All cisterns go!

'Flushed with pride' is a cheerful shorthand for any boast related to the achievements of one's friends and relations.

In one instance, for me, the metaphor switches happily to literal truth.

How? Well, if you drop in to London's glorious Science Museum, it's possible to view the collection's splendid example of the epoch-changing valveless cistern as pioneered by the sultan of sanitary ware himself, the semi-legendary Thomas Crapper.

It's interesting to note that this splendid appartus (pictured above on a poster from the 1980s) is a relatively recent acquisition.

It was donated by my brother. Having had pride of place in his bachelor apartment in north London (as a 'coversation piece', not as a plumbed-in arrangement), it became superfluous to requirements when he moved subsequently to his marital home.

He had the bright idea of offering it to the Science Museum. The offer was accepted with enthusiasm, a van was dispatched - and my brother's humble Thomas Crapper cistern was elevated to a status shared by the Rembrandts in the National Gallery - that of a bequest to the nation.

Hurrah!