Our last blog talked about some of the strangest things recovered from abandoned self storage units, but it never ends. Here are some more amazing and unusual items to demonstrate how eccentric people can be.

Electric Chair

Let’s start with the rather gruesome find of an electric chair, which left staff at a US storage facility speculating on its presence. One also wonders who the last unfortunate person to sit on it might have been when in use.

Unexploded Hand Grenade

This caused a bit of a commotion at a unit in Michigan when this live device was found, causing a bomb disposal unit to be hastily called.

Burt Reynolds ‘Things’

Jaws dropped as the contents of a container once owned by the movie celebrity were revealed, including the canoe used in the iconic 1972 film Deliverance. Amongst the other numerous items were a horse carriage made by Dolly Parton, a toy car from Smokey & the Bandit, and a doctor’s note about an op Burt had in 1955.

Body Bits

There have been many shocking things discovered in storage units……like body parts. One of the less horrific is a jar of gallstones, and one guy kept a severed leg he lost during a plane crash, so he could eventually be buried with it!

Loved Ones

Urns are often kept in storage units, but one family kept the body of their Grandma in a casket for 17 years in one.

Michael Jackson Songs

One lucky new storage unit owner found himself with a unit previously owned by Michael Jackson’s father. It contained around 250 unheard and unreleased recordings of the singer some featuring Tina Turner. There was no existing legal ownership, as they were recorded when Jackson was between recordings!

We don’t recommend storing some of the more whacky items listed here at our Cubic Storage facilities. We are however happy to advise on your storage needs in Gosforth, Ponteland, Newcastle & Wallsend.

Self Storage, Holiday Storage, Container Hire, Short or Long Term Rental, Ponteland, Newcastle-upon-Tyne

Apparently many universities and further education establishments are trying to tempt students back with promises of a sort of pre-Covid student life. Statements offer a ‘totally open campus’ or an experience ‘much more like usual’. This isn’t really working though, as many students and academics believe a more realistic picture should be portrayed. They think that there should be no glossing over of the fact that continued disruption to classes and social life is likely.

The attitude of the universities is kind of understandable though, as competition to attract students will be particularly fierce this year. Many smaller institutions fear that the more acclaimed universities will once again expand and snaffle the majority of students. After all, the £9,250 that each student pays is not to be sneezed at. Universities such as University College London, Sheffield University, Edinburgh University and Ulster University tell students to expect ‘blended’ learning. This means online lectures where possible and reduced in-person workshops or seminars.

But some university websites make hardly any mention of the pandemic, or simply say that the next academic year could look very similar to pre-Covid years. Of course this is what a lot of students want to hear, and who can blame them! Professor Karen Stanton, vice-chancellor of Solent University, Southampton says: “We have exciting plans in place to bring all our students back to campus in the ‘new normal’ we’ll be facing.”

However, professor of higher education at the University of Oxford, Simon Marginson, says institutions who are struggling might be tempted to tell students what they think they want to hear. “They will pitch it as normal or near normal higher education in term 1 of 2021-22,” he says. “After the experience of the current academic year, we know this is unfair to students.” Professor Marginson says universities will probably end up having to offer online as well as face to face learning, and students may be once again faced with studying in their bedrooms.

Don’t forget if you’re studying and in need of affordable storage space in Gosforth, Cubic Storage are bound to have the exact unit or container you require!

Self Storage, Holiday Storage, Container Hire, Short or Long Term Rental, Gosforth