Close Call

A "close", in the UK and The Irish Republic, is a small alley or a narrow passage to more dwellings behind a primary one on a main street. They are interesting because it is where life is actually lived. They were once a little dangerous for, in a day without toilets, people dumped their waste out of their windows into the close. It was a walkway and also a sewer. They are mentioned in many novels old and new.