Re: The Clothesline

We used a clothesline when I was growing up, but were forever running outside to grab the clothes when the sky darkened.  In the North-East of England, you see, it rains a lot.

Of course, the washing machine and clothesline were a step up from the machinery my grandmother had in her kitchen: a washboard, poss-tub and mangle.  Want to know what those did?  Here’s a handy pictorial guide.

People with no memory of this era should remember just what you had to go through to get the clothes into a state that they could be air-dried.