ON OCCASION, regulars at the Engineers Arms in Darwen would have been forgiven for a pun or two at the expense of the pub landlady’s potty pastime.

In an article published in the Lancashire Evening Telegraph in February of 1980, it said that there were never queues for the loos and there was always something new to chat about.

For landlady Joyce Donegan had a passion for collecting something rather unique - chamber pots.

Some of them, she said, which dated back more than a century.

Many toilet chambers decorated the pub of the Duckworth Street pub back in the day as Joyce, who ran the pub with her husband Leo, had been collecting them for more than 11 years.

She said: “I first began collecting them when I saw a couple on show.

“If I see one in a junk shop or in a window, I like to go in and have a look at it.

“There are quite a number on show in the bar, but I also have quite a lot of them in the attic too. At the moment the problem is that there isn’t enough room for them all.

“Some are more than 100 years old, and most of them are 70 or 80 years old.

“I suppose I like them because I’ve always liked antiques and this is certainly something different, I’m always willing to take a look at another potty.”