They did work well didn't they Kaz. I used to love the coal fires that my Grandparents had. I used to find it mesmerizing to watch the flames.
Allotments. My Dad didn't have one as such but there was an old lady who lived a few doors up from us in a gorgeous bungalow with a long sweeping drive and well-tended lawns and she had a massive back garden, well over an acre, which had gone wild. She asked a few local people - my Dad, our neighbour Charlie and Colin who was the local vicar and lived just opposite to her - if they'd like to use it to grow vegetables. All she asked for was a bit of what was grown there. It was great and it meant that our small back garden at home was then turned over to lawns and flowers beds for my Mom whereas half of it had been used for growing vegetables.
Mom would send me along in an afternoon to see what I could pick for with dinner. Mrs Dunning was so lovely, I spent a lot of time sitting by the old range in her kitchen, eating cake. She gave my sister lessons in lace-making, tatting.
Ossie, I wonder if paths crossed all those years ago between our families?