Being the eldest of the eight Slater children, Nancy was helping her mother get the others off to work and school. Her parents had worked hard over the years to make sure they all had an education; they wanted their children to do well in the world.
A shout from the kitchen door heralded Violet’s arrival and in the quiet after the others had left, the three had tea and began to chat.
Violet had an idea and wanted some opinions on it. Laying her notion out in front of them, Martha said, ‘Well now, that needs a deal o’ thinkin’ on.’ Violet and Nancy both laughed at the phrase they’d come to know so well.
‘So,’ Nancy began, ‘your idea would be for me and a few others to look after the children of the women of Wednesbury, until they are of an age to go to school, while their mothers work or try to find work. It might also stop them having to resort to having abortions too. The women would then pay a nominal sum a week which would give us a small wage, is that right so far?’
Violet nodded and Nancy continued, ‘The question now is, where? We would need somewhere that we could watch over the children; we’d need to give them a bit of dinner an’ all. It would be a long day so some might need a nap as well…’
‘Our Nancy is right, wench,’ Martha added.
Violet smiled, saying, ‘If I could find a place, Nancy, could you find some helpers?’
‘Yes, that would be easy enough. There’s a lot of girls my age who don’t have work to go to.’
Saying she would visit again soon, Violet set off for home in high spirits.
‘Well, wench, what do you make of that?’ Martha asked her daughter.
‘I think our Violet has another bone to chew on and before long I’m going to find myself in work at last!’
Walking down Hobbins Street and along Holyhead Road to the market later that day, Nancy allowed her mind to wander. How many children would there be to take care of? How many helpers would be needed? Would the women be able to afford it? At least if their little ones were being looked after, the women could search for work. As her mind mulled it over, she began to think this idea of Violet’s might actually work.
*
Friday came round and saw Violet, Kath, Mary and Annie in Martha’s kitchen for a change, having tea. Joyce was at her work in the nail making factory.
Violet said, ‘There’s a building I want you to come and see, Nancy – all of you – and tell me if it would be suitable for the caring of children. I want to start a nursery so the women of the town can hopefully find work.’
Looking at Martha, Nancy’s eyes said, I knew it! She knew Violet wouldn’t let this idea of hers fade away to nothing.
They all trudged up Crankhall Lane, passing the South Staffordshire Tube Works and the Allotment Gardens. Before coming to Brunswick Park they turned right and headed over a patch of waste ground leading to a huge derelict building. Had this been another part of the country Nancy would have said it had once been a mill, but the shudder that racked her body told her different.
‘Tell me you are bloody joking!’ Mary said as they all stared at the imposing structure.
Martha stopped her mid-sentence, ‘Violet, it’s the old epidemic hospital!’
The large building spread across the open heath and was situated right next to the South Staffordshire railway line. The three-storey structure with a high water tower at the centre was once used to house patients with diseases such as polio, diphtheria, tuberculosis, scarlet fever and many more besides. The entrance led to an administration block, a kitchen, stores, and a disinfecting station. The middle and upper floors were isolation wards, each of which would hold around twenty beds. In the grounds at the back of the hospital stood the nurses home, a laundry, a sanitary wash house and the mortuary.
Only the people with money could afford to be admitted, the poor of the town relied on their own remedies. This hospital had been feared by the needy almost as much as the workhouse. However, with Florence Nightingale’s ‘miasma’ theory proving that ‘bad air’ could cause disease; as well as the discovery of such things as cholera being a water-borne disease, cleanliness became paramount. Nevertheless, the building had been abandoned, being deemed too small, and the patients were moved to bigger and better hospitals in larger towns.
‘I know what it was,’ Violet enthused, ‘but it’s not been in use for many years!’
‘I don’t give a bugger!’ said Mary. ‘I ain’t going in there!’
Nancy watched the light fade from Violet’s eyes as her disappointment took hold.
Mary went on, ‘It should have been fetched down years ago!’
Nancy saw again the instant spark in Violet’s eyes and silently wished Mary would learn to hold her tongue.
*
In the market some days later a woman approached Martha and Nancy saying she wished a word with them.
Martha invited her home where their conversation could take place in privacy. As Nancy made tea, her mother settled the woman at the kitchen table.
‘Now then, Jess Dower, what’s on your mind?’
The woman looked at Nancy and then back to Martha before speaking. ‘Well… I ain’t sure I should say in front of the wench.’ She jerked her thumb in Nancy’s direction.
‘Whatever you need to say,’ Martha picked up, ‘can be said in front of our Nancy.’
The woman cast another glance at the girl before she spoke again. ‘Ar well… we ain’t happy, Martha Slater.’
‘And who, may I ask, is “we”?’
‘Us women. It’s on the grapevine that you and your friends have sent Colleen packing. And the women in the town ain’t happy about it… what’s going to happen now she’s out of business?’
‘Now who’s out of business?’ Violet said as she walked in through the kitchen door.
Nancy said simply, ‘Colleen.’
Martha explained to Violet what Jess Dower had said.
Full of fury, Violet interjected with, ‘Maybe it’s time for the women of Wednesbury to make a stand! To stop getting in the family way time after time with no money to feed the extra mouths! To start saying no to having one child after another!’
The others stared with open mouths, then Nancy said, ‘I couldn’t agree more!’
Rounding on Nancy, Jess countered with, ‘It’s alright for you wench – you don’t have a husband to have to say no to!’
‘If I had a husband and half a dozen children round my ankles, then I most certainly would say no! Sorry mum, I wasn’t referring to you.’ Anger bubbled up inside Nancy as she glanced at Martha. ‘There are ways to prevent this, Jess, we all know that! I’m not saying women shouldn’t have children, I’m just saying why have such big families if the money isn’t there to feed them?’
‘Well said, wench,’ said Martha.
Jess looked down as she said, ‘Look here, I’m with you on this; I’ve got four little buggers myself and I ain’t having any more, but there’s other women who are not as strong as me. You know as well as I do, they’re gonna keep having babies if there’s no Colleen to stop it.’
Violet spat, ‘Well, Colleen’s gone, and anyone else thinking to be setting up doing what she was doing will get the same treatment!’
Jess stood to leave saying, ‘Right then, I’ll pass that back down the grapevine.’
After the woman had left Martha said, ‘Our Violet, you’ve started something now and no mistake!’
Violet answered with, ‘I know, but I’m about to start something else! I’m going to have a word with Dr Shaw. Maybe he can instruct the women who act as midwives to advise others against having so many children! It’s all down to education, Martha.’