Who Designs Public Loos?

Square toilet seats - wtf?

I was passing through Gatwick Airport, South Terminal last week, when I was caught short, so I headed for the Ladies loos in Arrivals. These are my least favourite loos in any of the airports and train stations I travel through, for two reasons - one is that they are badly designed and the second is

that they are stupidly designed and there is no excuse for the lack of forethought and understanding of women’s use of facilities in public places.

I’m not an architect or an interior designer but I was a Project Manager and I’d love to know how they got those plans through quality control and presumably several layers of hierarchy. I can only assume there were no women in any of the approval stages, because in theory although the concept sounds marvellous - ‘we’ll give the little ladies a self-contained unit to park their cases, go to the toilet, wash hands, make-up. everything in one place, they’ll love it!’, in practice, it doesn’t work because the cubicles are occupied for at least twice as long as the usual arrangement of cubicles with a separate line of handbasins outside the toilet doors. Therefore the throughput is half the norm. Are you with me so far?

The separation of toilet and basin allows twice the throughput of the current arrangements at Gatwick, which leaves a long line of women hopping from one foot to another until a cubicle becomes free. There is an area with a shelf and a line of mirrors, but why would you use that when you have a mirror in your comfy cubicle?

That’s not all, oh no! The biggest sin against women in Gatwick is the installation of square toilet seats. Yes, you heard it right, SQUARE toilet seats. Forgive my getting personal for a second, but the last time I looked I did not have a square bum and although i’ve never seen your bum, (unless you’re a very close relative), I could almost guarantee it’s not square. These seats are most uncomfortable, especially for those broad in beam like myself, but maybe that’s the idea, to get you out quickly. If so, it’s not working.

I can only think the square seat has been designed by an alpha male, too busy and important to sit on a loo, who has colonic irrigation once a week to save his precious time. If anyone with any clout from Gatwick is listening or reading this, at least change the seats please. Oh wait, if it was more comfortable would we be queueing for longer?

🚽 🚽 🚽 🚽

I made Cheese and Marmite Scones this week. Here’s the result

and here’s the recipe

What else?

I’ve watched Ralph and Katie which was a very refreshing watch after all the heavy dramas that have been on recently. Episode 5 was written by Tom Wentworth, a member of the London Writers Salon (LWS) and a wonderful job he made of it. Well done Tom! Can thoroughly recommend the series, find it on BBC iplayer.

Two of our brilliant LWS members had books out in October

Jenny Hammerton, fab-u-lous human, has written a splendid cookery book ‘Murder She Cooks’ based on recipes found in the great and sadly gone from us, Dame Angela Lansbury’s TV series ‘Murder She Wrote’. Thanks for inviting me to the launch, Jenny.

It was great fun and the book (selling like hotcakes - sorry, not sorry) can be bought here -

https://www.amazon.com/Murder-She-Cooked-Cabot-Cookbook/dp/B0BF2LSVT7

Louise Coghlan, lovely Lou has written a wonderful book - Granny Nancy-Ireland's Oldest Lady Who Lived, Loved and Laughed for 107 Years. It’s fascinating and full of the thoughts of Granny Nancy.

It can be bought here - https://linktr.ee/livingandlaughingwithlou for UK/Ireland

https://printmybook.com/shop if you’re in Europe/USA/Australia/NZ/Canada

My thanks go to the kind and thoughtful Tracy O’Brien for sorting out my lack of technical skills and getting my banner in the right shape for the header at the top of this newsletter. Tracy writes of angels amongst other subjects in her newsletter - tracyobrien.substack.com