Long gone are the days of the dodgy plastic shower cabinets that you often came into contact with on camping sites and in cheap boarding houses. The mildewed cracks and that feeling as you stepped into the showers that nothing felt very robust; the floor would creak and bend, the water pressure was poor and…
Showering in modern Britain
Up until the 1970s, showering in Britain was generally not considered as part of a daily washing routine. There had been some Regency examples for the very wealthy where water from an overhead tank would be showered over the individual and then manually pumped back round for the whole process to be begin again. These…
Designer chic in radiators
Historically central heating was a cumbersome affair. For most of us over fifty, we only came into contact with central heating in schools, churches or public buildings of some kind. The wet system was popular where water was pumped round the building through extensive piping networks and into radiators, one or two of which sat…
Armitage Shanks and the sanitary revolution
Armitage Shanks taps, toilets and basins have been synonymous with bathroom fixtures and plumbing supplies for well over 150 years now. The original company from which it evolved was founded by Thomas Bond in 1817 in Armitage in Staffordshire and the Armitage ‘sanitary pottery manufacture’ became one of the UK’s most successful toilet manufacturers.