I'm a bit of an arachnophobe and found a whopper in the bath at 5am. Not the
best start to the day, and I know it's that time of year.
This was fully 5" across in normal 'relaxed/crouching' mode. Fairly beefy as
well, not a spindly type. Perhaps 7-8" if flattened, I am not exagerrating.
I won't kill them so chased it round the bath with a glass vase & bit of
paper before successfully evicting it. A pint glass normally suffices.
Not the first time of course but this is one of the largest I've seen.
Got to wondering how it came to be there. Bathroom is fairly well sealed.
Floor/walls/ceiling. No recessed downlighters. Light fittings are surface
mounted with no gaps. Extractor fan has a close fitting iris-type closure.
There is a vent that is open to outside and this has a 1mm mesh within it,
checked and is in good order.
They obviously don't come up through the plug hole unless equipped with
scuba gear. My S-I-L firmly believes this to be the case and always ensures
that the plug is rammed fully home. She lives in Oz and suffers visits from
some of the more dangerous varieties.
There are no webs and a thorough cleaning reveals no nests.

A daft question perhaps but I'm a daft old sod anywaysup.

Any thoughts or anecdotes appreciated. I think angle grinders do not apply
in this case but ..........

Thanks,
Nick.