Times where hard, Marg had tried to care for her children since Derek had been crippled in the accident at the cotton mill. He had lost a eye and arm when he had was trapped between a iron shaft and a drive belt. Now no one would employ him. He had tried to look after their children whilst Marg worked. They seemed to be managing, untill she had slipped and fallen on ice covered stairs, after spending a hard days picking coal at the mine head.

There was nothing left in the kitty. They had sold everything of value, even the children’s shoes. Tomorrow the landlord would call for the rent. Marg decided that it was time to flit. She thanked heavens the gas light no longer worked, no one would see them leave. She hoped that tomorrow the workhouse would take them in. Yet she knew it might not as they where offcomers. If they had to walk back to their own parish in Scotland, she knew they would perish.