Call the midwife

Callistemon Oh yes - mortgage companies would not take into account wife's earning for mortgage. When we got married I was earning more than my hubbie, and when we tried, prior to that to get a mortgage ran into these problems. The LCC introduced a scheme whereby any person living in London would be lent cost of house (upto 100%), based entirely on local EA valuation of that property - with no questions asked regarding earnings etc. Higher rate of interest was charged and this enabled us to get that £3,950 house. Once in we let the garage, and took in a lodger to help us pay the mortgage.

I agree £5,000 was a great amount to win. Our first terrace house cost £1,500 and the mortgage was £14 a month. We were hard pushed to find that at times.

Peartree I’ve been binge watching it on iPlayer for several evenings now, end up crying at every episode.

Ive just started watching CTM from the begining. I forgot about Chummy. The story lines are more gritty and not very sugary sweet. Trixie looks about 12. Really enjoying it.

I agree that the maternity dresses are too tight. My voluminous maternity dress or top would drape loosely over the bump even at the end...and I don't think I was very small.

'Violence is always abuse; abuse is not always violence'. A very powerful message and just as important today.

Franbern

Agree with Callistemon21. Back in 1964, we purchased our first house in NE London. Victorian end of terrace, 3-bedroom for £3,950.00 Five grand was a small fortune back then.

I'm smiling at the £3,950, *Franbern

Our first house was £4,550 - it was a struggle to find the deposit despite years of saving and we offered £4,500 but the vendors would not come down that £50.
They would only take one salary into account back then.

Agree with Callistemon21. Back in 1964, we purchased our first house in NE London. Victorian end of terrace, 3-bedroom for £3,950.00 Five grand was a small fortune back then.

It seems out of character for Trixie to be sneaking back into Nonnatus House after spending the night with Matthew. She's always been portrayed as having very high morals and the one time she did go away for the night with Christopher she wasn't happy about it.
Also how come she is now talking openly about her alcoholism in front of everyone. That used to be something she kept extremely private. I think only Sr Julienne knew.

Thank you Jane43. Presumably using her Premium bond win. That means she will probably be back next series which is good!

Phyllis won £5k on the premium bonds.
She could have bought herself a small house or flat with that sum instead of having to live in a nunnery and bunk up with girls half her age.
In fact, she could have Miss Higgins as a lodger.

An aunt passed on a pile of maternity dresses to me in 1969. They were huge with bows to draw attention to your neckline and away from your bump.
I bought myself a stylish pinafore dress and wore it from about 3 months!

Phyllis won £5k on the premium bonds.

granfromafar. Phyllis is going on a 6 week coach trip she saw advertised in the paper, it goes to Bruges, Paris, other destinations then to Spain.

Grammaretto

Yes Beswitched it looks like it.

Gripe tonight was that the maternity clothes were too tight.
Back then people wore tents or at least loose clothes. It was years before showing your bump off became a "thing"

Back then people wore tents or at least loose clothes
And were often hand-made.

Those Mothercare pinafore dresses! (actually I made some myself) and thought I was quite trendy wearing stretchy expanding trousers with a smock top ?

It was difficult to watch Lucille but at least she got the care she needed. Not everyone did.

Beswitched

Looks like Phyllis and Trixie are gone for the rest of the series

Can someone please fill me in on where Phyllis is off to? I left the room for a few moments and missed that bit, just saw her leaving in the taxi at the end!

I wonder will either of them come back? They might have Trixie getting engaged in the Christmas special, and Lucille discovering she's pregnant again.

Yes Beswitched it looks like it.

Gripe tonight was that the maternity clothes were too tight.
Back then people wore tents or at least loose clothes. It was years before showing your bump off became a "thing"

Looks like Phyllis and Trixie are gone for the rest of the series

I had my two children in 1969 and 1972 and would leave both in prams in the garden, also outside shops, everyone did.
Where I live it was a custom to give a newborn baby a silver coin as it was supposed to give them luck with money.My two sons, and other babies, were great collectors of these coins, if a pram with a newborn baby was seen outside a shop, complete strangers would drop coins in it.Imagine that going on now.

I love seeing the beautiful "proper" prams, not the silly tiny little things they have nowadays. I had a Silver Cross coach built pram for my first 3, then for babies 4 and 5 I had a Pedigree, lighter weight plastic one, but still a decent size. I had my first 3 in hospital, the last 2 at home, and much preferred being at home, although I think that mothers are sent home far too early now, less than 24 hours in some cases. Back in the day, we were kept in for 10 days with a first baby, and 3 days for following babies.

Circumcision, at that time, was something that many medical people thought a good idea. So, no way at that time would anyone have raised any object. One of the Leading Consultant at the Elizabeth Garrett Hospital for Women encouraged this to be carried out on male babies. One of my Health Visitors always said that she had never she was confident that it had great health benefits both for the man and also for his future sexual partners.
Think it is only in very recent years, that we have gone before these age-old religious beliefs and thought about as mutilation.

Suedonim yes, the fur trade (although they did not know it then), was going to die. My Dad, fortunately reached retirement age early in the 1970's after more than fifty years in the trade. Mainly based in the North East of London, it did - for some reason - have a very high number of jewish workers and factory owners. Dad was one of workers. He did do various other part-time job in those retirement years, but it was after that time that the repulsion against wearing animal skins really got underway.

Between 1969 and 1982, I cared for something like forty babies, my own (mainly breastfed), fostered, obviously bottlefed. All wore terry towel nappies. Feel that I am pretty much an expert on mores, habits, etc of that time.,

Luckygirl3

*Why was Trixie so shocked at Yvonne leaving Melanie outside in her pram?* I thought that too. I was a social worker in Birmingham at a bout that time and when home visiting it was standard practice for babies to be outside in their prams.

I was also - at the risk of getting shouted down - quite surprised at the calm acceptance of baby boy mutilation.

This is why they need to use older writers.
People who actually would know that it was quite normal for mothers to leave babies outside in their prams during this time.

I know it was last weeks episode, but did anyone else get really annoyed at one of the nuns washing dogshit off her shoe in the kitchen sink!
No trained nurse would ever do such a thing.
Watching her do that was more shocking and disgusting than the foot coming off.
I wonder if some of the writers are really young (it's something I might have done when was younger) )

Wow! Franbern that is an amazing story - all of them. You were a power-house. Good on yer.
I was much more timid and just accepted my lot.
I remember feeding my baby in the lobby of the Ladies loo in a dept store where there was a chair. No pram but sling or back pack. A few ladies walking past looked sympathetic.
No baby changing facilities either. You just had to have a lap (a skirt was useful) to spread out the baby and the terry nappy, remove the dirty one and take it home with you. You got quite adept.