Yay! We are off to Jersey tomorrow - but just wanted to post a few photos from out night out on Saturday.
 |
| Museum at Night |
 |
| Gladstone's Bottle Ovens |
I told Nathan I was taking him for an unusual night out - but wouldn't tell him where we were going! I drove us to Longton - and pulled up outside Gladstone Pottery Museum. He said "Oh well I guess we can park here as the museum's closed." But - the museum wasn't closed! It was staging a special event as part of Museums at Night
The event was called Toilets by Twilight and described as:
"Explore ‘Flushed with Pride’ after dark and visit the Modern Toss ‘Cistern Chapel’ exhibition to celebrate a decade of their edgy humour. Meet toilet experts and ask them about the history of the humble loo and enjoy a screening of ‘Carry On At Your Convenience’. £5, includes a glass of wine/soft drink. 1970’s fancy dress optional but encouraged! Over 18s only, please."
As we went in we were given a glass of wine and introduced to two experts on the toilet. Munroe Blair was the technical expert - having worked in the sanitary ware industry over 40 years. Angela Lee was the expert on the social and historical aspect of toilets.
They were really friendly and chatty and had lots of stories to tell about the various toilets. Angela has been privileged enough to see the famous old toilet in the House of Lords! I think Munroe was a little jealous of that. She is so obsessed by toilets she has even been to Russia to looks at theirs!
They took us round the "Flushed with Pride" exhibition pointing out the interesting things and telling us stories. We even got to hear the musical chamber pot - which is usually locked away in a glass cabinet. It was all really fascinating as they are so knowledgeable and enthusiastic about it all!
We had a good look around - I saw my first ever female urinal - called the Lady P. You are meant to sit facing the wall - it's meant to cut down on cubicles and therefore queues for the Ladies!
What do you think? Would you use one??
The older ones were riveting too - in fact it was interesting how the fashion for different types of toilets come round full circle. Some of the early ones were all about earth closets - and some of the latest developments are composting toilets that don't use water.
The Tipper Toilet was connected to the kitchen sink and used waste water from that to tip the pan and flush away the soil. How clever was that?
Also Angela and Munroe dispelled the myths that the inventor of the flushing toilet was Thomas Crapper. He was one innovator among many who worked o the designs - so there were quite a few engineers and designers responsible for the toilets we use today.
I am very grateful to them all!!
What I liked best though were the toilets with intricate designs that were beautifully decorated. I think there is a definite lack of such loveliness in bathrooms today! We saw toilets shaped like dolphins and flowers and highly decorated.
We also popped into the "Cistern Chapel" to see an exhibition of the (rather rude) art of Modern Toss. They produced the Periodic Table of Swearing - which became quite a hit on the internet. However - as it suggests - it is quite offensive so don't click on that link above if you are offended by bad language.
That means you too, mum and dad!!
After we had looked round and asked all the questions we wanted to - we were whisked upstairs, plied with more wine and sat down to watch the classic film "Carry on at your Convenience".
I haven't watched a Carry-On film in years - it is quite shocking how dated they are now! In fact, most of the male characters in it would now be up in court as part of Operation Yewtree by now, if it wasn't fictional!
The interesting and relevant part was that it was based in a toilet factory and some of it was filmed in Twyfords in Hanley.
It nicely rounded off a very unusual - but fun - night out! Thanks to Nerys, who brought the leaflets into my library. Otherwise I might not have known about it!
I definitely want to go to another Museum at Night event next year! Well done Gladstone Pottery Museum and staff. You are all obsessed and crazy - but brilliant!!
 |
| Nathan enjoying his night out. |
As we went in we were given a glass of wine and introduced to two experts on the toilet. Munroe Blair was the technical expert - having worked in the sanitary ware industry over 40 years. Angela Lee was the expert on the social and historical aspect of toilets.
They were really friendly and chatty and had lots of stories to tell about the various toilets. Angela has been privileged enough to see the famous old toilet in the House of Lords! I think Munroe was a little jealous of that. She is so obsessed by toilets she has even been to Russia to looks at theirs!
 |
| The Lady P |
We had a good look around - I saw my first ever female urinal - called the Lady P. You are meant to sit facing the wall - it's meant to cut down on cubicles and therefore queues for the Ladies!
What do you think? Would you use one??
 |
| The Famous Thomas Crapper |
 |
| How elegant! |
 |
| Actual working model |
The Tipper Toilet was connected to the kitchen sink and used waste water from that to tip the pan and flush away the soil. How clever was that?
Also Angela and Munroe dispelled the myths that the inventor of the flushing toilet was Thomas Crapper. He was one innovator among many who worked o the designs - so there were quite a few engineers and designers responsible for the toilets we use today.
I am very grateful to them all!!
 |
| Transfer-decorated with toilet designs |
 |
| Remember pulling the chain? |
We also popped into the "Cistern Chapel" to see an exhibition of the (rather rude) art of Modern Toss. They produced the Periodic Table of Swearing - which became quite a hit on the internet. However - as it suggests - it is quite offensive so don't click on that link above if you are offended by bad language.
That means you too, mum and dad!!
 |
| The infamous print. |
I haven't watched a Carry-On film in years - it is quite shocking how dated they are now! In fact, most of the male characters in it would now be up in court as part of Operation Yewtree by now, if it wasn't fictional!
The interesting and relevant part was that it was based in a toilet factory and some of it was filmed in Twyfords in Hanley.
It nicely rounded off a very unusual - but fun - night out! Thanks to Nerys, who brought the leaflets into my library. Otherwise I might not have known about it!
I definitely want to go to another Museum at Night event next year! Well done Gladstone Pottery Museum and staff. You are all obsessed and crazy - but brilliant!!
No comments:
Post a Comment