Now I doubt I am alone in mourning the loss of so many of our Victorian and Edwardian public lavatories.
They ranged from the sumptuous ones all glazed tile, shiny brass and rich dark wood, to the simpler public urinals and in their way they were as much a statement of municipal provision as the parks, the schools, the supply of gas and clean water and of course the tram and bus.
And most have gone, some rationalized out of the equation by bigger more modern conveniences and others just because they cost too much.
I still remember those in Albert Square and that one at the top of Great Bridgewater Street which became a pub.
All of which is a way of starting a new series from the camera of Andy Robertson who suggested that it was time for a “bog for the blog.”
He chose that one on Barlow Moor Road by Southern Cemetery to accompany the idea, and I rather think he has now walked his way into recording as many as he can because they are like the public water fountains and stone horse troughs vanishing from our streets and parks.
The horse troughs were the first to begin disappearing and while I can remember plenty when I was young I have to think hard about when I last passed one.
And if I were to ask my sons who are all now grown up I expect none of them will even know what I am talking about.
As for the public lavatories by the cemetery I doubt that they have even clocked they were there.
I know their closure passed me by. But as you do I went looking for their history and the best I could come up with was that they were built sometime between 1894 and 1934.
Not much I grant you but there it is.
All of which just leaves Andy to go off and find some more with perhaps help from others.
Pictures; of the former public lavatories at Southern Cemetery, 2014, from the collection of Andy Robertson
And most have gone, some rationalized out of the equation by bigger more modern conveniences and others just because they cost too much.
I still remember those in Albert Square and that one at the top of Great Bridgewater Street which became a pub.
All of which is a way of starting a new series from the camera of Andy Robertson who suggested that it was time for a “bog for the blog.”
He chose that one on Barlow Moor Road by Southern Cemetery to accompany the idea, and I rather think he has now walked his way into recording as many as he can because they are like the public water fountains and stone horse troughs vanishing from our streets and parks.
And if I were to ask my sons who are all now grown up I expect none of them will even know what I am talking about.
As for the public lavatories by the cemetery I doubt that they have even clocked they were there.
I know their closure passed me by. But as you do I went looking for their history and the best I could come up with was that they were built sometime between 1894 and 1934.
Not much I grant you but there it is.
All of which just leaves Andy to go off and find some more with perhaps help from others.
Pictures; of the former public lavatories at Southern Cemetery, 2014, from the collection of Andy Robertson
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