Join us for our monthly reminiscence sessions for older people – just come along, enjoy a cup of tea and share your memories.

This month's topic is about 'keeping warm' ...

'Most of us now benefit from the sort of heating that keeps all our rooms warm and comes on automatically, but it was not always so. We usually used to rely on coal fires, cleaning out the grate first and then careful making up before (hopefully) lighting. Then of course there was also the yearly visit of the sweep. Sometimes additional heating was used for other rooms, such as paraffin stoves or electric fires and we usually had to find extra ways to keep warm, such as hot water bottles (rubber or stone) or bed warmers. Some of us changed to different heating – gas fires or 5-bar electric heaters, so much easier to use – and then central heating started to be installed. Do you remember when you got this and the difference it made? Do you miss a coal fire? What do you remember about the challenges and rewards of keeping warm in years gone past?