Tales of a toilet block

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As most people probably know, the demolition of the ‘Splash Palace’ toilet block on Parliament Street is underway. To mark this not-very-interesting event, I have a dull photo from when we passed it on our Christmas Day walk to the windmill. Someone with a sense of humour decorated it with a string of festive lights (visible on the enlarged view). Perhaps in honour of its (not very) long service and in recognition of its imminent demolition.

I don’t go looking for videos about toilets, but happened to find that this one has been immortalised, via YouTube. This video, filmed a few years back, has clearly had a lot of views, so perhaps you’ve all seen it already. If not, it’s a glimpse inside the gents part of the toilets, and very funny. “There’s actually poo on the wall”. “And the sad thing is that it’s got potential.”

It was apparently the most popular of the series … and if you’re really interested, there’s another YouTube video of the creators discussing the filming of their memorable visit:
Commentary – York Episode – Worlds Most Shocking Toilets

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3 comments

  1. drake Richards

    These loos are not that old ! I recall the ladies and gents being at opposite ends of Parliament St

  2. YorkStories

    You’re right Drake, the building isn’t that old. Think it’s only been there 20 or 30 years? Like the Peasholme Centre not far away, also relatively modern, and demolished. Seems we built a few things in the late 20th century which weren’t ‘fit for purpose’ for very long!

    I vaguely recall that somewhat inconvenient positioning of the ladies and gents conveniences at opposite ends of Parliament Street.

  3. Ha! I think these actually went up in ’96 or ’97! I was working down that end of town at the time. I remember noting their absence on Streetview recently.

    To be fair, they became squalid almost immediately. A lack of cleaning combined with York’s…lively evening denizens and their favourable pub crawl location meant the inevitable piss-fest was not long in coming.

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