Sunday at the Hagley

We visited the Hagley Museum on Sunday. It was a beautiful day for being outdoors. I thought my 5-year-old grandson might enjoy the museum, and he did, although much of it was over his head.

The Hagley Museum includes a gunpowder factory which operated on the site for over 100 years; a machine shop where tools were made; a school attended by the children of the workers, and a two-story cottage which had been restored to demonstrate how the workers and their families lived in about 1850.

A little old lady in period costume explained how things worked in the cottage. She showed us the stove which the lady of the house used for cooking and heating water. There were buckets to bring water from the pump a few yards from the house; she allowed my grandson to try to lift one of these buckets. It was apparently very heavy. We saw the irons which were heated on the stove and used to iron clothing for the family. As we were about to leave, she asked if there were any more questions.

One of the visitors asked, "How many bathrooms were upstairs?" No, she was not joking.