There`s a lovely little public toilet at Calgary on the Isle of Mull, off the West coast of Scotland. A local lady keeps it spotless and full of flowers - John said that the gents is just the same. There`s just about one house in sight, just this beautiful little white sanded bay. A real glimpse of Heaven.
Pat
I follow the Queen Mum`s advice "If you see a toilet - USE it!"
I`ve always wanted to see the one (somewhere up North) where they have glass cisterns containing goldfish!
So much for the recommendation that you let fresh water stand for a couple of days before you put the fish in, though!
Someone was asking about the ones with a big drop down into the earth - I remember visiting someone with one of those just across the river from here, and I think that there may still be some in existence out in the wilds!
Even funnier are the "sociable" ones, where you have two (or even more) side by side in the same place! That`s carrying togetherness a bit TOO far!
Pat
According to Lady Lucinda Lampton the Romans had a 20 seater up by Hadrian's Wall.
Bruce
Perhaps this is providing too much information but on most of the Northern Isles in Orkney there isn't a sanitation system. If you are "posh" then you have a septic tank, otherwise you have a pipe running from your house out to the beach where the strong tides soon disperse whatever comes out of the pipe...
Here's a picture of the strangest experience I ever had in a bathroom. This is real and weird. When you lock the door it becomes one way and although you can see out perfectly no one can see in, but I will admit that I didn't trust it and couldn't really use it.
Bruce
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ote:
In Old Beth -She`aan , on the High street there is a Public House [from the Roman Conquest time] that has more than 20 holes in a rows , thus the people could sit and discuss city matters in leisure ,,, under the stone bench a little ditch with streaming water `carried` the `produce` away. mirjam
I advice those interested in those matters , to look for the book, Temples of Convenience , chambers of delight , by Lucinda Lambton, St Martin Press, 1995.
mirjam
The one in the link I included is real. I've actually been in it.
Lucille
Amen!
When I was traveling in Europe, it was the "WC"
Disappointing - I always liked that and thought it was imaginative treatment for a pretty desperate bathroom.
Haven`t seen the book - must get it from the library. We watched the TV series, though. Wonderful!
Pat
wrote
In Old Beth -She`aan , on the High street there is a Public House [from the Roman Conquest time] that has more than 20 holes in a rows , thus the people could sit and discuss city matters in leisure ,,, under the stone bench a little ditch with streaming water `carried` the `produce` away. mirjam
I hope they don`t often get a drought!
Pat
"Lucille" wrote
I don`t think I`d ever dare go in! I`ve seen pictures of a one-way glass one in the street which was bad enough, but I`d never dare risk one where you actively had to DO something to make it opaque!
A couple of weeks ago there was a programme about designers building their own homes, and one had a whole bedroom wall like the one you describe. It made the landing beautifully light, but I wouldn`t fancy it. I have enough problems remembering to switch the LIGHT off, let alone the wall!
Pat
Hahah i don`t know how it was solved 2000+ years ago , the city is biiger than Pompei and was desroyed after some erarthquakes wars etc , those Tuins are of one of the Oldest known Human Cities,,,,it goes centuries back .... and only about 20% have been dug out. mirjam
When my sis and now-XBIL bought an old farmstead (about 1975), their hired hand stayed at that house. The original owners had never put indoor plumbing in this house...still had a hand pump in the kitchen and a real icebox. The hired hand didn't like talking about the outhouse and whenever he had to make use of the facility, would say he was going to mail a letter. Welllll, my best friend and I were working for the BIL and he wanted us to paint the house. One day we got really silly (not uncommon!) and decided to paint the outhouse, a
2-seater. On the outside we wrote "Post office" with the zipcode being the last 5 digits of the phone # there. On the covers for the holes we wrote: "Let'r drop: In town" and "Let'r drop: Out of town". Got lots of laughs!Joan
s we wrote: "Let'r drop: In town" and "Let'r drop: Out of town".
In Israel , they mark toilets with OO, and the story that goes around is that , it is a heritage from the British Army that had toilets marked Officers` Only ,,, i don`t know if it`s true , but that is the lore .... mirjam
Quite true Miriam. When I left the RAF in 1973 it was still quite normal to find places where toilets were marked "Officers Only", "SNCOs only" or "Other Ranks" (SNCO = Senior Non-Commissioned Officer). If there were any females around (WRAF, WRAC, WREN etc) they had their own, seperate toilets. Bruce
Great story - how'd the farmhand like it?
ellice
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