and then from housework and the nets.’
Edie nodded. In the early days of her marriage she, too, had made and mended nets in her backyard. However, when Archie was promoted and the children came along – the first four in fairly
quick succession – she was able to give up the work and concentrate on looking after her family, which fell heavily upon her when Archie was at sea for weeks at a time. When he became a
skipper, the Kelsey family could have moved to the outskirts of the town, to a bigger and better house with a proper garden at the back, but Edie loved the neighbourhood where she lived. She knew
nearly everyone down the long street of back-to-back terraced houses and they knew her. Besides, she hadn’t wanted to leave Lil. And it was nice to have her sister, Jessie, living at the
opposite end of the road too. There were only the two of them left now, their parents having succumbed to the dreadful Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 and 1919. The sisters were very different. Edie
was a fine figure of a woman but it was Jessie who was the prettier of the two. Her sweet face was framed with dark brown curls and she was vivacious and bubbly. She’d married Harry Charlton,
a soldier who had survived the carnage of the Great War, and they’d rented the very same terraced house where Edie and Jessie had grown up. Much to the sadness of both Jessie and Harry, they
had no children, but Jessie had compensated for that by being involved with Edie’s growing brood. She’d always been on hand for baby-sitting duties, though always second to Lil, and had
taken care of the whole family whenever Edie had been unwell or had been having another baby! And Harry had been a doting uncle-by-marriage.
‘So,’ Jessie prompted the two friends. ‘Can I count on you both?’
As they glanced at each other and then nodded, Jessie beamed. ‘That’d be great and I can assign you work together, if that’s what you’d like.’
‘We would,’ the two friends chorused.
The three women laughed and, with the matter settled, their thoughts turned to other topics as they sat around Edie’s table drinking tea and eating biscuits. Jessie loaded a teaspoon with
sugar from Edie’s sugar bowl and then paused. ‘I suppose we’ll have to cut down on all this sort of thing.’ She was still hesitating, the spoonful hovering over her cup.
Edie smiled and nodded. ‘Go on, Jessie. It’s not happening yet.’
‘But it will,’ her sister said, serious for a moment. ‘I remember the last time. I was sixteen when it started.’
‘And I was eighteen and courting Archie in secret. It was easy really, with him being away at sea such a lot. Mam didn’t find out for months.’
‘You went to work at the Victoria Flour Mills, didn’t you – in the war?’
Edie chuckled. ‘Much to Mam’s disgust. And you weren’t much better – in her eyes anyway.’
‘No, she didn’t like me working at the local War Hospital Supply Depot but I so wanted to be a nurse and I thought that would be a way in, but she was against that too.’ Jessie
pulled a face. ‘There wasn’t much I could do about it and by the time I was old enough not to need her permission to apply for training, the war was over. Besides,’ she shrugged,
‘I’d met Harry by then, so I ended up working in Ticklers’ jam factory. She wasn’t best pleased about that either, but it’s a lovely place to work.’ There was a
pause before Jessie asked, ‘What about you, Lil?’
Lil’s shoulders sagged as she remembered the drudgery of her young life. ‘I was at home helping my mam. She wasn’t strong and having six children hadn’t helped. I
didn’t get involved with anything in the war, I’m afraid, but,’ she added with a new determination in her tone, ‘I will this time.’
‘That’s the spirit,’ Jessie said. ‘We’ll soon have old Adolf licked.’
‘What do you think we should put by?’ Edie said, her mind returning to providing for her family.
Edie nodded. In the early days of her marriage she, too, had made and mended nets in her backyard. However, when Archie was promoted and the children came along – the first four in fairly
quick succession – she was able to give up the work and concentrate on looking after her family, which fell heavily upon her when Archie was at sea for weeks at a time. When he became a
skipper, the Kelsey family could have moved to the outskirts of the town, to a bigger and better house with a proper garden at the back, but Edie loved the neighbourhood where she lived. She knew
nearly everyone down the long street of back-to-back terraced houses and they knew her. Besides, she hadn’t wanted to leave Lil. And it was nice to have her sister, Jessie, living at the
opposite end of the road too. There were only the two of them left now, their parents having succumbed to the dreadful Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 and 1919. The sisters were very different. Edie
was a fine figure of a woman but it was Jessie who was the prettier of the two. Her sweet face was framed with dark brown curls and she was vivacious and bubbly. She’d married Harry Charlton,
a soldier who had survived the carnage of the Great War, and they’d rented the very same terraced house where Edie and Jessie had grown up. Much to the sadness of both Jessie and Harry, they
had no children, but Jessie had compensated for that by being involved with Edie’s growing brood. She’d always been on hand for baby-sitting duties, though always second to Lil, and had
taken care of the whole family whenever Edie had been unwell or had been having another baby! And Harry had been a doting uncle-by-marriage.
‘So,’ Jessie prompted the two friends. ‘Can I count on you both?’
As they glanced at each other and then nodded, Jessie beamed. ‘That’d be great and I can assign you work together, if that’s what you’d like.’
‘We would,’ the two friends chorused.
The three women laughed and, with the matter settled, their thoughts turned to other topics as they sat around Edie’s table drinking tea and eating biscuits. Jessie loaded a teaspoon with
sugar from Edie’s sugar bowl and then paused. ‘I suppose we’ll have to cut down on all this sort of thing.’ She was still hesitating, the spoonful hovering over her cup.
Edie smiled and nodded. ‘Go on, Jessie. It’s not happening yet.’
‘But it will,’ her sister said, serious for a moment. ‘I remember the last time. I was sixteen when it started.’
‘And I was eighteen and courting Archie in secret. It was easy really, with him being away at sea such a lot. Mam didn’t find out for months.’
‘You went to work at the Victoria Flour Mills, didn’t you – in the war?’
Edie chuckled. ‘Much to Mam’s disgust. And you weren’t much better – in her eyes anyway.’
‘No, she didn’t like me working at the local War Hospital Supply Depot but I so wanted to be a nurse and I thought that would be a way in, but she was against that too.’ Jessie
pulled a face. ‘There wasn’t much I could do about it and by the time I was old enough not to need her permission to apply for training, the war was over. Besides,’ she shrugged,
‘I’d met Harry by then, so I ended up working in Ticklers’ jam factory. She wasn’t best pleased about that either, but it’s a lovely place to work.’ There was a
pause before Jessie asked, ‘What about you, Lil?’
Lil’s shoulders sagged as she remembered the drudgery of her young life. ‘I was at home helping my mam. She wasn’t strong and having six children hadn’t helped. I
didn’t get involved with anything in the war, I’m afraid, but,’ she added with a new determination in her tone, ‘I will this time.’
‘That’s the spirit,’ Jessie said. ‘We’ll soon have old Adolf licked.’
‘What do you think we should put by?’ Edie said, her mind returning to providing for her family.
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