大象传媒

MY TIME IN THE 1940'S
bY ANNE MARTIN

In 1939 the Education Committee approved of a means test and gave a scholarship for higher education. I could not apply as we were farmers but, being the only girl, my parents sent me, paying the quarterly fees. I got my first bicycle to cycle the four miles - it had a dynamo and three speeds. Two years later my younger brother joined with me on his new bicycle. My bicycle served me well during my teens and twenties covering many miles to school, youth hostels and church - any occasion where travel was necessary.

During the 40's I often rode to town on my bicycle to get the weekly shopping - one single paper pound note usually brought home the essentials. On Friday we got the Constitution (a weekly paper) and a roast of beef for the weekend dinners. Three papers were ordered with Mr McKay, a newsagent in Main Street - The Constitution, Weekly News and the Christian Herald.

I remember cycling up to The Old Workhouse (a building at the front), which was used as the Food Office. Miss Matthews was in charge. She had been a neighbour at Carbullion and Miss Earl (her father was a policeman stationed at Bellarena) was the assistant.

The building behind this, which still stands, was a very organised and well-used hospital with extra Nissan huts put up in the grounds to cope with the extra wartime emergencies. Here all my children were born. It was a sad day for the Limavady area when those in authority decided to close our hospital.

When extra food coupons were allotted by the Minister of Food (Mr Bevan) these were issued at the Food Office. We had bees and were allowed extra sugar for winter-feeding - this more often was used to make jam. My mum never learned to drive the car so extra runs were done by bicycle. A driver's licence was not issued until the age of 21 years - very important time for young people as we could also get the "key of the door". What a change in the year 2000 when teenagers can come and go with fewer restrictions!

The home, where I was born and lived until I married, still had some small windows as it was built when windows were taxed - some of the downstairs ones had been renewed with larger ones. We had a half door at the back, which meant that the full door could be left open to relieve the smoke from the blow-down, which often occurred depending on the direction of the wind.

The peat fire was built on a wide, open grate (blacksmith made) with a hob at both sides where the kettle and teapot could sit. The round-bottomed kettle and pots, when in use, were hung on the swivel crane. One flat-bottomed pot was kept to bake a cake or oven scone and a large griddle was used for farls. Double-ended crooks of different lengths hung on the side of the crane and were hooked to the large chain depending how close the pot had to go over the fire. In my childhood the only bread bought was a square white loaf and, sometimes, a barn brack (round bun) with a few raisins. This was toasted for tea on Sunday evening.

As our chimney smoked so bad and caused blow-downs of the bitter peat smoke, mum and dad decided to shut the chimney and put in a large black range. This range opened in the middle making an open fire, which was where we made our toast. There was also a two-burner Valor cooker with single oven on which I boiled my egg and water for tea during my years at Regional Secondary School - it would have been too slow to get the range going.

On the family farm there were always a few pigs, fattened with refuse potatoes, boiled and mixed into a sloppy mash with broken corn (oats). When Henry Rogers, a neighbour, came to kill these pigs, one was retained to be used in the home - the rest went to market.

The dead pig was hung up by the back legs to a beam in an outhouse. Its belly was slit open and the gut pulled out, liver, kidneys and heart were saved to be eaten and the frill along the gut was stripped off to be rendered and kept stored in old jugs and bowls to use when frying food. After being washed out with clean spring water the belly was propped open with pieces of newly split wood to allow the flesh to dry out. A few days later the carcass was taken down, left on a clean sheet to be cut into pieces. These pieces were then layered in half barrels (tubs) with lots of salt to be taken out when needed.

When eggs were plentiful, during the longer days, mum kept four or five-dozen and put them in water glass. This substance set like jelly and kept the air from the eggs. These were good enough to bake or scramble; for boiling or frying the fresh ones were better. (what substance?)
(865 words)

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