Gone down the pan

LITTLEHAMPTON is a truly remarkable town. Why? Because it has no public conveniences.

The lasting impression that visitors have of the town is its complete absence of conveniences.

The one outside the Manor House, a splendid 1930s edifice, was converted into an office for a further education college several years ago, a bizarre change of use, if I may say so!

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There are two public toilets on the seafront, but none in the town itself, so visitors either have to wait, or go to the seafront - most inconvenient.

In fairness, it is not just Littlehampton that is at fault here. Right across the country local authorities seem mightily reluctant to provide adequate facilities for their citizens. Whenever do we see public toilets being built? Hardly ever. Yet this should be one of the most basic concerns of any local council.

Of course, the great era of toilet building was during the Victorian period. At least the Victorians had their priorities right in this respect. They were very proud of their public conveniences and created artistic citadels which were treated with the respect they deserved. Vandalism and misuse were virtually unheard of in their day.

The motto of Littlehampton, shown on its crest, is “Progress”. It doesn’t appear very progressive to have a town devoid of public toilets.

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So until the council gets round to building us some convenient conveniences, we shall just have to keep singing the old song, “When you go down to Sussex by the sea, you’ll just have to go to the sea for a wee.”

Ian Fox,

Riverside,

Rope Walk,

Littlehampton

-Editor’s note: Mr Fox seems to have overlooked the public conveniences in St Martin’s car park, just a minute’s walk from High Street.

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