Going on a Loo Tour of London

You might think I'm taking the piss when I tell you what I did last weekend. I went on a Loo tour, a tour that explores this city's history through its public toilets. Strange? Yes, but it sure wasn't a shitty city tour ad one that gets you out of the dumps. So to speak.
I met Rachel, the guide, loo lady, and the owner of Loo Tours at London Waterloo in front of the ladies' public thinking rooms. Where else? It was hard to miss her as you don't see many people at this busy London train station holding up a plunger.

We set off towards our first stop: The Jubiloo which was built next to the Jubilee Gardens and opened right before Queen's Diamond Jubilee. This water closet surely is fit for a queen as toileteers that spend a penny to ascend these royal thrones will be sitting on Union Jack toilet seats.

As we walked across our beloved Thames, which used to be the biggest lavatory this city has ever known back, Rachel explained to us where the word loo actually came from, who invented the first toilet bowl (Thomas Crapper) (no joke) and who was responsible for creating a decent sewage system in the capital and where you can have a wee with the whole of London at your feet.

We moved on through the smallest alley in Covent Garden, and of course, the smelliest. We powdered our noses down in the ladies' at St Martin's in the Fields crypt, walked over to the last street light in London that burns on human poo and saw the spot where one of the first Victorian public loos once stood.

Suddenly the wind picked up, and it started pissing down, which was our cue to run down to the last loo stop of the tour; the Cellar Door Bar, a urinal turned burlesque club. A wee bit flushed we walked down the steps, sat on the stools and washed down some cocktails till we had to go. Home that is.

Find more information about Rachel and her tours on her website.