Cabra History.Com

Our Coal-Hole was under our stairs. In the winter time a big coal lorry would pull up outside our house and a man with a big black face would come knocking on our door. He had this thing on his head that made him look like something out of a Robin Hood film. I think it was a sack with the corners turned in and it kept the rain off of his head. Him and his pal would bring about eight or ten great big sacks of coal into the house and empty them into the Coal-Hole. And when they’d be finished throwing it all in there’d be loads of coal all over the place and out into the kitchen because the Coal-Hole door couldn’t close. Then the Ma’ would tell us to pick it all up and throw it into the back of the Coal-Hole and we’d have to fill up a bucket with it too. Most of our coats and schoolbags usually ended up in there as well. They’d be trun in on top of the coal or hung up on one of the nails the Da’ would have hammered into the back of the door. Sometimes. when the Ma’ would have gone into town to arrange a loan from the Jewman she’d leave one of the brothers in charge of the rest of us. Well I can tell you it was no fun with him because he used to lock us all under the stairs in the dark Coal-Hole and we’d have to sit on top of the coal as well. Then he’d bring a load of his pals in and they’d after be smokin’ fags over by the fire so that the Ma’ wouldn’t get the smell of the smoke. There we’d be trying to spy out at the them through the little holes in the Coal-Hole door. And one time one of the sisters was bursting to go to the toilet and she couldn’t hold it in and had to do it all over  the coal. There she was dancing and jigging on the coal ‘I’m bursting, I’m bursting. It’s goin’ to come out…‘ And out it came, splashing off a the coal and up onto our legs. We’d have to grab one of the coats from off of the door and wipe ourselves with it…