“THERE are people at Moulscombe so poor they cannot afford twopence – the price of a bowl of piping hot meat stew at the food kitchen.”

That was the intro to a piece in the Brighton and Hove Gazette of April 1, 1939, detailing over two pages “Moulscombe’s struggle to survive”.

Known by its modern spelling of Moulsecoomb, few “Scoomers” have to rely on food kitchens today.

Pictures from this edition (a publication that later became the Brighton and Hove Leader) show people collecting soup and stew to take home.

This article tells of housewives with empty larders, sitting in fireless, lightless kitchens because there is no money for gas.

It goes on to say that not a word is a flight of fancy, stating: “The curtained windows of north and south [Moulsecoomb] hide many a tragic home, of penniless men and women and half-starved children.

“In their despair they turn to friendly vicar Bransby AH Jones for advice and help.”

On the canteens, Mrs Weller is quoted: “A portion of stewed meat, plenty of gravy and a piece of pudding is twopence but most of it is given free.”

For nearly every home in North Moulsecoomb, the lunchtime menu was the same.

One man who claimed to have a solution for the problem was “Uncle” HE Bankes.

Well known as the man who kept trams running during a strike in 1918, he suggested Brighton Corporation pool its subsidies from its houses and reduce the average level of rent.

He said: “The Corporation should apply the balance of the pooled subsidy to relieve the underfed and out of work tenants. The scheme has been in force for three years and 40 to 50 authorities find it works.”

The author of the piece, bylined as a “special representative”, concludes: “The stories of poverty-stricken families I have heard can be but a few sidelights in this struggle.

“Are there not scores of families too proud to ask for help, too unwilling to accept a place in the breadline at the canteen?”