[Radio Wrangler]

There was a Philips top loading automatic in the UK. You lifted the lid then rotated the drum by hand to bring its pair of interlocking doors up to the top, opened said doors and then you could reach in to lift clothes out or drop them in.

Because there were bearings at both ends of the drum, these machines had higher spin speeds than the usual front loaders of the time. Owners loved them but they had to be pulled out from under worktops to use, or needed space without a worktop.

Nineteen years ago I bought an "AEG OKO-Lavamat 86720 update" apart from a stripped gear in the water distributor, it's still going strong. 1600 spin. A DC motor! Cast iron weights, not concrete. Metal drum and outer. Metal pulley for belt. A very strong bearing hub and sensible stress spreading. A washing machine to make engineers (not repairmen) smile. In those years it must have washed. It's taken riding breeches in its stride, and the odd numnah. There's a 30 minute wash programme that works fine. If I have time to let it take 90 minutes it'll save water - something we're not too short of in Scotland. It was expensive to buy, but it's easily outlived twice its own cost in cheap machines.

Front loaders don't have any implicit reason to be slow, but modern efficiency ratings are forcing a trend to slower programmes. They just don't have a letter rating for wasting your personal life expectancy hanging around waiting for it to finish.

When the AEG reaches its end, I think it'll be a Miele that replaces it. They seem to be the only European firm not engaged in commoditisation and a race to the bottom.

David