At least the public lavatory in Spitalfields (East London toilet up for sale with £1m price tag, 18 January) has had an ongoing life as a nightclub, unlike the remarkable underground lavatory in Holborn. This extraordinary convenience had large glass tanks of water above the urinals; the attendant, who kept the connecting brass pipes immaculately shined, kept goldfish in these. As the automatic flushing commenced, the water level plunged, apparently imperilling the fish, who were nonetheless provided with fresh, aerated water within a few minutes, before the whole alarming process was repeated. It made it the most entertaining place to take a pee I have encountered. (It is documented in Geoffrey Fletcher, The London Nobody Knows, 1962.) The Spitalfields subterranean pissoir clearly escaped the fate of Holborn, which was destroyed. This was said to be on the order of Margaret Thatcher in her attempt to stamp out “cottaging”.
Henry Fryer
Bishop’s Waltham, Hampshire
• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com
