5:20am Thursday 20th March 2008
By Echo Reporter
TRIBUTES have been paid to a Southampton sewerman who spent 45 years working in the maze of sewers beneath the city.
Sid Whitcombe was known for his knowledge of the city's 1,000-mile labyrinth of sewers as a drainage engineer. His son Alan Whitcombe said: "Everyone knew him and he was very popular. I remember just after he retired 20 years ago an area of Lordshill was flooded.
"The fire service took two days trying to find a blockage and they asked him for help because he knew the sewers better than anyone. He fixed the problem in half an hour."
Sid, 80, died at a Southampton nursing home after suffering from bronchitis. His funeral took place in the city.
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