father went to hospital. Peritonitis was not far off, and dad spent some time in a convalecent home. Mind you, my dad wasn't very healthy after the war so that may be partly to blame.

 

Wynne now seems an enigma to me, we've got some great memories of him and his family, and we wouldn't swap him for someone who has a pole stuck up their a***, who you can't talk to and seems more interested in their computer than your ailment!

[tara 10]

How true your very last statement is. Im sick to death of talking to a brick wall when I go down to mine. A bit of common courtesy to at least look a person in the eye every now and then wouldnt go a miss.

 

I had another irish Dr, in my childhood days,(as he was my mums Dr) dont know if he'd been on the whisky but at least twice when he came to see me he walked in to the wall and hurt his head.

He also mis-diagnosed my Nan, gave her Linctus for years, when she actually had Lung Cancer.

My Dad had Dr Wynne as did all his family. Oh how i wish I did back then.

[tara 10]

Does anyone remember that little waiting room within the Wash house, where kids use to wait for their Mums to finish the washing. I think it had a couple of Brown Benches and dingy yellow decor.

I remember always seeing Michael Kelk in there, he use to keep telling me "Dont stare at the lights or you'll go blind."

[sparkyfred 10]

Tara was telling me that there was a lot on here about Dr Wynne. I had been waxing on about him on Facebook. ....

He was a brilliant doctor IMHO

Edited August 23, 2016 by sparkyfred

[tara 10]

He was a brilliant doctor IMHO

 

Hi Old Tup Please read this Thread

[Billam 10]

Does anyone else have any memories of these places.- in the 60s.

I remember going with my mum to the wincobank one. the poor loves would have to scrub the clothes in giant sinks, and then rinse and twist them about six times, then put them on these burning hot metal rods .

The heat was unbearable.(women had to be tough in those days.)

my mum only went a few times then she got a twin tub.

But my grandma had been going for years and she had about 11 kids.

can you imagine all the washing for that lot.

 

In the same building was the slipper baths where you would pay so much to have a bath.

Usually people like us who didnt have a bathroom , living in the back to back houses.

Only alternative was the tin bath which if you were lucky and lived in the yard ,could hang it up on a big nail on the wall.

(as previously mentioned on 70s thread.)

Also remember catching a train at wincobank to go to belle vue zoo.

Dad used to take me and my brother to the slipper baths at Heeley baths. My mum had a gas copper on legs, it had a handle on the top to agitate the contents, the washing would then go into the dolly tub, she then used the poncher. The clothes were rinsed and hung on the line. I don,t know how she managed.

[giraffelegs 10]

I was brought up down Attercliffe and remember having a tin bath which was hung in the yard.Sunday night was bath night in front of the fire in the kitchen watching London palladium on tv.Oldest child in first youngest last,the water would be cooler then.It used to take mum ages to fill the bath as we only had a geyser over the kitchen sink and she also has to boil pans of water on the stove.I used to sit picking the residue from the sides of the bath,I suppose it was a build up of scum really.

I also remember going to Oakes green wash house at the back of Attercliffe bright side way.We also used to take an old pram full of clothes.It was like a meeting house for all the mothers and very hard work for them.

I too used to go to the Newhall slipper baths ,when mum could afford it,it was a special treat,lots of hot steaming water coming out of the taps and before we went she used to buy crab claws from the local fishmongers and I used to sit in the bath picking at them with a grip......happy days!

I still appreciate hot water coming out of the taps now.

I also remember outside toilets across the yard,being frozen up in winter ,with a paraffin lamp in there and pieces of newspaper in squares on a nail for toilet paper....no I'm not kidding!

Remember going to the pavilion cinema Saturday matinee and buying frozen bottle of orange juice in a small glass milk bottle and it used to last me the whole film through as it was hard to lick out with your tongue.

It's funny how we take things for granted and when you're older you look back on the hard times with nostalgia because that's just how things were in those days,hard work but fun....aahhh happy days!

[Rockers rule 673]

 

 

Were there Communal wash houses in Sheffield?

 

Me and Her That Should Be Obeyed have just watched the television version of 'The Steamie' on Scottish TV (free view play) (also available on Youtube).

Was there anything similar in Sheffield?

 

We did see the stage version many years ago but the TV version although itself  filmed some years ago and filmed as a comedy sure captures the whole community spirit (& drudgery) involved in the routine of wash day.

Set in 1950's Glasgow and filmed in a genuine wash house just shows how the advent of Washing machines and dryers available to the mass' changed things (for the better).

 

(It would be nice to think where they filmed it was still there) 

 

Enjoy a time long gone.