One hundred years of one house in Chorlton part 114 ......... cometh the hour ....cometh the mice ...ants, wasps and other unwelcome house guests

The house, 2017

The continuing story of the house Joe and Mary Ann Scott lived in for over 50 years and the families that have lived here since. *

Now I wonder how Joe and Mary Ann dealt  with infestations of mice, ants, wasps and other house guests.

Of course, it might be that apart from the casual rodent visitor they were pretty much mouse free, never had to worry about ants, wasps or plagues of even more unpleasant things.

And I have to say until sometime in the early 2000’s we too were vermin free, but alas not so anymore.

Indeed, only last week I had the joy of lifting the floorboards to discover the dead mouse which had chosen to expire beside the central heating pump.

And it is little consolation to be told by the Corporation’s pest operatives, that Chorlton is a hot spot, which may have something to do with being close to the Meadows or the profusion of cafes, bars and restaurants within a few minutes’ walk.

And yes, I know that urban myth about always being close to rats wherever you live, and certainly in my part of south east London both mice and rats were visitors you fought on a regular basis.

The house, 1974

Our response on leafy Breech Road, is a recourse to the Corporation who for a fee come and lay boxes of poison, returning three times to check that the said boxes have done the business.

But recently and just before Victor Virus, the delay between reporting the mice and a visit was so long that I resorted to the traditional and rather brutal solution of the mouse trap.

Now traditional mouse traps have changed little, except the ones we bought were plastic but were none the less efficient.

And as you do I went back into the past to see just what the Victorians used, expecting that Mrs. Beaton would have a series of solutions, but oddly she chose not to include a reference to the rodent fight.

I suspect, then like now, such an inclusion in her household tips would be an admission that the house was “unclean”, and it is certainly true that few of our friends would offer up stories of their own infestations.

New Gates, 1908

So, I guess Joe and Mary Ann would have fallen back on the same powdered disinfectant mum used.

It went under the name of Flit, and came in a small white and red tin, complete with a picture of a 19th century soldier armed with a spray.

A solution which was fine for the ants, but left big intruders free, which involved buying the poison  from a hardware shop or chemist and doing the deadly business yourself.

At least Joe and Marry Ann did not I think face those more pernicious insects which were common in the terraced houses in the poorer parts of the city, and which were described in Maud Pember’s book.*

They infested the houses and while spaying acted as a temporary solution, they always returned, and that much used description of turning a light on at night before entering a room was a reality in many homes as late as the 1960s.**

As were the whitewashed exterior walls in the yards of many house which contained a repellant.

So, despite our occasional visitors, including the dead mouse, we appear to have got off lightly ….. so far.

Location; Chorlton

Pictures; Beech Road, from the collection of Lois Elsden and Andrew Simpson, and New Gates, 1908, m8316, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass

*The story of a house, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%20story%20of%20a%20house

** Round About A Pound A Week, Maud Pember Reeves, 1913, Virago ed 1979, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2019/10/round-about-pound-week-london-life-and.html

***Jan and Bob both told me stories of having to resort to turning the light on in their homes in Bradford Manchester, as late as the 1960s.