1-3-09:                                                                                                                                                   The Fireplace                                                                                                         by - 'Missus' Living in England in my young days, 1940s and 1950s, got me used to cold weather and how to keep warm outdoors in the winter months. Woollen jumpers, skirts or slacks, woollen socks or tights, beanies and gloves, scarves and warm waterproof boots that was the way to go! When one wore all of the above, about the only thing visible of the wearer was their eyes and nose. Indoors in those days there was no central heating. Heating was mainly by coal fires, electric radiators were also used but by far the most popular way of heating was the coal fire. I suppose this made sense as the coal fire threw out more heat than the electric heater and also my family lived in the coal mining district of north east England. Coal fires were cosy; nothing better than gazing into the red hot glow of the burning coals that looked like so many miniature erupting volcanoes. The house I lived in with my parents and siblings had fireplaces in all the downstairs rooms and upstairs in most of the bedrooms although I cannot recall a fire being lit upstairs. The fireplaces were of varying sizes and the one in the kitchen was actually an Agar Cooker. This had other uses besides cooking; it kept the room warm and dried clothes that were hung up on a wooden frame which was hoisted up by pulleys to ceiling height near the stove. The metal fireplaces in the sitting room and dining room were larger than those upstairs and topped by a fancy wooden mantelshelf on which resided family photographs, various ornaments and a large wind up clock. I still remember my nana's big clock above her fireplace and an early one that Mum and Dad had on their mantel- shelf. The large iron grate in the fireplace was big enough to have lots of coals piled up in order to throw out maximum warmth to heat the large room. At floor level in front of the opening and stretching the length of the mantelshelf was a bricked or concreted area (The hearth) and this was surrounded with a metal fender which created a decorative edge to the hearth. A fireguard was almost always in position to stop any sparks jumping out. At one side, a set of fire tools was in position consisting of a small long handled shovel, a long handled brush, tongs and poker all of which hung on a stand. Nearby was a coal scuttle, the metal container that held the supply of coals for the fire. Dad would fill the coal scuttle from the coal pile in the coal house which was a brick shed in the small closed-in back yard. This scuttle would have to be filled a number of times a day, so when Dad wasn't there, Mum did it or one of the older children. The coal was delivered every week or fortnight by The Coal Man. When I was a small child the bags of coal were brought on a horse drawn cart then in later years a lorry took its place. The coalman was always filthy with coaldust, all his clothes and hands and face were grimy with the black dust. I remember being fascinated as a small child when seeing him, that all I could see were his eyes. He looked like the scary bogey man to me. He humped a bag of coal onto his shoulder from the cart and carried it, and however many Dad or Mum wanted, into the coal shed. He had a padding of sacking or leather on his shoulder where the bag rested. When I was first married we rented a two-roomed basement flat in a large old Victorian house on the seafront at Hartlepool. We had a coal fire in the main room but not in the small bedroom. Each flat had its own section in the coal shed which was situated at basement level, the door leading to it not far down the hallway from our flat. It was delivered by order and sometimes when we couldn't afford a delivery we would take sacks down to the seashore and collect sea coal to eke out our supply. Sea coal is an inferior type of coal washed up on the seashore, as opposed to the coal which we bought which had been mined from underground pits. When burning, it spluttered and spat out embers which would land on the carpet and leave scorch marks when the fireguard was not in place - we soon learned to be very vigilant if we left the guard down when trying to warm up the large room. I can't remember how much a bag of coal cost or how long it lasted but in the cold winter months the arrival of the coalman was looked forward to as though he was a long lost friend. Now forty or fifty years later we have central heating. When we first built this house we had an open fireplace in which we burned wood; then we installed a combustion stove. A few years ago we had gas central heating installed and took the combustion stove out of the fireplace recess. I love my fireplace even though it is now unused and I would never have it bricked up. I look at it some wintry days and remember my childhood and when I was first married. It has been known for me to occasionally get a few sticks and logs and get a fire burning even though the central heating is on! I love the warm glowing flames. And then of course there is Christmas time, and you have to have somewhere to hang the Christmas stockings and where else, but on the mantelpiece! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Back to: HOME           Back to:  Short Stories