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House and home

maiden, clothes-horse or something else?

(139 Posts)
frankie74 Tue 26-Feb-19 12:33:29

The wooden hinged, floor-standing clothes drier/airer that was in our childhood home was called the maiden. I'm wondering if that was one of our mum's made-up expressions (there were several!) What did others call it? Was it a name local to NW England?

B9exchange Tue 26-Feb-19 12:38:02

Just the 'airer' down South!

Fennel Tue 26-Feb-19 12:41:44

NE - clothes horse.
A lot of people also had a rack which hung up near the fire in the kitchen called a stretcher. Pulled up and down on pulleys.

paddyann Tue 26-Feb-19 12:42:35

Winter Dykes here in West of Scotland ,I have my OH's granny's and they are used daily

MiniMoon Tue 26-Feb-19 12:45:41

We had a pulley above the rayburn which was raised and lowered when needed. My mother dried the bed linen and towels on it when it was too rainy to dry outside on the line. We never owned a clothes horse.

sodapop Tue 26-Feb-19 12:49:15

I've heard the expression 'maiden' before Fennel but not for many years.
Clothes horse, airer, are ones I use. Winter Dykes is interesting paddyann do you know how that evolved ?
We just called the hanging one a pulley.

Kittye Tue 26-Feb-19 12:56:42

I grew up in the northwest and we had a “maiden” and a “rack” which came down from the ceiling. I’ve lived in the south all my adult life and I now have an “ airer”

lemongrove Tue 26-Feb-19 13:05:52

North West here....we said a clothes horse.

Katek Tue 26-Feb-19 13:09:40

In bygone days in Scotland washing was dried outside on the wall or ‘dyke’. Impossible to do this in winter so a clothes horse/airer was used indoors, hence a dyke for the winter-winterdyke.

kittylester Tue 26-Feb-19 13:09:58

My nan called it a maiden as does DD3. My nan was from Lancashire and I suspect that dd3 got it from her Black Country partner.

We used to call it a clothes horse. I've not got one now but would call it a airer.

I have a pulley in the utility room.

Daddima Tue 26-Feb-19 13:10:08

Clothes horse here in central Scotland, but my Ayrshire daughter-in-law calls it a winterdyke.

Missfoodlove Tue 26-Feb-19 13:14:13

We referred to the hanging one over the range as a maiden.
The clothes horse was floor standing and was used to make dens when we were children.

EllanVannin Tue 26-Feb-19 13:20:18

I still call it the maiden.

frankie74 Tue 26-Feb-19 13:48:35

Ah yes Missfoodlove, I also remember making a den with it. When my DB and I were about 10 we put our savings together and raised 19/6d and bought a new one for mum's birthday (she must have been thrilled) - It was like a wooden concertina that rose from the floor. I used it myself for many years after I was married

Grandma70s Tue 26-Feb-19 14:19:47

When I was a child in the northwest we had a clothes horse. I think it was a sort of floor-standing, folding wooden rack. The thing I remember best was a pulley with wooden slats that went up and down over the boiler, but I’m not sure what it was called.

I have heard of a maiden, but never heard the term winterdyke before. What a terrific word.

Urmstongran Tue 26-Feb-19 14:33:15

Maiden.

Wobbles Tue 26-Feb-19 14:53:27

frankie74 My Mum had a wooden concertina type clothes horse too. We also had a Flatley, a tall metal box electric drier. You hung the clothes over wooden slats. Anyone else have one?

FlexibleFriend Tue 26-Feb-19 15:08:49

Clothes horse - Londoner.

Ailsa43 Tue 26-Feb-19 15:22:01

Clothes horse in the West of Scotland when I was growing up, and Pulley hanging from the kitchen ceiling!!

Susan56 Tue 26-Feb-19 15:31:55

Maiden when I was growing up in Liverpool,call it clothes airer now.Not sure when it changed!

ninathenana Tue 26-Feb-19 15:47:25

Mum's home made one was called a clothes horse. She was from Bristol.
Here in S.E. I call mine an airer.

I've not heard of a "maiden".

lemongrove Tue 26-Feb-19 15:52:50

Maiden, never heard of that, has anyone heard the term midden used for the flat roof over the outside loos that ran down the back to back houses in terraces?
Grandparents used to complain of tomcats singing on the middens.grin
The normal use of the word(historical) was the piles of rotting veg and excrement etc.?

CariGransnet (GNHQ) Tue 26-Feb-19 15:53:15

Grew up NW - clothes horse
Live in London - airer but the one we got as a wedding present was made by Minky (seen them in Tesco and John Lewis etc - very good) so we tend to call it Minky now - sounds friendlier grin grin

Charleygirl5 Tue 26-Feb-19 15:54:57

In Scotland, we had a pulley attached to the ceiling in the kitchen and over the cooker. To my knowledge, nothing fell off on to the cooker setting the place on fire!

I think we also had a clothes horse. My mother hung clothes outside on the line even in frosty weather- everything was stiff when brought in.

Here in London I have an airer.

grannyqueenie Tue 26-Feb-19 15:57:32

Same here Ailsa, on all counts!
I had a pulley in the utility room when our family were growing up, it was great for drying washing, I miss it where we live now but thankfully don’t have as much laundry!