Stepping back in time in Southport with John Casey

Now history comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes, and we should never turn away from even the most trivial bits of our past.

So I was pleased when John Casey sent over three photographs from a trip to Southport.

To the casual observer they are just three pictures of the gents in a shop.

But to John and to me and I suspect many others the three images take you back in time.

Today modern design would dictate that the sinks should be part of a continuous unit with electronic sensors to tell the water when to flow and might even have their own drier fixed above the taps.

Likewise the doors to the lavatory  will be made of a material which is lightweight with a universal catch making it easy to operate.

But here in Southport they do things differentlty.

I have never visited the shop so I can’t say whether you still have to insert a coin into the lock but I can be pretty sure that the hand drier will be relatively new and before it the lavatory used one of those old fashioned cotton towels.

And I can still remember a time before the modern metal box and towel were installed when instead there was a wooden bar from which hung a looped towel, which on very busy days would be all be wet.

Which in turn reminded me of the days in winter before central heating when towels always seemed to be damp.

Location; Southport

Pictures; Southport, 2017 from the collection of John Casey