大象传媒

During the war my mother took a job as a milkwoman. The milk float had to be pushed and was jolly hard work. When taking milk to a school it had to be run down a slope, needing a good deal of strength to hold it back. Going up again the help of the children had to be enlisted to get to the top. Delivering to the Royal Marine barracks was an occasional extra, normally grabbed by one of the older men. Very understandable! When my mother delivered there she was offered the usual 'perks' (some butter or bacon) but was too frightened of being caught to accept.
One winter week the dairy was short-handed and she did a 'double' - she did two rounds a day for a week. When she was payed the foreman commented acidly, "That's a man's wage you've got there." My mother very rarely swore (I remember being very shocked when I first heard her) but angrily retorted: "And I've done two men's bloody work to get it."
In spite of the physically hard labour and long hours, my mother often referred to this as one of the happiest times of her working life - everyone was in the same boat and the family income made us so much better off than in peacetime. Not a lot to spend it on though!