0:00:00 > 0:00:00- Subtitles
0:00:00 > 0:00:02- Subtitles- - Subtitles
0:00:02 > 0:00:06- In a recent survey of mankind's - most important inventions...
0:00:07 > 0:00:09- ..what do you think topped the poll?
0:00:10 > 0:00:11- The wheel?
0:00:12 > 0:00:14- The steam engine?
0:00:14 > 0:00:17- No, the toilet.
0:00:17 > 0:00:20- It's one of mankind's - most important inventions.
0:00:21 > 0:00:25- People live longer - in societies that have toilets.
0:00:26 > 0:00:32- In the first programme, we saw - early attempts at providing toilets.
0:00:32 > 0:00:34- Some are still used today.
0:00:37 > 0:00:42- Today, we look at how flush toilets - became common in Wales...
0:00:43 > 0:00:46- ..and all over the world.
0:00:57 > 0:01:02- In the last programme, we saw - how the latest flush toilets...
0:01:03 > 0:01:06- ..had reached Westminster - by the 1870s.
0:01:07 > 0:01:12- At that time, they were also found - in Wales's grandest homes...
0:01:12 > 0:01:16- ..like Penrhyn Castle, near Bangor.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23- But the new toilets - weren't accepted immediately.
0:01:23 > 0:01:27- Some aristocrats - preferred to use a chamber pot...
0:01:27 > 0:01:29- ..and get servants to empty it.
0:01:34 > 0:01:39- The upper classes even brought - chamber pots into the dining room.
0:01:39 > 0:01:44- They were kept in specially designed - cupboards until needed...
0:01:44 > 0:01:50- ..just to save the bother - of going to the garden or loo.
0:01:51 > 0:01:56- Centuries-old customs - weren't going to change overnight.
0:01:56 > 0:01:59- This cupboard was still used...
0:01:59 > 0:02:04- ..even after a flush toilet - was installed at Penrhyn Castle.
0:02:04 > 0:02:08- So what persuaded aristocrats - to change their ways?
0:02:08 > 0:02:13- How did toilets become common - in the homes of all social classes?
0:02:14 > 0:02:19- The answer is in Stoke-on-Trent, - still the ceramic world's capital.
0:02:20 > 0:02:23- There used to be 2,000 kilns - like these in Stoke.
0:02:24 > 0:02:26- In the 19th century...
0:02:26 > 0:02:30- ..it also became - the capital of the toilet...
0:02:30 > 0:02:34- ..as I saw - when I visited this museum.
0:02:39 > 0:02:43- Here in Stoke, - a whole industry evolved...
0:02:44 > 0:02:47- ..to supply new customers - with toilets.
0:02:47 > 0:02:51- As manufacturers competed, - prices came down...
0:02:51 > 0:02:53- ..and the technology improved.
0:02:56 > 0:03:00- By the 1880s, many manufacturers - had taken the final step...
0:03:01 > 0:03:05- ..towards producing a toilet - for the mass market.
0:03:05 > 0:03:11- The S-bend was integrated into - one self-standing ceramic piece.
0:03:11 > 0:03:17- It didn't smell or leak and it was - comparatively cheap to manufacture.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21- This is the predecessor - of the modern toilet.
0:03:21 > 0:03:25- This model, the Unitas, - sold in its millions...
0:03:25 > 0:03:29- ..not only in Britain, - but all over the world.
0:03:29 > 0:03:35- Even today, the Russian word - for toilet bowl is "unitas".
0:03:37 > 0:03:39- At the end of the Victorian age...
0:03:39 > 0:03:42- ..several toilet manufacturers - came to prominence.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45- Thomas Twyford, George Jennings...
0:03:46 > 0:03:48- ..Armitage Shanks.
0:03:49 > 0:03:53- I'm sure there's one name - you thought I'd include...
0:03:53 > 0:03:54- ..Thomas Crapper.
0:03:54 > 0:03:58- But Thomas Crapper - didn't invent the toilet.
0:03:58 > 0:04:01- The word crap - didn't derive from his name.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04- Thomas Crapper didn't make toilets.
0:04:04 > 0:04:08- His master stroke - was to ensure that his name...
0:04:09 > 0:04:12- ..was prominent - on every toilet and cistern...
0:04:13 > 0:04:17- ..produced by others - for him to sell to the public.
0:04:17 > 0:04:22- The public linked the name Crapper - with their purchase.
0:04:24 > 0:04:29- As a marketing man, - Thomas Crapper was unrivalled.
0:04:37 > 0:04:42- In the 19th century, as flush - toilets became more popular...
0:04:42 > 0:04:48- ..some homeowners wanted to benefit - from the new technology.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51- But some of them found - that space was limited.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55- One popular solution - here in Tenby...
0:04:55 > 0:04:59- ..was to build a toilet - on the side of the building...
0:04:59 > 0:05:02- ..suspended in mid-air, as it were.
0:05:05 > 0:05:10- They have been described - as "the hanging toilets of Tenby".
0:05:22 > 0:05:27- If toilets were becoming the norm - in middle-class homes...
0:05:27 > 0:05:29- ..what about the working classes?
0:05:29 > 0:05:32- This is Hurst Street, Birmingham.
0:05:32 > 0:05:38- Similar courts were common - in Welsh towns a century ago too.
0:05:41 > 0:05:46- Seventy families - shared three toilets.
0:05:46 > 0:05:48- They often had to queue.
0:05:48 > 0:05:53- Hygiene standards were dependent - on the other families.
0:05:53 > 0:05:57- Rubbish was also left - in these courts.
0:05:57 > 0:06:00- So they were shared - with other families...
0:06:01 > 0:06:05- ..and probably with cockroaches, - spiders and rats too.
0:06:05 > 0:06:11- Until the 1960s and the 1970s, - this was the toilet...
0:06:11 > 0:06:16- ..for many town dwellers - all over Britain.
0:06:17 > 0:06:22- To find out what sharing a toilet - was like, I met Anne and Ted...
0:06:23 > 0:06:28- ..who grew up in a back-to-back - like this in the 1950s.
0:06:28 > 0:06:32- In night time, it would be dark, - no electric lights or gaslight.
0:06:33 > 0:06:33- Not even in the yard.
0:06:33 > 0:06:34- Not even in the yard.- - No.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39- You'd take your friend, brother or - sister to go over the yard with you.
0:06:39 > 0:06:43- If it was dark, you wouldn't go on - your own - that's apart from rats.
0:06:43 > 0:06:47- It was also a play area - for the children.
0:06:47 > 0:06:50- It was just another space - within the complex.
0:06:50 > 0:06:54- This lady, if you did anything - wrong, she'd always tell you off.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58- So when we knew she was going to the - toilet, we'd nip on the toilet roof.
0:06:58 > 0:07:03- We waited until we thought she was - sitting down, then hit the roof.
0:07:04 > 0:07:06- That cures the constipation.
0:07:14 > 0:07:19- Public toilets helped to popularize - the new flush technology.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23- At the 1851 Great Exhibition - in London...
0:07:23 > 0:07:29- ..the toilets designed by George - Jennings attracted attention.
0:07:32 > 0:07:38- Three years later, Jennings designed - the first underground toilet...
0:07:38 > 0:07:39- ..also in London.
0:07:40 > 0:07:45- In 1898, his company built - this splendid underground toilet...
0:07:45 > 0:07:50- ..in The Hayes, - in Cardiff city centre.
0:07:54 > 0:07:56- It's splendid here.
0:07:56 > 0:08:00- There's an almost imperious - confidence to the design...
0:08:00 > 0:08:05- ..reflecting Britain's - global status at that time.
0:08:05 > 0:08:09- These luxurious marble urinals - are delightful...
0:08:09 > 0:08:12- ..and wrap around you - like a warm topcoat.
0:08:13 > 0:08:15- Look at the small targets.
0:08:15 > 0:08:20- You can aim at them - to get the precise angle...
0:08:20 > 0:08:23- ..and not splash back on yourself.
0:08:24 > 0:08:26- It cost a penny to use them.
0:08:26 > 0:08:32- That was probably the source - of the saying "to spend a penny".
0:08:32 > 0:08:38- Public toilets still cost a penny - until decimalization in 1971.
0:08:38 > 0:08:43- Nothing else probably cost - the same price for 120 years.
0:08:44 > 0:08:48- Everywhere you look, - there are details and luxury...
0:08:48 > 0:08:53- ..that you'd expect in a public - space like a church or a museum.
0:08:53 > 0:08:57- But by this time, - toilets were publicly accepted.
0:08:58 > 0:09:02- The city's leaders allowed - their names to be linked...
0:09:02 > 0:09:04- ..to a project of this kind...
0:09:04 > 0:09:10- ..because it was a temple - to hygiene, a palatial toilet.
0:09:12 > 0:09:18- They were probably built underground - because of a lack of space.
0:09:18 > 0:09:21- Toilets are still hidden away now.
0:09:24 > 0:09:28- This is an example of an Urilift - in London's Westminster.
0:09:28 > 0:09:32- It's an attempt - to stop antisocial people...
0:09:32 > 0:09:36- ..from passing water in doorways - after being drinking.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39- It appears - when pubs open at night...
0:09:39 > 0:09:43- ..then sinks back - into the pavement at dawn.
0:09:43 > 0:09:47- But women wouldn't be comfortable - using it, would they?
0:09:48 > 0:09:53- It's a common complaint that there - are never enough toilets for women.
0:09:53 > 0:09:58- I discussed this in Caernarfon - with Jenny, Siwan and Mali.
0:09:59 > 0:10:03- There's always a longer queue - outside the Ladies.
0:10:03 > 0:10:08- I admit I have jumped the queue - and gone to the men's toilet.
0:10:09 > 0:10:12- And put a lot of toilet paper - on the seat!
0:10:13 > 0:10:15- But why is there a longer queue?
0:10:15 > 0:10:18- The Ladies is a social place.
0:10:18 > 0:10:23- You see people you haven't seen - that evening in the toilet.
0:10:23 > 0:10:24- It's a meeting place.
0:10:24 > 0:10:28- It's a meeting place.- - You have a gossip and chat there.
0:10:28 > 0:10:33- To try to speed things up, - Cofi Roc has installed...
0:10:33 > 0:10:37- ..three Lady P urinals - in the women's toilet.
0:10:37 > 0:10:42- I've often looked at it - but I don't know how to use it!
0:10:42 > 0:10:45- Do you actually stand there, - like a man?
0:10:45 > 0:10:48- I've never had a pee standing up!
0:10:49 > 0:10:51- I have. It's really hard.
0:10:53 > 0:10:57- But how hard is it? - There's only one way to find out.
0:10:57 > 0:10:59- I've never done this before.
0:11:00 > 0:11:03- Down we went to the Ladies.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07- What's difficult about that?
0:11:07 > 0:11:08- It's not very private.
0:11:08 > 0:11:10- It's not very private.- - There's no door.
0:11:10 > 0:11:12- It's a bit exposed.
0:11:12 > 0:11:13- It's a bit exposed.- - Yes.
0:11:14 > 0:11:16- I've read a little about these!
0:11:16 > 0:11:19- Apparently, - the psychology behind it...
0:11:19 > 0:11:25- ..is that walls give you some cover - so you don't feel totally exposed.
0:11:25 > 0:11:29- The idea is - to make people go faster.
0:11:29 > 0:11:31- It wouldn't make me go faster.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35- I'd be paranoid about who passed.
0:11:36 > 0:11:41- The Lady P isn't the only - unusual toilet in Cofi Roc.
0:11:41 > 0:11:45- This is much more popular - with the girls.
0:11:45 > 0:11:46- Here it is.
0:11:46 > 0:11:47- Here it is.- - Two!
0:11:48 > 0:11:49- This is where it all happens.
0:11:49 > 0:11:50- This is where it all happens.- - Yes!
0:11:50 > 0:11:52- If the walls could talk!
0:11:52 > 0:11:53- If the walls could talk!- - True.
0:11:55 > 0:11:56- We need more of these.
0:11:56 > 0:11:58- We need more of these.- - More toilets in one cubicle?
0:11:59 > 0:12:00- Three or four.
0:12:00 > 0:12:02- Three or four.- - That'd be good.
0:12:03 > 0:12:05- And have a proper chat.
0:12:06 > 0:12:08- You wouldn't see that in the Gents.
0:12:09 > 0:12:10- You must talk about something.
0:12:10 > 0:12:11- You must talk about something.- - It wouldn't happen.
0:12:11 > 0:12:14- Everyone is like this.
0:12:15 > 0:12:16- OK?
0:12:17 > 0:12:18- Then you go.
0:12:20 > 0:12:22- Let's get out!
0:12:23 > 0:12:24- Thank you.
0:12:25 > 0:12:26- Ooh!
0:12:26 > 0:12:31- The women's urinal - came from Holland.
0:12:31 > 0:12:34- After the break, I'm in Amsterdam...
0:12:34 > 0:12:38- ..to seek more developments - in public toilets.
0:12:38 > 0:12:43- I also visit Japan to see - some really sophisticated loos.
0:12:48 > 0:12:49- .
0:12:52 > 0:12:52- Subtitles
0:12:52 > 0:12:54- Subtitles- - Subtitles
0:12:56 > 0:13:01- After talking the drawbacks - in Wales's public toilets...
0:13:01 > 0:13:06- ..I've come to Holland to see - if the situation's better here.
0:13:10 > 0:13:15- The first places I saw - were designed only for men.
0:13:15 > 0:13:19- These are called pisbak - or pissijn.
0:13:20 > 0:13:25- But the city also has - more sophisticated toilets.
0:13:25 > 0:13:28- 2theloo provides public toilets...
0:13:28 > 0:13:32- ..on Holland and Belgium's - busiest streets.
0:13:32 > 0:13:38- It costs an euro to use them, - but you get a 50 cent credit...
0:13:39 > 0:13:43- ..to spend in the shop or cafe - on the same site.
0:13:44 > 0:13:47- Every toilet has a different design.
0:13:47 > 0:13:51- But each one is spotless.
0:13:53 > 0:13:58- I wonder if they'd like to run - the toilets in the Eisteddfod.
0:14:03 > 0:14:09- Seeing how the designers made - each cubicle look so different...
0:14:09 > 0:14:15- ..made me think how our toilets - developed to look as they do today.
0:14:18 > 0:14:23- The earliest toilets needed - a complicated flushing mechanism.
0:14:23 > 0:14:27- It was often hidden in a wooden box.
0:14:28 > 0:14:34- But when the design - integrating the bowl and S-bend...
0:14:34 > 0:14:37- ..was perfected in the 1880s...
0:14:37 > 0:14:39- ..there was nothing to hide.
0:14:39 > 0:14:45- Manufacturers competed - to produce the handsomest toilets.
0:14:45 > 0:14:49- Some were finely decorated, - like huge soup tureens.
0:14:49 > 0:14:52- Some were shaped like fish.
0:14:52 > 0:14:57- After the Great War, plain toilets - like this one were the fashion.
0:14:57 > 0:15:01- This, the British Standard, - dates back to the 1920s.
0:15:02 > 0:15:07- Without too close an inspection, - it looks like a modern toilet.
0:15:07 > 0:15:12- The exterior looked plainer, - as did the interior.
0:15:15 > 0:15:17- This design is called washdown.
0:15:17 > 0:15:22- Waste falls into the water - and is washed down.
0:15:23 > 0:15:26- Before the Great War, - another design was in vogue...
0:15:27 > 0:15:29- ..namely the washout.
0:15:29 > 0:15:34- The hole isn't in the back, - it's in the front.
0:15:34 > 0:15:39- Waste falls into a shallow pool - of water on a shelf.
0:15:39 > 0:15:44- That meant less splashing, - but more of a smell...
0:15:44 > 0:15:48- ..because waste - wasn't immediately covered by water.
0:15:49 > 0:15:53- Then it was flushed out, - the washout.
0:16:00 > 0:16:05- This design was very popular - in Britain until the Great War.
0:16:05 > 0:16:10- We don't have it now, but it's still - popular in Holland and Germany.
0:16:10 > 0:16:15- The design has one other problem, - if you're a man.
0:16:15 > 0:16:19- When you pee, - it comes back towards you.
0:16:20 > 0:16:22- You could splash everywhere.
0:16:22 > 0:16:27- So here, you're advised to do - what is called "sitzpinkeln".
0:16:27 > 0:16:30- To pee sitting down.
0:16:33 > 0:16:39- Men's tendency to splash - encouraged toilet manufacturers...
0:16:39 > 0:16:42- ..to provide targets to aim for.
0:16:42 > 0:16:48- We saw that this Cardiff toilet - has rings.
0:16:48 > 0:16:52- This one in Amsterdam - appeals to the golfer in us.
0:16:53 > 0:16:57- In Tokyo, they encourage men - to extinguish the flame.
0:16:58 > 0:17:02- Some Victorian urinals - had bees on them.
0:17:02 > 0:17:08- This was a rather intellectual joke - at a time when everyone knew Latin.
0:17:08 > 0:17:11- The Latin word for bee...
0:17:11 > 0:17:13- ..is "apis".
0:17:16 > 0:17:18- What about the future?
0:17:19 > 0:17:24- What kind of toilet will our - children and grandchildren have?
0:17:26 > 0:17:31- In this London nightclub, - they've tried to evoke the future.
0:17:31 > 0:17:36- The toilets look like something - from a sci-fi story.
0:17:36 > 0:17:38- But when you open the door...
0:17:39 > 0:17:43- ..you see a design that hasn't - changed much for over a century.
0:17:45 > 0:17:50- To see how the flush toilet - can really go to the next level...
0:17:51 > 0:17:53- ..we must go to Japan.
0:18:23 > 0:18:27- At first, this toilet - looks rather complicated.
0:18:28 > 0:18:32- By Japanese standards, - it's quite simple.
0:18:32 > 0:18:35- The seat warms your backside.
0:18:35 > 0:18:39- This button makes it hotter - or colder, as you wish.
0:18:39 > 0:18:44- This controls the mechanism - that washes your backside.
0:18:45 > 0:18:50- I'll put my hand here, so the - machine thinks my backside's there.
0:18:51 > 0:18:52- If I press this...
0:18:53 > 0:18:54- Oh!
0:18:54 > 0:18:57- Water comes out - to wash your bottom!
0:18:58 > 0:19:00- I wasn't quite ready for that.
0:19:02 > 0:19:05- It runs for quite a while.
0:19:06 > 0:19:08- When I first came here...
0:19:08 > 0:19:14- ..it took a few days to pluck up - the courage to give it a go.
0:19:15 > 0:19:20- But now, I can see myself - having one at home.
0:19:25 > 0:19:27- How do I stop it?
0:19:34 > 0:19:39- My backside would stop - all this water coming out.
0:19:43 > 0:19:47- As well as a love - for the latest technology...
0:19:47 > 0:19:50- ..the Japanese also love simplicity.
0:19:52 > 0:19:57- So what has driven them - to improve the toilet's design?
0:19:57 > 0:20:03- Is it their love for technology, - or something deeper...
0:20:03 > 0:20:08- ..their belief - in the importance of self-cleansing?
0:20:11 > 0:20:16- I'm meeting an architect - who designs public toilets...
0:20:16 > 0:20:18- ..Junko Kobayashi.
0:20:18 > 0:20:22- Her office is next door - to this temple...
0:20:22 > 0:20:25- ..where we talked about her work.
0:20:26 > 0:20:30- Is there a Japanese tradition - of designing toilets?
0:20:33 > 0:20:37- Personally, I believe - that simplicity and silence...
0:20:37 > 0:20:39- ..are great virtues.
0:20:39 > 0:20:41- But I also like to have fun...
0:20:42 > 0:20:45- ..and have things around me - that cheer me up.
0:20:45 > 0:20:48- When designing professionally...
0:20:48 > 0:20:52- ..I design toilets - for a specific location and context.
0:20:53 > 0:20:55- I have to keep this in mind...
0:20:55 > 0:20:58- ..as well as the desire - to create a haven of perfection.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02- The desire to create - the perfect toilet...
0:21:02 > 0:21:06- ..reflects something deep - in Japanese culture.
0:21:06 > 0:21:11- Here's a quotation from an essay - about Japanese architecture...
0:21:11 > 0:21:14- ..written by Junichiro Tanizaki - in the 1930s.
0:21:15 > 0:21:19- "Anyone with a love of traditional - architecture would agree...
0:21:19 > 0:21:24- "..that the Japanese toilet - exemplifies perfection.
0:21:24 > 0:21:29- "I love being in a toilet, - listening to rain gently falling.
0:21:30 > 0:21:34- "It's the perfect place to hear - grasshoppers, birds warbling...
0:21:35 > 0:21:36- "..to watch the moon...
0:21:37 > 0:21:42- "..to enjoy those bitter-sweet - moments noting the seasons' passing.
0:21:42 > 0:21:46- "Looking at Japanese architecture...
0:21:46 > 0:21:51- "..one could claim that the toilets - have the purest aesthetics."
0:21:51 > 0:21:56- So how has Junko Kobayashi adapted - the ancient love of simplicity...
0:21:57 > 0:21:58- ..to the present age?
0:22:01 > 0:22:05- One has to remove clothes, - or partly, at least...
0:22:06 > 0:22:07- ..to sit on the toilet.
0:22:08 > 0:22:11- You can't move around a lot.
0:22:12 > 0:22:16- So everything has to be - within easy reach of the toilet.
0:22:18 > 0:22:22- That's why I compare the toilet - to an aeroplane cockpit.
0:22:23 > 0:22:27- I try to design toilets that - are high-tech, but easy to use...
0:22:28 > 0:22:31- ..when space is limited.
0:22:34 > 0:22:37- The Japanese enjoy their toilets.
0:22:38 > 0:22:42- The way they've embraced - all the technical potential...
0:22:42 > 0:22:48- ..and developed advanced toilets - says a lot about them.
0:22:49 > 0:22:53- In the next programme, - I return to Britain...
0:22:53 > 0:22:57- ..to attend - the Golden Poo Awards in London.
0:22:57 > 0:22:59- What does that say about us?
0:22:59 > 0:23:01- "What a feeling, on the bog
0:23:02 > 0:23:03- "The next day
0:23:03 > 0:23:05- "To crap a hedgehog"
0:23:05 > 0:23:06- LAUGHTER
0:23:07 > 0:23:12- I discuss toilet humour, and attend - the World Toilet Congress in China.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15- To make good hygiene practice - a shared responsibility.
0:23:15 > 0:23:17- There, I measure the splash...
0:23:18 > 0:23:20- ..and consider splashing out.
0:23:37 > 0:23:39- S4C Subtitles by Gwead
0:23:39 > 0:23:39- .