Re: . . about the Beckfoot plumbers - the REAL ISSUE


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Posted by Jock on October 02, 2007 at 13:56:42 from 86.153.128.72 user Jock.

In Reply to: Re: . . about the Beckfoot plumbers - the REAL ISSUE posted by Peter H on October 01, 2007 at 21:13:09:

I reckon all this ‘plumbing’ stuff is a way of avoiding what’s behind it – the inexplicable absence of any mention of ‘sanitary arrangements’, latrines, call them what you will, in Ransome’s stories. To examine rationally the fictional Beckfoot plumbing is a just a way of avoiding this topic.

This is about as logical as arguing that the interest in the railway journeys of the Swallows is really a disguised interest in the toilet facilities of the London Midland and Scottish Railway. There may be those who have a genuine fascination with the loos of the 30's (just as there is at least one TarBoarder who appears to take a scholarly interest in female underwear).

However, I venture to opine that the vast majority of TarPlumbers are genuinely interested in the upstream end of Beckfoot plumbing. How was a regular head of water maintained? When was the custom of placing a jug of hot water next to the basin in each bathroom discontinued? How did the hot water circuit work?

In a field where UK practice differed in several essential details from US and European arrangements, I consider the discussion on plumbing well worth having. It is not a debate by proxy on human waste disposal. IIRC both William Shakespeare and Arthur Conan Doyle don't give us a blow by blow account of toilet arrangements and no one to the best of my knowledge has considered it worthwhile to raise the inexplicable absence of any mention of ‘sanitary arrangements’ in their works.


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