The Way We Were
A 41-year-old prefers to live like it’s 1939 – she has no TV or computer, washes in tin bath and uses an outside loo.
16:57 29 February 2016
A 41-year-old woman lives in a 1939 timewarp and has frozen her life around the time of the outbreak of World War II. Joanne Frances has no TV or computer, washing machine, television or car. Instead, she travels around on an 80-year-old pedal bike and washes in a tin bath. She also uses an outside loo.
Every morning I come downstairs and empty my chamber pot in the loo outside. People think it's a hardship but it's not - you get used to it," she said.
"I think the neighbours realised I was serious when I ripped out the kitchen and bathroom as soon as I moved in.
"The units were just too modern. Besides, I wouldn't have had a bathroom in 1939 and I definitely wouldn't have had a Jacuzzi bath."
However, she has a problem – she cannot find a wartime husband.
"I would like to meet someone," she said. "I've had few boyfriends, but I know I'm a bit of a novelty and once that novelty wears off, well, most people find me quite hard to live with.
"But I haven't entirely given up hope – I mean, I still like to think that I am a pretty good catch.
"I would have their tea on their table when they came home from work, I'd do their washing and ironing. In fact, I'd take care of everything.
"The only problem is that most people who want that kind of housewife are either in their 90s or dead.
"I might just have to accept that I was born just a few decades too late. But until then I will keep on looking."
Joanna says she has always been fascinated to the war period even when she was just a child.
"I remember walking into museums and thinking: 'It feels like I've come home'," she explained.
"I began collecting bits of pieces of memorabilia from quite an early age, but it was only when I moved in here 10 years ago that I guess it became a full-time lifestyle.
"I still have a good social life and enjoy a beer or a glass of whiskey," she told website 'Survivor 79'.