Black Gold

I noticed today that a coal truck had lost part of its load on Greengate St here in Barrow in Furness. 
Not that many years ago people would have appeared seemingly from nowhere with buckets and carried it off for use in the garden.
 But no not nowadays it was just left to be crushed under the wheels of passing traffic.  I sometimes wonder just how many people would actually know how to light a coal fire in this age of push button central heating.

A Walking. talking History Book

One thing I love about the Furness area is its history which is so varied as it covers a massive area and those best at teaching history are those that have been around the longest and that's our dear old folk that we pick up.

They have stories of good and bad times about how life used to me and I`m always intrigued by how they got by years ago and I suppose when I get to their age then the next generations will be asking how we managed to survive. Its an evolutionary thing and we get used to what we grow up with and what we have.

Anyway, today I picked up an old lady who tells me she is 82 years old and we talked about tales of the war and living in poverty and rations. At the end of the journey she didn't want to get out the car without putting the world to rights and even though we were busy with jobs, I didn't want her to get out the car til she was ready so we sat and had a 10 minute talk.

Some of these people are widows or widowers and long for a bit of company and its really re-assuring knowing that not only have you got them home safely but you have also made their day and they've had someone to share their life's story with.