Just came across this and since tin (zinc) baths were discussed in an earlier thread and nostalgia got the better of me I thought I'd share it with any who remember those Friday nights.

Frida’ neets, Mam’d mek t’fre up
Wi’ plenty o’ wood an’ coil,
Fill up t’big pans wi’ watter
An’ set ‘em on ter boil.Then, out o’ t’wesh-house she’d fetch t’tin bath
An’ set it on t’owd pegged rug,
Then each on us bairns’d be lathered in turn,
In t’kitchen ser warm an’ snug.
Clean ‘jamas wor waitin’ on t’oven dooar,
As we splashed an’ laiked in t’tub,
‘Til Mam’d say, “Let’s be ‘avin’ yer!
It’s tahm fer a rub-a-dub-dub!”
Then, cocoa an’ parkin curled up bi t’fre,
In a sleepy, shinin’ glow.
Aye! Ah’d swap aw them fancy bathroom suites
Fer a bathneet o’ long ago!

Years at KBGS e.g. 1958-1964 (optional) 54-59

Current location (optional) Denholme

Ee Gareth I reet enjoyed your auld ode and I can just recall havin'
such a good tubbin' in tin bath down bents lane, Harecroft when I were
about 3 or 4 years old.

Years at KBGS e.g. 1958-1964 (optional) 1960-65

Current location (optional) Wilsden

Champion, Gareth. Glad to hear that Denholme enjoyed the same luxuries as Eastwood.

Can I take most on yer back to the concrete bath-paradise under Keighley Cricket pavilion- 2 foot deep with 3 inches of tepid water and 4 or 5 blocks of reddish carbolic soap with which we were expected to clean up after our short double period of "Games" at Lawkholme, on the pitches beyond KCC.

We were rushed to get clean, dry and out and back to school asap for a sumptuous lunch in the Mechanics Hall.

The one joy - as a start - was we knew that in that same bum-scouring concrete bath - on its last turn-out - stars of KRLFC - Chris Brereton, Mulhall, Callaghan, Ivill, Len Ward, Derek Hallas, Jacky Mills et al had all scrubbed their bums in the same inhospitable bath nobbut a day or so before.

Did their magic ever rub off?

Years at KBGS e.g. 1958-1964 (optional) 1952-60

Current location (optional) Nirvana

Some nice memories there Terry. What about Freddy Barrett and Melville de Lloyd? I sometimes think about Jacky Mills classic toe inline kicking style and how he could steer them over effortlessly from the sideline, when I watch some of the modern breed of kicker with all their individual mannerisms and strange kicking styles. Cheers.

Years at KBGS e.g. 1958-1964 (optional) 1947-51

Current location (optional) Auckland,NZ

One bitterly cold afternoon at Lawkholme, during a game of rugby, someone sat on my hand and broke a finger. I showed the crookedly bent finger to Glbert, who told me to go and bathe and get changed when he would take me to hospital. The bath was full and hot and as feeling returned to my frozen hands the pain arrived. Gilbert was kindness itself and sat and chatted to me through the x Rays and the plastering. I still have a funny nail on that finger. I carry it as a memento of the stone bath and my single memory of the place.
Now about that tin bath. We had one in the cellar and used to ladle hot water from the gas boiler into it. I always added ‘snowflakes” and as I bathed I would ladle water down my back until the lather used to be nearly a yard deep and I could disappear into it. I would sit there till my fingers puckered. I remember the cold stone floor striking through the bottom of the bath on to my bum contrasting with the warmth of the water. A strange sensation.
I would leave the water still in the bath till morning and then go to empty it into the cellar sink. The snowflake- laden water had set into a gelatinous gloop which I would ladle into the stone sink and work it down the plughole with my fingers until the bath was light enough to be lifted and last gloop would slide out in one last sudden flop into the sink to be worked down the hole. Goodness knows what Marley made of all that when it arrived.

The long, hard winter of 1947 was followed by a rapid thaw which flooded any low-lying land in our part of Keighley, close to the confluence of the Aire and the Worth. All the cellars in our street were awash, for what seemed like weeks. Early on, there was about three feet of water which reached up to the third or fourth step and which made it well-nigh impossible to open t'coil-oil door, at the bottom of the steps, and then you had to more or less dive for the coal. But one of the great problems this flood brought was how to feed the gas metre, which was at the far side of the cellar. In addition to the family-size zinc bath we still had the smaller one that had been used for me when I was much younger. Now, after a few years of retirement, it came into its own again - the solution to the problem. I was put into it, with a supply of pennies, or a shilling, and had to paddle my way round the corner by the coal hole and over to the metre. There was no light in the cellar other than the feeble penumbra entering through the grating up at yard level, so this was no jolly-rogering lark for me. I had to paddle round, then without letting the bath drift away, heave myself up onto my dad's work bench and stuff the coins into the metre; then without tipping the bath and me over into the smelly black water, I had to get back in and paddle myself back to the cellar steps and safety. But if this wasn't bad enough, the cellar had always been home to all kinds of bogey men and assorted demons anyway, so it was really a voyage into the heart of darkness. My only life-line was the continuous conversation and encouragement coming from whichever of my adults had launched me. When the waters eventually subsided - presumably seeping down through the flagstones into the earth beneath - the cellar was full of frogs and toads which we had to rescue and transport to allotments at the bottom of the street. Tin baths never had the same warm memories for me that some of you have expressed!

Years at KBGS e.g. 1958-1964 (optional) 1951-58

Current location (optional) Cottingham, East Yorkshire

What a wonderful story. I know exactly what you mean about the various bogey men, monsters, etc who lived down't coil oil, being the youngest of 4 boys.

Current location (optional) Blue Mountains, Australia via Haworth

What a beauty! If there was a prize for the post of the year this would be a strong candidate Doug. Well done. Amongst my own memories of t'coil oil are the times I had to slide down the shute to open the house door for our neighbour when she locked herself out of the house. She gave me 6d for the effort.

Years at KBGS e.g. 1958-1964 (optional) 1947-51

Current location (optional) Auckland,NZ

Great Doug. I find this hard to believe but my cousin, Bill Harley, told a similar tale about his bathtub exploits in their cellar - in the flood when they lived on Aireworth Road (now that was asking for it !!)
I never thought he had the J K Jerome skills you so competently displayed.

Years at KBGS e.g. 1958-1964 (optional) 1952-69

Current location (optional) Nirvana

The knack, Terry, was positioning yourself in the centre and pushing your knees hard into the sides. Fortunately, though oval in shape the bath was not very wide... so I still sing [strictly in the bath, but not that bath]somewhere between wobbly tenor and groaning base. The really difficult bit was getting in and out of the bath at the bench; easier when the water level was high (thanks to Archimedes) but progressively more difficult as it slowly drained away because I had to reach higher. As far as I remember, there was a lot of perilous tipping and rocking as I gingerly pulled myself up onto the bench on one knee, having put t'brass on t'bench aforehand, but trailing t'other leg so it held the bath against the bench. Then came the critical moment, stretching forward and upwards to get the coin(s) in the slot, while stretching downwards and backwards to hold onto t'bath and not be marooned if it drifted away. If I'd dropped the coin(s) I'd never have found them in that light... I was a cockle-shell hero at least once a day for I don't know how long - a roll (or do I mean 'role'?) I gladly relinquished once the water had dropped below adult knee height... But ever after, the cellar retained a musty stench (with the occasional 'mushroom' growing out of the walls) and probably still has it to this day. Sounds implausible, I know, and felt impossible every time I journeyed up the Congo, but it happened, I assure you.

Years at KBGS e.g. 1958-1964 (optional) 1951-58

Current location (optional) Cottingham, East Yorkshire

Trying to capture an image of you, Doug, as a Cockleshell Hero. The choice is Trevor Howard or Jose Ferrer. Then there's Anthony Newley and Dora Bryan. Spoilt for choice !

Years at KBGS e.g. 1958-1964 (optional) 1952-69

Current location (optional) Nirvana

You just got me into trouble, Doug. I sat here reading your heroics in a flooded cellar and shaking with silent laughter at the images conjured up. My partner figured I was laughing at her brushing her hair and threw the brush at me. Good story though and I applaud the daily heroics also.

Yes, Arthur, I read about the 'inclement weather' that had come your way. Hope you keep a tin bath handy!

Best

Doug

Years at KBGS e.g. 1958-1964 (optional) 1951-58

Current location (optional) Cottingham, East Yorkshire