When I was about five years old I watched with fascination as my slightly older cousin flushed his father's/my uncle's signet ring down the toilet. One beating later, along with ten yards of pipe ripped out of the lawn, the ring was recovered.

Several decades later, while still living in Ireland I was witness to the aftermath of a toilet falling through the floor and crashing into the room below at Clondafoy Castle. The cause of the disaster was dry rot, and the weight of the commode finally causing the floor to give way beneath it. Fortunately no one was hurt (although I secretly think death or a sever injury would have been hilarious) as we were all outside sipping Pimms at the time. It wasn't until the next morning that the damage was discovered.