Cycling UK Forum

Flinders wrote:Not all train loos have sealed tanks, a fe lines still have the horrible old ones. And preserved railways also.

Could be worse. We had a talk from a spokesperson about the West Somerset Railway. The worst experience that the driver and fireman experience is having detritus blown in their faces from people scattering the ashes of their deceased from the moving train.

well loos are free now at London Victoria rail station

mercalia wrote:well loos are free now at London Victoria rail station

I used Victoria coach station to get into London and refuse to pay the 20p charge for their loos when there are two free toilets across the road. I've also used the free loos above WH Smith on the station concourse.

Thornyone wrote:I am fortunate to live in a city where the mayor is committed to providing free public loos (well, for “number 1’s” at least
..
..

That will be her/his contribution to posterity +1, others invent B-Bikes (re-invent cycling!) or get the commonwealth games €€€
Some proud towns had grand farcilities to rival their grand libraries, one toilet was converted into a pub. Could be converted back now?

May I ask which great city you live in?

Our local public toilet in a very convenient ( yes I know) spot was sold by the local council and converted into an ice cream parlour. The public hall opposite if open will allow people in for a voluntary donation. No idea what the ice cream is like as I cannot bring myself to buy any. Calmac in Oban have now removed the charge for the toilets in their terminal. They are clean and well kept. There is now a cafe near them in the building so they may have been obliged to remove the charge.

ScottishGeek wrote:

Thornyone wrote:I am fortunate to live in a city where the mayor is committed to providing free public loos (well, for “number 1’s” at least: I’m not sure about “number 2’s”, because I confine them to home). I am always outraged when I travel to a different area of the country where a charge is levied for taking a leak, and will find a convenient bush or, if I can get away with it, use the outside wall of the offending facility just to make a point. Never mind about free museums or libraries or public parks etc.: surely the provision of free loos is a basic human right, one of the most elementary services which a civilised society should provide? I feel especially strongly about this as a male of a certain age. 20p for a pee is simply outrageous!

These two statements don’t go together.

Not sure why, as I see no contradiction. In fact I was being somewhat humorous, but quite seriously I did take a leak a while back just outside and round the back of a public loo. This was at Whitesands Bay in Pembrokeshire, if memory serves right. The reason was that I arrived at said loo in urgent need of relief, and discovered to my horror and indignation that a loo which had always previously been free had introduced a charge. With no change in my pocket and no time to mess about getting any, I went into action. Incidentally, I don’t own a dog which pees everywhere, and furthermore, my pee smells like roses.

Cyril Haearn wrote:

Thornyone wrote:I am fortunate to live in a city where the mayor is committed to providing free public loos (well, for “number 1’s” at least
..
..

That will be her/his contribution to posterity +1, others invent B-Bikes (re-invent cycling!) or get the commonwealth games €€€
Some proud towns had grand farcilities to rival their grand libraries, one toilet was converted into a pub. Could be converted back now?

May I ask which great city you live in?

It isn’t the only thing the Mayor has done. He has also improved cycling access particuarly around the city centre. Not sure I should say where I live, though our football team isn’t doing too badly and our rugger team has a good record of thrashing the Welsh.

AFAIK, the expression "Spend a penny" was because women have always had to pay to use public lavatories.

One of the things which has changed in my lifetime has been the willingness of young women - usually when in a group out boozing - to pee al fresco.

I'd not heard of anything like Pete75's post about the leather thong on a police staff being used for flicking, but as I must have posted before, in pre-CPS Leeds it was treated as disorderly conduct or more usually drunk and disorderly.

This type of thing sometimes shades into indecency. In my plain clothes days (1971,) I dealt with somebody for exposure when the explanation from his mother of all people was that it must be something to do with extraordinary length, which she said he had inherited from his late father. When I recounted this to other colleagues, one told me a tale from years before that when a flasher who was proud of his endowment was invited to lay it out on a police station table for measurement and received a sharp tap with a heavy ruler.

thirdcrank wrote:AFAIK, the expression "Spend a penny" was because women have always had to pay to use public lavatories.

Since starting this post I’ve been reliably informed that “ladies’s number 1’s” (and by default, number 2’s) are also free, thanks to our illustrious Mayor.

Here's some further reading for your convenience.

Flinders wrote:Not all train loos have sealed tanks, a fe lines still have the horrible old ones. And preserved railways also.

That's how they're preserved. It's the salt, you know.

If you are arriving by train (or going to catch one) at Manchester Piccadilly, go before you get off there (especially if you have a wait for a connection) as they charge 20p a visit on the station. (I don't know the situation at other Manchester stations - I've not attempted to use the facilities elsewhere.)

A nearby local council pleaded poverty and shut their toilets. Some got taken over by the villages they were in others just shut. However in their defence they set up a scheme where local establishments with toilets let people use them even if not a customer. I however still find it feels awkward to walk into Booths supermarket, go to the toilet then walk out again. Same with restaurants and cafes. Just look for the sticker for free toilets.

Other parts of the lakes charge 20p per use. However despite warnings of cctv being there the gates are often jammed open so nobody pays the bill.

We were in a market in either France or Luxembourg once and I needed a pee. The only toilets we found was a perforated iron structure in the middle of the market between a cheese strand and a sweet stand. It consisted of two curved screens with openings at the side. Then an inner set of screens turned 90 degrees. You peed against the inner screens and the pee dropped down and into a set of grooves like a cart wheel. So your pee goes between your legs / under your feet to a centre hole and down the drain. Seems some countries don't have a problem with bodily functions.

Tangled Metal wrote:We were in a market in either France or Luxembourg once and I needed a pee. The only toilets we found was a perforated iron structure in the middle of the market between a cheese strand and a sweet stand. It consisted of two curved screens with openings at the side. Then an inner set of screens turned 90 degrees. You peed against the inner screens and the pee dropped down and into a set of grooves like a cart wheel. So your pee goes between your legs / under your feet to a centre hole and down the drain. Seems some countries don't have a problem with bodily functions.

It wasn't in Clochemerle was it?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clochemerle

Tangled Metal wrote:A nearby local council pleaded poverty and shut their toilets. Some got taken over by the villages they were in others just shut. However in their defence they set up a scheme where local establishments with toilets let people use them even if not a customer. I however still find it feels awkward to walk into Booths supermarket, go to the toilet then walk out again. Same with restaurants and cafes. Just look for the sticker for free toilets.

Other parts of the lakes charge 20p per use. However despite warnings of cctv being there the gates are often jammed open so nobody pays the bill.

We were in a market in either France or Luxembourg once and I needed a pee. The only toilets we found was a perforated iron structure in the middle of the market between a cheese strand and a sweet stand. It consisted of two curved screens with openings at the side. Then an inner set of screens turned 90 degrees. You peed against the inner screens and the pee dropped down and into a set of grooves like a cart wheel. So your pee goes between your legs / under your feet to a centre hole and down the drain. Seems some countries don't have a problem with bodily functions.

thats barbaric