And then there was the lady of the house getting up at 6 am to light a fire which had been set the previous evening so that it was above freezing (just) when we youngsters got up, ice (Jack Frost) on the inside of the bedroom windows when one woke up, VE day, VJ day, smogs so thick that even as a 10 year old with good eyesight and reflexes one had to walk home from school one paving slab at a time, Mrs Dale's Diary, ITMA, The Eagle (that was later) and so on. Air raid sirens and trips to the cellar Milk being delivered by being scooped from churns by the road side. The clatter of clogs as people went to work in the mills at 7am or earlier. Miners covered in coal on their way home from work to have a bath in a tin tub in front of an open fire. later to die from silicosis. Industrial accidents with no compensation for the widow and children. Deformities of young people due to alcohol abuse by their parents. TB and polio. The good old days? Well some of them were