Beverleys Beaver Blocked by Knickers
The manager of Beverley’s Beaver pub called us on a Sunday afternoon after he’d spent most of the night before, and the Sunday morning (in between coaching a rugby team) trying to clear the ladies toilets. He was a desperate looking man when I arrived – like someone who had spent hours trying to clear his own drains.
He described how the drains from the ladies toilet had blocked late the previous evening, when the pub was in full swing. Each time the ladies toilets were used water came up through the floor drain and the toilets overflowed, flooding the floor – but still the customers used the toilets. He went on to describe how the water had flooded out from under the toilet door covering the floor of the corridor outside and running into the gents. Imagine the scene at the end of the night when all the punters had left!
He’d locked the doors, and decided to go upstairs, count the takings and do all the other things he needed to do before going to bed. Then at about 3am, not being able to sleep came downstairs to set about clearing the drains – from the floor gully in the toilets. He’d had some four hours at this before giving up and getting organised for the rugby training. On his return from training he’d called us.
As I walked in I spotted the manhole in the corridor outside the toilet door, but continued into the ladies, which had been cleaned but still held a level of water in the toilet pans and the floor gully was full. He followed me in and said that he’d been trying to clear it from the gully, had brought all sorts of stuff out of the drain, including a bra (?) and had broken his sink plunger, he then showed me how his arm was chafed…. At this point he asked if I wanted coffee. I accepted as long as he joined me because he looked like he needed it!
I lifted the manhole lid in the corridor and saw that the line coming in from the toilet was well and truly blocked, everything was being held back by some black fabric caught on the junction, I had a quick poke with a drain rod and hooked the fabric, removing a pair of big ‘Bridget Jones’ type ladies knickers’, this released the blockage and the backed up sewage in the line ran away to the manhole, and was soon on its way to the main drain.
He brought the coffee as everything was running clear – I did say that it is very common to find ladies underwear blocking toilets and drains in pubs which at times can be somewhat of an education…. And added, “And looking at the size of these I think the owner had ‘got lucky’ and pulled, and perhaps didn’t want to show ‘em to the lucky man!”
So Mr Dave Price, manager of The Beaver in Beverley – here as promised, your tale of woe on our website!