Mairie de Blangy-le-Château - Normandie - Pays d'Auge
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Communal washhouse

The women of the village carried their clothes on a wheelbarrow
Those of the country side came on horse and cart or the cattle cart.
Men often accompanied and took the opportunity to drive their horse to the blacksmith to maintain his horse shoes and his hooves.

Women would use an auget, conventionally called a coach, a simple shaped rustic wooden kneeler, which allowed the washer to be on bended knees in front of the water. The auget protected the knees when doing laundry. The bottom was covered with cloth or straw, which made it more comfortable and secure at the edge of the washing stone, and it allowed the woman to kneel, just above the water level. The auget, as it is called in the Pays d’Auge, was part of the essential tools of the washer which also included the wheelbarrow, brush, paddle, clothespins and soap. While rinsing and beating their clothes the women exchanged news of the village. The gossip was a plenty!
A laundery woman from the Pays Auge had their heyday: la Mere  Denis, (the Mother Denis) was famous for being the heroine of TV advertisements for the Vedette washing machines brand during the 1970s. At the end of her ad she would always say “It’s really true!” She ended her days in the retirement home of the Priory of St. Hymer and we will see later that the Priory of St Hymer and Blangy were religiously involved.