THE OLD BLACK LEADED FIREPLACE

‘The old black leaded fireplace was the focal point of the house. On cold nights we’d wrap the oven plate in a cloth and put it to warm the bed instead of a hot water bottle’

‘Every week Aunty Maud baked for the whole family, ten loaves and a few scufflers with the dough that was left over. Fresh, hot bread, butter and jam. What a feast! The dough was kneaded in an earthenware bowl, the exact amount put into the loaf tin and into the oven.’

‘Aunty Maud knew from experience how to keep the temperature exactly right to bake the bread by poking and mending the fire regularly. To clean the chimney, some people would stick a firecracker up the flue.’

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