What a wonderful morning we had in P2/3 when a special visitor arrived to our classroom. Victoria, the maid from Northland House, came to tell us all about her daily chores.
We helped her to wash the clothes using a wash board and carbolic soap to remove any stains. Then we dried the clothes by wringing them out and putting them through the mangle. Maid Victoria couldn’t believe it that we have a magic box in our houses nowadays which does the washing for us!
We used a carpet beater to clean the rugs as no hoovers have been invented yet to use at Northland House.
Only the rooms used by the well-to-do family have electricity at Northland House. The rooms the servants use have no electricity so we helped Maid Victoria to make some candles. We warmed the wax in our hands and folded it over some string to make our candle. Maid Victoria is given one new candle on a Sunday and it must last for an entire week!
We helped Maid Victoria to make some butter using a plunge churn. The butter stamp at Northland House has a thistle on it.
Maid Victoria showed us other interesting items from the ‘big house’. We saw some hair curlers, grape scissors, a moustache cup and a button hook. The penny lick glass was used for ice-cream, but wasn’t washed out very often!
Maid Victoria was so impressed with how hard we all worked. She only gets one afternoon off per month (if her work is all finished) so she soon had to return via horse and cart to get dinner ready at Northland House.
What a fabulous living history experience in P2/3.
