My house was built in the 1850s. Rapid shifts in the perception of women's role and place and the view of the character and "depravity" of the "working classes" have occurred since then. Detailed descriptions of the slave labour that "service" entailed make me think that society was brutal and very hypocritical. I know we probably are no different but looking back we have different lenses and are pretty blind to our own faults.
What struck me in particular was the daily fight against dirt - which the Victorians associated with moral rectitude - cockroaches, black beetles and the dreaded bed bugs. Mice and rats were considered vermin but far less so than the above. Smuts and filth of coal fires and smog. Poor drains and basic sewerage until later in the century. My granny was in service and the amount of cleaning, lifting and shifting makes me wince - no wonder she was hard and tough.
I'm only a quarter through the book but the other striking element is thrift. We'd call it recycling, but they wasted nothing. My mum tells me tales of wartime when paper was cut up for toilet paper but they took this further - tea leaves were reused as a means of lifting dirt from carpets, and food was treated with utmost respect - endless leftovers. I look forward to reading the rest of the book.
I'm also discovering new things to photograph most days. Looking through a lens slows my overthinking down to a manageable and more sane level. And blogging about it all feels like communicating! There are some truly wild and wonderful things in our neighbourhood. I particularly enjoyed discovering this one https://floworchardexeter.uk.
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