Claude Meha Rochefort En Terre
This former washerwoman recalls her memories of the washhouse and the difficulties of the job (only in french).
Rochefort-en-Terre once boasted nearly twenty private and public washhouses, all of which served as social gathering places for women. Some worked as washerwomen for private individuals, while others came to wash their own clothes. Although modestly built, it is nevertheless an important part of the town’s heritage. The Rochefort-en-Terre lavoir de l’étang reveals itself to the walker after a little research. It’s easy to imagine what life was like there: a feminine universe where the man of the house had no place (but he mustn’t have complained). Discovering this washhouse is well worth the effort, as you’ll have to leave the upper part of the village via rue Candré or the venelle du Mitan. It’s a thought-provoking place that takes us back to a not-so-distant past, when modern conveniences didn’t exist. Its design and architecture are proof that the utilitarian can be beautiful. But we shouldn’t limit it to this function alone. As a place for exchanges, meetings and discussions, the washhouse was the place where everything was said and repeated.
Lavoir Etang Rochefort En Terre A Gui 2
Lavoir Etang Rochefort En Terre @a Lamoureux 4Madeleine Fleury (wife Le Visage), born in Rochefort-en-Terre in May 1924, died in Lorient in May 2019. She lived at L’étang throughout her childhood, in her grandparents’ house next to the public washhouse, where her family moved around 1930.
Etang Chevaux Lavoir Rochefort En Terre WebWe had no bicycles, no radio, no TV of course. We played with dolls at school. The church square was our big playground. There were fewer tourists back then, and we didn’t yet have the 40-hour week. The boys came a lot to fish at the pond: gudgeons, minnows, trout, roach, but also frogs, which we baited with red rags. In those days, there were many of these batrachians in the pond, “charming” us with their melodious songs. There was still bottle fishing and eel fishing. The pond was also very popular with Rochefort locals, because of the pump. No water from the tap, and fortunately the pump was there. It wasn’t too far away, but going up all the sides of the pond with two full buckets was no picnic…
You can’t imagine what a washhouse was like in those pre-war years… From 6 o’clock in the morning, people would come down with dirty laundry on wheelbarrows, of course, but also soap, washing powder and bleach. You had to be there early to get the best spot, the one that wasn’t too far from the “boilers”, a sort of large washing machines, which were on site, and which we used in turn, for a few pennies. And we got to work! We soaped, we brushed, we beat with the beater, and we chatted… All the gossip was passed on, everyone’s back was patted, events were commented on: weddings, engagements, funerals, everything was sifted through, and all the gossip was passed on.Everything was scrutinized, and of course in a loud voice, very loud indeed, to drown out the noise of the beater and the “ploufs” of the washing in the water. And, at the end of the day, you had to “go back up” with your load of wet laundry. It was hard work, especially in winter. It has to be said that in those days we changed much less than we do now, and we didn’t even have 36 toilets. The washhouse is now at rest, as we’re in the age of the washing machine. It’s certainly a step forward that women appreciate. My personal washhouse comes back to life a little in summer. It’s not unpleasant in August to wade in the cool water, but away from the eyes of the tourists(…).
Lavandieres Rochefort En Terre Web
A Mushroom CepeThere was also a great time at the wash, the great“month of September“, the month of mushrooms. Mushrooms were plentiful, and the famous “boilers” were requisitioned. Someone from Rochefort welcomed the pickers, who came from all over the region, and their harvest. They were paid, and everyone was happy. The mushrooms, mostly ceps, were scalded, then dried on racks. Someone would come and pick them up, most likely to take them to the factory.
They are scary, legendary female characters, featured in many stories from western France, who spend their nights washing and beating their clothes. Anyone who encounters them on their way home from a wake is sure to be terrified, as they are considered to be ghosts. In the Pluherlin countryside, nocturnal washerwomen sometimes call on passers-by to help them spin the washing. Woe betide anyone who twists the laundry the wrong way: they risk having both arms broken.
Portrait Paul SebillotCertain birds used to have a bad reputation in our region. Every year on All Saints’ Day, a curious sight would appear: a swarm of crows would descend on the pasture bordering a pond near the Rochefort-en-Terre washhouse. These birds all had a particular physiognomy that made them resemble people who had died in mortal sin (extract from a book on water-related beliefs).
