What I can't understand is, why people living in such dreadful conditions still had large families - I know few had TV and little birth control but was it really that simple?
Peg.
Quite simple, I lived in one of those one down two up back to back houses in Nechells. The reason why families lived in such conditions was because they had no choice. They were forced to live there because the rents were cheaper and they were mostly in very poorly paid employment.
Because of this poor pay, early nights were the order of the day during the cold winter. In most working class houses you would find that except for the odd few that could afford to visit the local pub that they were in bed by 10.p.m. most nights, simply because it was the most efficient way to keep warm, as coal or coke was too expensive for everyday use and was only used for cooking when houses had the old black open ranges. We all know what happens when a man and a woman have an early night and they are not tired. The lack of birth control, and some religions have a lot to answer for, ours was a Roman Catholic House
There were eight of us living in our little hovel, before I had to move back in with my grandparents when the ninth was on it's way. The Council finally gave us a three bedroom property half a mile away, but only because they were demolishing the street.