‘The Old Cow in the kitchen – capturing memories before the Elephant forgets,’ by Lynda Waterhouse

 

Last week, for the first time in years I missed my slot and I didn’t post, and it was the fault of the Old Cow in the Kitchen!

I’d received some funding from my local council, Southwark, to make a short film and stage an event with the aim of capturing memories of the people who have lived their whole lives at the Elephant and Castle in South London. I have been deeply affected by the way that my ‘manor’, The Elephant and Castle, has been rapidly changing. I felt that this noisy and at times controversial re-development is in danger of drowning out the voices of the people that have made it such a rich and vibrant place. Initially, my aim was to interview local elders such as local resident, John, whose family had connections to one street going back to 1916.

Then there was Marian. I’d first encountered her in the 1990s at a local summer fete, where she was known as one of the ‘Marmalade Ladies’. She, along with her older sister Jessie, made and sold her delicious homemade jams for charity. Later on, I knew her as an outspoken and fearless campaigner against the building of a high rise hotel by an off-shore developer way too close to our homes (we lost). At the age of 97, she agreed to be interviewed. She mentioned that her father, Henry Townshend, had been a keen amateur photographer. It turned out that he was a hugely talented and chronicler of local life and I uncovered a treasure trove of images as I learned more about Marian’s life.

Marian’s mother, Kathleen, and her Aunt Rose had been orphaned but, as Kathleen was fourteen, she was deemed too old to be taken into Charlotte Sharman’s orphanage in West Square. Instead, she went to work as a scullery maid in the square where she kept a watchful eye on Rose.

After the First World War Kathleen met and married Henry and rented rooms in a boarding house in West Square.  Marian explained that her uncle also rented rooms in the same house and that there was a lodger on the top and an old cow in the kitchen.

‘What? You had a cow in the kitchen?’ I gasped

Marian smiled, ‘Grandma.’

©Townsend

Grandma lived in the kitchen and had a job finishing collapsible opera hats. I was mesmerized by the story and the photograph. Then Marian added, ’Later on I wondered if it was the mercury that was used in the finishing process that had affected her and she wasn’t just being bloody minded.’

Henry had photographed her at work.

In fond memory of Marian (August 1928 – August 2024).

 If there is any interest I’ll post the link for the film. A bid is also in progress for a companion project, ‘The Crocodile on the Bus.’

I’ll try not to miss my slot again!