LAST week, a friend sent me a clipping from the Oxford Mail (July 12) of an obituary about Rose Skinner, that mentioned she was illiterate.

It made me and other people who knew her very annoyed, as we thought it was not necessary to mention it.

These are my memories of Rose and the other boat people. My name was Mabel Davey and I was born in the last house in Factory Street in Banbury and lived there until I was 18 years old.

My house was not many steps away from the canal and the drawbridge, which I and others would raise for the boat people.

Rose and her sister were good friends of mine, and we knew their cousins and many of the boat people that stopped at Banbury. They were hard workers. Their cabins, though small, were clean and tidy. Great care was taken over the brass ornaments.

When it came to unloading the boat, if no help was available, the men shovelled the coal out and the women would wheelbarrow it to the stockpiles in the wharf.

Not like today, working 9-5 and weekends off.

Dawn until dusk was more like it, tying up and stabling the horse before they could think of themselves. Not often did they stay in one place very long except for confinement or orders that were late.

The longest period that I can remember was when we had a very hard winter. Ice was so thick, that people were able to skate on the canal.

I saw a swan which got trapped in the ice and had to be rescued.

That bad weather lasted about five to six weeks, so the literate people would probably think why didn’t the parents send their children to school to learn to read and write?

I will tell you – the outside school toilets were frozen, and the schools were closed. Thank goodness I am literate, so I can speak up for my friend Rosie, whom I shall miss very much.

DM CARTLEDGE (Mrs), Middleton Road, Banbury