The third episode of the third series of ‘Grundy Goes’ produced by Tyne Tees Television and written and presented by architectural historian and broadcaster John Grundy about the building that people have constructed over the centuries to help themselves work, live and enjoy themselves. In this programme John explores the world of public sanitation and the invention and use of the toilet, lavatory and garderobe starting with communal Roman toilets at Housesteads Roman Fort and ending on a...

The third episode of the third series of ‘Grundy Goes’ produced by Tyne Tees Television and written and presented by architectural historian and broadcaster John Grundy about the building that people have constructed over the centuries to help themselves work, live and enjoy themselves. In this programme John explores the world of public sanitation and the invention and use of the toilet, lavatory and garderobe starting with communal Roman toilets at Housesteads Roman Fort and ending on a modern automatic public toilet on a street in Newcastle. Over a montage of John Grundy wearing various costumes and maps of the region the opening credits. Title: Grundy Goes… To the Loo Sitting in his living room reading a book presenter John Grundy suddenly realises he needs the toilet. Heading upstairs he knocks on his toilet door only to be told to ‘go away’ by Uncle Jack. Sitting on the nearby stairs he explains that we all spend ‘a jolly long time on the toilet’ but while it is important it is almost an invisible place. Opening the door Uncle Jack, played by John Grundy in flat cap and scarf, comes out and heads into another room. Getting up John proceeds to show the viewer his family toilet pointing out its features including the outside drain and showing how it works. The toilet represents, explains John, a level of sanitation that was available to most people at the beginning of the 20th century, something that has taken nearly a thousand years to achieve. Dressed as his great-grandfather John Grundy comes down a hill to ‘do his business where you were’ against a stone wall. Over views of Housesteads Roman Fort in Northumberland and its ‘brilliantly invented little boys’ room’ John explains how and why it was the Romans who first came up with a solution to dealing with all the mess and how it would be more than 2000 years before anyone else would come up with anything as hygienic. At Fountains Abbey near Ripon in North Yorkshire the latrines built directly over the River Skell. Dressed as a monk in robes John rushes down to one of its closets to do his business. Over views of nearby Easby Abbey John talks about its glorious 13th century architecture at its most sophisticated with a toilet or garderobe built round the back. After going into details about how it was built and worked, John appears on a nearby wall dressed as a schoolboy asking questions about garderobes. Over views of the exterior of Langley Castle in Northumberland John talks about the layout of this 14th century tower house. Inside one of the towers John stands beside a garderobe or toilets built on each of the buildings three floors. Again, he provides details of how they worked with the mess being washed away in a now dried up stream at the base of the castle. Over a montage of various ruined Medieval houses and castles in the region, John explains that during this period people had problems disposing of waste materials. Standing at the rear of Chipchase Castle in Tynedale John points up at two garderobe chutes jutting out of the wall and explains that the castle high walls would have been streaked with excrement with big piles of the stuff just sitting at the base of the wall. Moving around the corner to the splendid newer Jacobian wing John is joined by the schoolboy from Easby Abbey who is given details by John of an invention called the water closet. Standing beside a superimposed image of Sir Thomas Harrington’s water closet John explains how it worked. Returning to Chipchase Castle John tells the schoolboy why this castle doesn’t have a water closet and about the issues with them. Walking through the nearby orchard John talks about the privy or privy midden a simpler technology often found at the bottom of the garden away from the rest of the household to avoid being a nuisance. At Chipchase they have two privy’s, a simpler one for servants and a more superior one which John arrives at built in the Gothic style. The film changes to a reproduction of a similar privy to the one at Chipchase with companionable four-seater over a cesspit. Returning to John he takes the programme into a commercial break walking up to the privy at Rose Bower Farm near Hexham. Known locally as the ‘long drop’ it sits 30ft about the Warks Burn with John stating he would ‘rather sit on it than walk under it’. Title: End of Part One Grundy Goes… Part Two From a hillside overlooking a town or city below John talks about how towns in the past were squalid places, dark and dismal with high density population and where sanitation was near non-existent. As he walks along a surviving alleyway off High Bridge in the centre of Newcastle, he states that alleys and roads like this became effectively open sewers. As he continues to make his way along they alley he talks about how people simply threw the content of their chamber pots into the street, someone off screen throws a chamber pot of water over him. Over archival images of squalid cities and night soil men at work John talks about the vast middens of waste that were formed on the edge of towns that got bigger as urban population grew bringing with it diseases such as Cholera. Walking along High Bridge off Grey Street John explains that he is walking over what was once the Lort Burn, a stream that passed through the city flowing into the River Tyne. In 1785 the city decided to cover it turning it into the cities first drain. Over several photographs showing the drain below his feet John talks about its design and construction. Over archive images of the time John provides details on The Sewage Utilization Act 1865 which required every home to have a drain connected to the common sewers under the road. Over an archival photograph showing a street John explains that as well as drains the water closet needed to be re-invented. An animation follows of the re-design water closet by Joseph Bramah of 1775. A montage follows of large Victorian houses and South Shields Town Hall where water-closers were now catching on and being installed. At Great Ayton in North Yorkshire John looks over a public toilet or pissoir built in the street. Views of both the exterior and interior of Prudhoe Hall in south Northumberland including its lavatory which is typical of the late 19the century. A montage follows of other Victorian toilets with one being flushed. Standing in the private toilets of the Directors of the North East Co-Operative in Newcastle John admires its 1930’s art deco styling. Inside the subscription library of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle upon Tyne John picks a book from a shelf taking it into a cubical inside the library’s toilet to read. Over a montage of mid-Victorian toilets John explains that while larger properties were now being built with toilets, they still weren’t popular in ordinary homes. In a terraced street John explains that houses like these were either too small or cheaply built to include an indoor toilet. Standing in the doorway of Mr and Mrs Bewick’s back yard at Lynemouth Colliery in Northumberland John recollect the outdoor toilet or ‘netty’ which have now largely gone out of use. However, with kind permission of the Bewick’s John uses they’re still functioning one. Over taps, sinks and baths in a Victorian bathroom John explains that while toilets and drains were important, it didn’t work without supplies of clean water. Over a montage of small roadside water fountains John explains these were early attempts to provide clean water. Over views around Catcleugh Reservoir in Northumberland John explains that the Victorians invested effort and civic pride into getting clean water to everyone creating structures such as Catcleugh on a mammoth scale and in splendid quality. Standing in the grounds of Ryhope Pumping Station near Sunderland John talks about how the city was supplied with water from underground using the stations superb steam engines. Inside over the two engines in action John states this is as good as the world of sanitation gets, a monument to basic good health. Following views of drains flowing into the Ouseburn River in Newcastle, the film changes to John standing in the 40-metre-shaft of the new state of the art Seaham Pumping Station. Looking up at the camera he talks about how this huge interceptor sewers stops unwanted materials getting into rivers and the sea and that this ‘cathedral of the lavatories’ covers only one part of one section of coast. As John talks about the end of the golden age of public lavatories the closed and dilapidated public toilet on the Cloth Market in Newcastle with a padlocked chain on the gate. Inside the nearby toilet on the Bigg Market John laments that it is shortly to be phased out. In the village of Osmotherley in North Yorkshire he arrives and heads inside the prize winning public convenience. He describes it as if you were visiting your aunties house, all spic and span with flowers and a noticeboard on which users have left positive comments. To the theme tune of Dr Who John comes to stand beside a modern automatic public toilet or ‘tardis toilet’ at Newcastle which is modern and sparkling clean. The programme ends with Uncle Jack coming out of it and heading off down the road. Credit: Written and Presented by John Grundy Photography John McKeown Sound Andrew Bennett Electrician Ron Angus Costume Jenny Lamb Graphics Alan Davidson Dubbing Mixer Charles Heath Editor Bernard Helm Director / Producer Roger Burgess Title: © Tyne Tees Television 1999 End title: A Tyne Tees Television Production. © Tyne Tees Television MCMXCIX