E17 Higham Hill, Upper Walthamstow, Walthamstow
Reminiscences of a Plumber's Mateby George Robbins |
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As a young whippersnapper having just left school I got a job with the Building Works Department of Walthamstow Borough Council, as it was then called. I preferred working on the public buildings side of the business rather than on the housing estates. |
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One of the first places I went to with a plumber was the cemetery in Queens Road. A new coal-fired boiler had been installed in one of the outbuildings and we were just clearing up any loose ends of the job. The plumber –Jim S - said to me, “Nip round the front of the building and fetch me the blowlamp, it’s just inside the door, on the left.” |
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Off I scuttled to let myself into the building and get the blowlamp. What a surprise awaited me. There in front of me on a marble slab was the body of a man totally naked and slit open from his throat to his nether regions. Quickly seizing the lamp I hastened back, to find my mate laughing. I didn’t know it was the mortuary. Had I been set up or what! I found later that the man had been pulled out of the river the evening before. |
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Another time after a cold snap we went to the old Town Hall in Orford Road to sort out some burst pipes. While working there the elderly lady caretaker brought us a cup of tea. While chit-chatting she said that she had just seen and heard a 'whistling mouse' on her hearth. Jim shot me a warning glance to say keep quiet. He explained later that it was a ‘consumptive’ mouse and was supposed to be a portent of some imminent disaster, a death or some such thing. The Town Hall was a Victorian building I believe, possibly earlier. The Council Chamber was normally out-of-bounds, but I sneaked a glance inside when no-one was looking, it was magnificently decorated. |
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Thorpe Coombe Maternity Hospital was another of our regular ports of call. Most times it was simply to replace tap-washers in the nurses’ quarters or some trivial thing, but on one occasion it was because of a blocked drain. Having located the blockage and cleared it Jim put the items responsible for the blockage into a bucket and sent me off with it, to find the Matron and show her, although I felt somewhat embarrassed. The items were bits-and–bobs of feminine hygiene, sanitary towels, not supposed to be flushed down the loo. After a while I got used to Jim’s perverted sense of humour and took it in my stride. |
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The Sewage Works at Low Hall Farm was another eye-opener for me. After heavy rain the system used to become overloaded so some of the flow was diverted into a holding area to be pumped back later. During the early spring and summer these holding areas always managed to produce a super crop of tomatoes. I have found out only recently that tomato seeds are apparently indigestible by man or beast. |
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We also worked at the public baths and swimming pool in the High Street. I still remember the cries of "More hot in Number Six please" or "a drop of cold in Number Eight." It was while here that I learned to swim, one of the bath attendants having nothing to do, took me under his wing and showed me how during my lunch breaks. |
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A few gaps in my education were filled while working in the ladies’ toilet at the Assembly Hall situated on the right of the New Town Hall. These were mostly taken care of from the magnificent, amateur works of art on the cubicle partitions. |
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I never did become a plumber, but later in life I specialised in high pressure hydraulic machinery and pipe work, so I guess it wasn’t all wasted. |
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