Based on childhood recollections
of working class family life in north London in Edwardian times.
The back garden was a source of genuine pleasure for me in my working class
household of the Huxley Estate in the early 1900s. It was reached through the
back door in the scullery - see the
house plans page. First, though, came the
back yard.
The yard
The area just outside the door was known as the 'yard' and was laid out in
blue and dull red tiles. My mother's mangle
was kept there with a sheet of tarpaulin thrown over to protect it from the
weather.

Tin bath kept hanging on the fence outside the scullery
door. Photographed in Lincolnsfields Childrens Centre, Bushey.
The various tin baths used on washdays and
for Saturday bathnights were kept
there too, hung from hooks on the fence.
Our food safe, also known as the
'meat safe', was also there, opposite the back door for easy access. Being outside
in the shade it was the coldest and most airy place available and was used for
perishable food like meat, milk and butter.
Round and along the garden path the shed
The red and blue tiled path led round to the back of the house to my father's
shed which was a lean-to which he had built himself. The path also led through
the lean-to to the outside lavatory.
If you have an old photo which illustrates anything
on this page, I would very much appreciate a copy.
Pat Cryer
My father's shed had a good working bench and vice. It was well kept and
well stocked with tools. The hobbing foot
was also kept there. This was to
repair shoes - or should I say boots, as that was what we all wore, apart
from on Sundays and special occasions. It was cheaper for my father to mend
our boots himself than for us to use a cobbler, known as the 'snobs'.
Along the path, away from the house, was the back garden.
The back garden
The back garden was very well kept with beautiful flowers. Flowers like clothes
seem to go by fashion. In our back garden there were ageratum, phlox, tobacco
plant, zinnias, heliotrope, asters, roses, pinks and many other old varieties.
The soil was in good condition thanks to my brothers and me, who had to go
out with a wheelbarrow, brush and shovel, and collect horse dung from the road
as manure. There was quite a lot of it because horses were effectively the only
means of transport and no-one thought it at all odd for them to leave their
dung on the road. My father put the dung that we collected into a large tin
bath and watered it down. Runner beans seemed to do particularly well with this
treatment. My brothers and I did not quarrel about the chore. In those days
when you were told to do a job, you just did it, no questions asked.
This website Join me in the 1900s is also known as
Join me in the 1900's and is © Pat Cryer.