CHAPTER 6
Married Life
A week before we were due to get married I cycled over to Menthorpe but whilst I was there the blizzards came and I couldn't get home. I tried on the Sunday to leave but got stuck at the Gale Gateway at the bottom of the drive to the farm. It had become completely blocked with snow. It was an outlandish place with no access to it but by lanes. Of course Mother was very upset as I didn't manage to get home until Monday evening. By Thursday morning the snow had cleared and the day turned out to be one of those beautiful sunny and frosty days.
So on December 23rd 1937 at the Methodist Chapel in Hemingborough we were married. Jessie, my sister, and Leslie's sister Jean were bridesmaids wearing wine coloured Velvet dresses. After the reception, which was held at my home, we spent our honeymoon at Menthorpe visiting relatives for the Christmas festivities.
At first we had to live with Leslie's parents at Menthorpe. I was very happy with my mother and father-in-law. Leslie's father would sometimes take me home to see my family in the pony and trap. At other times I would catch the train that ran from Menthorpe to Selby and then get a bus to Hemingborough. Leslie's mother never took any keep from us all the time we lived with her. She made us bank it so that we would have some money to buy furniture with. We went to many Sales and managed to get lots of good second-hand stuff.
The farm was to be sold at the end of February and then once Leslie's uncle had moved out of the farmhouse at Cliffe we would move which turned out to be at the end of April. Leslie's father and uncle could not agree when they were in partnership so it was agreed that the uncle should take his money and buy another farm in the area.
Life was very hectic in preparation for the Sale. When it was over we began to flit with horses and rulleys. The cattle and sheep had to be driven the six miles.
Leslie's uncle had moved out by March giving us chance to scrub out the farmhouse and get it decorated. It was going to seem cramped after the big house at Menthorpe with its six bedrooms, large dining room, large sitting room and kitchen. The farm which Leslie's Grandad had left to Leslie's Father was called Tithe Farm. Grandad had built a cottage onto the end of the farmhouse and this was where he had lived whilst the uncle had lived in the farmhouse. Although there was little electricity in the village Grandad had installed some lights in his cottage and farm buildings but the farmhouse where we were to live had no electricity at that time. Our first night in our new home on April 6th seemed very strange. We had one table lamp and had to use candles to find our way to bed. The water wasn't running through the pipes and taps so we had to use the pump that stood just outside the back door. The toilet was at the bottom of the garden, a wooden one with two holes, one for adults and the other for children.
There were lots of cows to milk which was a long job as it all had to be done by hand plus many calves which had to be bucket-fed. This meant that we had to be up very early so that Leslie could be ready to start the milking at 6 a.m. I had to light the fire and make sure the cinders were red hot ready to do the toast. The fireplace was very old having a bar across where the kettle was boiled and where the bacon and eggs could be cooked. At the side was a boiler to heat the hot water with a ladling can to take it out.
During these months I was very busy preparing for the arrival of our first baby as well as making things for our first home. We made six big rugs to cover the bare floors. We would make clips out of old clothes and prick them onto hession canvas spread between a large wooden frame. After our first baby daughter, Margaret, was born and during our first winter at the farmhouse our entertainment would be listening to the wireless whilst pricking out the rugs.
Leslie worked long hours and didn't get in until late in the evening. At 4 p.m. his sister would help him with the milking and then he would come in at 5 o'clock to have his tea after which he would do the fothering, clean out the horse stables and feed the stock. Most evenings he would grind barley for pig feed before his working day came to an end.
It wasn't too long before things began to look brighter as we had three electric lights installed, one in the kitchen, bedroom and stairs. Soon after that the water was laid on with a sink and a cold water tap.
At last we were ready for our family to arrive.
