Another challenge

[Sheal]

Having bought a new ground post and rotary washing line it was time to remove the old one in this newish garden of mine. Having removed the turf to discover the edges of the slab, the team - my neighbour, husband and I found it was cemented to a wider piece of concrete.



The slab was about 3 x 3ft and that wider piece of concrete we discovered was at least 2ft in depth. Why do people do this just for a washing line post? I removed a similar one in a previous garden.



After breaking up some of the slab we managed to turn it over and discovered rocks and house bricks also cemented to it.



A couple of hours later and the hard grafting done the rubble is ready to clear. I'll fill the hole with the old turf and cover with topsoil and grass seed.



And below is what we removed. Just a six inch length of old, flimsy plastic that served as a washing line post.

 

[Meadowlark]

That was really an overkill on the part of the original owner...and a lot of work to remove.

 

[Sheal]

It was hard work Meadowlark. All three of us are in our 70's but we still like a challenge.

 

[Sean Regan]

That was a nightmare. It's unbelievable what some people will do.
I can imagine the frustration as the job would have got harder and harder as you tackled it.

 

[Sheal]

I think in the past Sean the lighter weight line posts weren't strong enough to support a rotary line so they concreted them in. What many people don't realise is that when hanging laundry on this sort of line it should be spread evenly with length (like towels) and weight of items around it. If all the weight is on one side then the line will gradually lean.

The job did get harder with us running out of energy. Unfortunately a thing that comes with age.

 

[Sean Regan]

Those new-fangled washing facilities haven't reached us yet, we're still use one of those old-fangled tumble driers.

In truth, due to my wife's disabilities, a washing line has been out of the question for the best part of forty years.
So is the idea of me hanging washing out is not going to happen. I don't mind putting a couple of loads into the washing machine daily and then the tumble dryer. But that's as far it goes.
Ironing, for the most part, doesn't happen, as most washing just needs folding up and putting away or hanging in a wardrobe. However, I do have to iron my Ben Sherman shirts.
This is because, a "house rule," states. "If you're daft enough to buy something that needs ironing, you iron it yourself."

 

[Sheal]

Ben Sherman takes my thoughts back to the days of skinheads aka bovver boys. The shirts were part of the necessary dress.

 

[Sean Regan]

I think in the past Sean the lighter weight line posts weren't strong enough to support a rotary line so they concreted them in. What many people don't realise is that when hanging laundry on this sort of line it should be spread evenly with length (like towels) and weight of items around it. If all the weight is on one side then the line will gradually lean.

The job did get harder with us running out of energy. Unfortunately a thing that comes with age.

Ben Sherman takes my thoughts back to the days of skinheads aka bovver boys. The shirts were part of the necessary dress.

In my late teens, I considered myself a "modernist," not to be confused with those 'erberts who wore fur trimmed parkas and rode around on motor scooters, they came later.
Before them, there were the trad jazz fans, who wore baggy sweaters, KD trousers and suede shoes.
As a modern jazz enthusiast, I had a shadow striped, box style, Italian jacket, drain-pipe trousers, black chisel toe shoes. white button down collared shirts and knitted ties. I and my future wife, joined Ronnie Scott's first jazz club the week it opened (we'd just moved into a flat in Soho together).
Ben Shermans didn't become available until 1963. By then we were married with a child and Ben Sherman shirts for me, were financially "beyond justification." I didn't start buying them until I was in my thirties.
I must still have about a couple of dozen or more. Some self coloured, but the majority are small checks. Mostly short-sleeved, but some long-sleeved. All of course, with button down collars with the third button on the back of the collar. The quality was always excellent.
Because of the infrequent wear of individual shirts, those I still have, are in excellent condition.
I've not bought any more for a very long time, as I found, as with many branded items, the quality proceeded in inverse proportion to the price.

 

[Sheal]

Things have changed so much since then but I suppose all generations say that as time goes on.