So, who DID have a house with an outside toilet.

[firbeck 859]

The reference in Room 101 made me think this could be a good topic.

My parents had a three bed semi ( mother still lives there ) built circa 1935, but despite the fact that it had a downstairs bathroom, the toilet was in a seperate brick building outside, joined to the coal house. The bathroom was/is off the kitchen and contained a bath, basin and airing cupboard, plenty of room for a bog, but they chose to build it outside, odd considering that the house was built in the 30's too.

In the winter we had a small parafin heater constantly on the go in there, it may have prevented the cistern from freezing, but the building was only a half brick construction and was bloody cold, the gap above the door didn't help either, though the old man put a rubber strip over the top to keep out the wind. This hardship may have psychologically made me pretty regular, once in the morning and that was enough, though on a warm day mother would put a kitchen chair in there so I could sit on the bog and read my Eagle books. At night, as a kid, I'd drag a chair into the bathroom and pee in the basin, after all, apart from the hardship of having to go outside, there was no light in there either, though if the old man was desperate, he'd take a hurricane lamp in with him.

The bad winter of 57-58 was enough, on the promise of some money from an aunts will, the old man had an extension built on the bathroom with a new inside bog, though there was never any heating put in so it was still cold ( still is ). I recall it cost £200 and the builder was a Mr Tolley, looking at it now, the quality of the workmanship was appalling, but it's still there and still works.

Another famous outside bog was my uncles who was the caretaker at Edwinstowe school, the caretakers house was a lovely 1920's detached affair with a large bathroom off the kitchen, but the toilet wasn't in there, it was in a sort of internal porch outside the kitchen door. I recall one terrible winter, we opened the back door to go to the toilet and the snow drifts were up to the top of the door, we had to dig our way in. I recall that when they moved back to Nottingham, they rented a three storey Victorian end of terrace in St Annes, a real tin bath in front of the fire job with a crumbling outside toilet in a brick yard, I used to make a point of having a good clear out before we went to visit.

Anyone with any good stories.

[radfordred 6,284]

When me & Mrs Red moved into our 1st house on Foster Street Radford we still had an outside bog @ the bottom of the brick backyard this was probably less than 20 years ago.

[mick2me 3,033]

Are there still any down there that still have OSB's Red?

[Fynger 841]

For a while I lived in a house on Belvoir St, Mapperley Top...Google map it ..still there......backed onto the Mapperley nuthouse wall..it was pronounced 'beaver st'..and theres a 'Beaver st' up there too...stoopid but hey....that had an outdoor loo..( no Bathroom )..there was no pipe connecting the overhead cistern with the loo..and this was fixed by attaching a long piece of string to the chain...so you left the toilet and flushed it from OUTSIDE...worked perfectly too...no mess...but quite often folk were not told of this...resulting in a few laughs ( to us anyway )...there was ONE electric socket ( round pin ) in the middle room downstairs...that was it...everything got plugged into light sockets...many a night came down to use the loo and switched the kitchen light on to get violently woken up by the twin tub bursting into life in the dark ( bl00dy thing ).....many more stories bout that house too if anyone wants them....was a crazy place to live.

[Ayupmeducks 1,730]

All the houses I was brought up in had an outside bog, including the council house we lived in at Clifton, next to the coke house. Although it did have one in the bathroom too.

That was the last house I lived in with an outside bog.

[Ashley 288]

Those bathroom downstairs inside, toilet outside houses (1,000's of council ones) were I think built to some planning or building regs that said 2 doors, needed between a kitchen and a room with a toilet, such "law" was still in power mid 1970's probably still is, similar to the dropped kerb rule and can't take front hedge down without planning permission, what a joke that is, Western Boulevard houses don't have gardens these days just car repair yards,lol. Re never living at outside bog house, I forgot when I lived with a girl for awhile, was at end of her garden, at night you had to run back in and get there before it stopped flushing otherwise the bog bogieman got you!

[radfordred 6,284]

Me granny ‘ad a posh privy

an’ although down i’ yard, it were nice,

whenever yer went, she said “sithee,

just make sure yer flush twice.”

[Limey 242]

The terraced house my gran lived in (Heanor) had an outside bog - shared with next door (across the jitty). When she moved out to live with my aunt in 1964, the house did not have electricity - the lights were gas!

The "downstairs" bog in our house in Long Eaton was "sortof" outside - there was a covered "breezeway" between the back door, and the bog/coal hole. The bog would freeze up in the winter! Last time I was in the house, about 4 years ago, the rear had been remodeled and the bog is now directly accessible from the kitchen! I hope they put some insulation in!

[Ayupmeducks 1,730]

Reminds me of the old movie, "Till Death Us Do Part" where he's on the outside carzy chatting with his next door neighbour. Yep done that way back too!

[Beefsteak 305]

I'm going to make you all sick with jealousy now,,,,,,,,,,, I still have an outside 'privvy'!!! it doesn't get used though , but it was one of the selling points when we bought the house (As far as SWMBO was concened any way ) She wanted somewhere the kids could run to quickly if need be, if you know what I mean, rather than upstairs.

The only time it got used was for the couple of days not long after we moved in and I was busy fitting a new bathroom !!!!!

[EileenH 496]

We had an outside loo in Hawthorn St (Medders). My daughter lives in a council house in Carlton with an outside loo and one in the bathroom.

She makes the kids use the outside one when their Dad`s on nights to avoid waking him up.

[Ayupmeducks 1,730]

You were just around the corner from me then Eileen. We lived in a Osman Terrace Briar Street opposite the Hosene factory.

[dez 0]

when i lived down st anns, i kid you not i was aged about six we lived on corparation st [spelling a bit dodgy]we lived in ahouse that was divided in to flats we shared a out side lavvy with two or three other family's with newspaper cut in to squares funny thing i'v only got happy memorie's of living in poverty,whats that all about guy's and ladie's

[firbeck 859]

Sorry, the site went a little mad.

Building regs were changed in the 80's whereby you were allowed to put a bog off of a kitchen without a lobby, strange decision, but I suspect I think it was leading up to the fact that you now have to provide a wheelchair accessible bog on the ground floor in any new house, fair enough, it gives wheelchair bound folk a better choice, but the rules are still wierd. A couple of years ago, I was involved in the design of some three storey mega big posh flats in Herts. You didn't have to provide lifts, but the flats themselves required wheelchair accessible bathrooms, I could never work out how wheelchair folk could possibly get up the stairs to get into their flats, it didn't make sense to me, but then thats Civil Service logic for you.

[denshaw 2,871]

Yes the old Medders Glebe street. Toilet at the bottom of the yard, no bathroom and one socket in the whole house. Kids today wouldn't believe it.

[loppylugs 8,427]

Brought back some happy?? memories.

Grew up in a two up two down in Netherfield. Bog was down the yard attached to neighbor's bog.

Newspaper cut into squares was available on a nail in the wall. How did that stuff ever go down? !rotfl!

Judging from my fingers when I read the paper today we must have had awful black posteriors. I guess it came off in the tin bath on a Saturday night. Used to hate to go in there at night. I was probably about five or six, feared the big black spiders that called it home.

Had a paraffin lamp in there in the winter but it still froze once in a while.

Grandmother had one of those houses Firbeck mentioned, built in the thirties. Inside bath off the kitchen. Outside bog next to the coal-house but still part of the house. Always wondered why they couldn't have just built it inside.

No wonder it felt like such luxury when we bought a Wimpey house in Basford with an inside bog with an infra red heater on the wall. Great place to read a book.

[Beefsteak 305]

Just going back to my post on this subject, I had an inside loo at my mums house, built circa 1900, purpose built, not added later, and there's an outside one here, built 1953!!!!

[Paulus 541]

!! 5 Potters Terrace, Northgate, we had a communal yard with a row of outside 'thunderboxes', great big gaps top & bottom of the doors!!! Late at night the drunks from the pubs on Northgate would nip in for a quick p**s after queing at the Chippie on Northgate................ !rotfl!

[mick2me 3,033]

Just remembered, my outside privy is now part of my kitchen.

In fact the throne position is now where we keep or plates!

Bu99er!

[EileenH 496]

You were just around the corner from me then Eileen. We lived in a Osman Terrace Briar Street opposite the Hosene factory.

Really? Gosh! Nice to meet you!

I`ve just had a peep at your profile and you`re a coupla years younger than me so you weren`t in my class at school.

[firbeck 859]

I don't know whether anyone remembers this famous old outside toilet.

On a pleasant summer Sunday in the 50's we'd catch the Barton bus (32?) from Balloon Woods then walk through Attenborough to the Barton Ferry. Across the river was a tea room at Barton In Fabis, I recall it being a red brick farmhouse type of place with lots of foxgloves and roses in the garden, which is where the tables were set out.

Tucked away under the honeysuckle was a small brick outside toilet or earth closet, it contained a well worn wooden bench with a hole cut in it and below that was nothing but a pile of sand and whatever else had built up, toilet paper was that Izal stuff, though most likely we'd probably taken our own. I remember the overpowering smell of Jeyes Fluid when you went in there, no doubt regularly poured down the hole to keep it sweet and persuade the flies to go away.

[rob237 89]

Yes indeed, the hourly Barton 32 Bulwell-Mount Street, via Bells' Lane, Strelley, Chilwell and Beeston!

Presumably you would alighted at Cator Lane and walked to Attenborough?

Long walks - without a thought - regular feature of the 50's...

Compare that to last week's case, where a Geordie lost his driving licence because he took his dog walking by draping its lead through his open car window as he drove along!

Cheers

Robt P.

[Ashley 288]

Not surprised, fancy draping it through an open window, he should have tied it the the back bumper!

[firbeck 859]

Yes indeed, the hourly Barton 32 Bulwell-Mount Street, via Bells' Lane, Strelley, Chilwell and Beeston!

Presumably you would alighted at Cator Lane and walked to Attenborough?

Long walks - without a thought - regular feature of the 50's.

Cheers

Robt P.

He's back.

Always a low bridge double decker with those long side seats upstairs. We used to catch it to Bullwell to in order to visit the Raynors, some old family friends that lived in a prefab, Uncle Raynor was a retired engine driver, that was in the 50's so he probably started his career as a cleaner in Victorian times, I wish someone had written all his adventures down.

Long walks on a sunday were a big thing in our house, a particular favourite in Spring was up the bridle path from Balloon Woods to Cossall, passing through the fantastic bluebell wood that was destroyed by open cast coal mining, then back along the canal. If that wasn't enough, we'd have tea then get dragged off to the cemetery in Wollaton to put flowers on grandparents Browns grave, ending up for a pint at the Admiral Rodney, or in my case, a bottle of the local orangeade, who's name escapes me, Aurora? with a straw and a packet of crisps in greaseproof paper. Then my cousin and I would play on those stone steps leading to the storeroom in the yard out the back, outside open air toilets too then, I recall, just back of the public bar.

[Ayupmeducks 1,730]

No Eileen, when my parents moved there I'd only a year left at school and it was decided to leave me at my old school and finish there instead of disrupting my school life by moving me to Deering.

I did work at Clifton Pit though.