Running dry

Continuing on the water theme, this is the ultra-modern lavoir that was built when running water arrived in 1955. It may not look like much now, but it must have been an improvement on scrubbing washing on stones in the river, which is what the women used to do, winter and summer alike, using wood ash from the fire.

Sometime in the 1970s, the first washing machine arrived. It was such a major investment that it was a communal one which was wheeled from house to house on its own special trolley. I've seen a lovely photo of the beaming salesman demonstrating the whiteness of sheets washed in the machine to a gaggle of wide-eyed women. After that, the lavoir was history.