Domestic Arrangements

My own humble dwelling is in the usual state of untidiness that it descends into when I've been working several long shifts and have tired out my houseworking muscles. So, instead of tethering the vacuum cleaner to the electrical supply, I've been looking back through some photos taken recently - and not so recently - and realised that I have a lot of pictures of domestic interiors of one sort or another. Domestic arrangements through the ages and across classes, you might say. I wasn't actually thinking about floral arrangements but here's a picture of one anyway, on a beautifully restored gypsy caravan displayed at a steam rally. 





You could peek inside too if you were of a nosey disposition....

....beautiful, isn't it? A bit twee perhaps but prettier than many of our modern homes. The Romany or Gypsy people have close links with the owners of fairground rides, "Showmen", they call themselves. They lived in wagons like this one.....  

Time for a story now:

Many years ago I was out walking along part of the old Icknield Way when I came across some modern caravans parked along one side of the ancient green lane. Suddenly, out from behind them, appeared three large dogs, about the size of small ponies. They bounded up, barking and yelping, leapt at me and knocked me to the ground. A woman shouted a command from inside one of the vans and the three slavering beasts immediately withdrew, tails between their legs. Within seconds several anxious hands were lifting me to my feet; men and women with weather-beaten complexions and many gold teeth were apologising and dusting me down. "Come in for the cup of tea or something stronger", they insisted. and so I entered their gleaming chrome caravan.

A caravan very like this one...

....it was sheltering in a barn at the Museum Of East Anglian Life at Stowmarket and was thankfully not attended by any baying hounds. I couldn't resist peering inside through the back window....

Wow! That certainly took a bit of polishing! But it's not so different from the one I was invited into. It seems to be a mark of the true Romany people that they take huge pride in their immaculate homes, whether traditional or modern.

Also at the Stowmarket museum was this evocation of the 1950s or 60s.....

All very cluttered of course, but that's how things were as kitchens were never big enough for the modern appliances that we all craved. Most people I knew had their washing machines outside in the shed, often with some makeshift wiring and plumbing that would have sent Health & Safety into a tailspin!

If you were wealthy enough you'd have a television and a wireless set too...

We had a wireless but no TV. I remember the first time I saw television. It was on the 6th of May, 1960 when Princess Margaret married Mr Anthony Armstrong-Jones. (The bridegroom was so posh, it was explained to me, that he had TWO surnames while his bride was even posher and had none at all!) We crowded around a neighbour's set, a huge lump of furniture with a small screen in one corner that produced a dim picture in flickering black and white; if you drew all the curtains you could see it OK. 

Lets remind ourselves though of how people were living in the stately homes of England...

Rather different in style, I'm sure you'll agree. Even so there are some things which still unite the rich and the poor. I leave you with My Lord Fairhaven's country seat....

Take care!