As I've said to various people off-list, exactly my grandparents' situation. My grandfather was often unemployed ( I remember my Mum saying how good it was if it snowed, since he could then get some days work sweeping the snow away). So they took in lodgers during the summer months. My Mum and her two sisters slept in the smallest bedroom and her parents downstairs so the lodgers had the two best bedrooms and the front parlour. And for the rest of the year my Grandma took in washing. And I still feel guilty if I don't iron a shirt 'double bits first' as I was taught to do by her! Anne On 5 May 2006, at 20:02, Eric Bishop wrote: > During the late 20's and early 30's my grandmother took in lodgers, at > 1? Alliance Road, simply to make ends meet, my grandfather having > deserted the family. My father often had to literally "sleep in the > bath" so a lodger could have his bed. it's hard to believe in these > days, that poverty was still rife in a small resort town like > Ramsgate. > > Eric >