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Street furniture

There's loads about still . There's one outside my office building too - outside the crown Pub junction of Hill St and Station Street in the City centre.

View attachment 47899 Another courtesy of Google Street View. Enjoy your pint JohnO .;)
 
The picture is of two normal pedestrian crossings, one is in the side road at the mouth of the junction and one is on the main road.
 
There are still quite a few of these about.I think i know what they were for but what were they called?
Moss.
Original photo lost, but replaced with another to show what sort of item the poster was referring to

outside proof house.jpg
 
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Weren't they to stop horse drawn carts to mount the kerb at corners, a lot were made from old cannons I think captured in the Napoleonic wars.
Some modern ones are made in the shape of these cannons, unless I am wrong.
Cheers
Dave
 
Yeah a bollard...thats what I would have thought too. You can see them in some of the old photo's or pictures at corners to prevent the horse and carts from cutting the corners and injuring pedestrians. At least that is what I think they were for. A serious effort seems to have been made to save that particular one. I wonder why. Is it of historical importance. Does it still serve a purpose. Sometimes they were used to bar vehicular access to a lane also.
 
Weren't they to stop horse drawn carts to mount the kerb at corners, a lot were made from old cannons I think captured in the Napoleonic wars.
Some modern ones are made in the shape of these cannons, unless I am wrong.
Cheers
Dave


Yep, we used to have several, in Newcastle, complete with cannon-ball, of a slightly larger calibre, wedged in the top.
 
Well you learn something every day. I wonder how many tourists walk past these old cannons and never realise that they are passing a piece of significant history.
 
There's a massive one of these which looks just like a cannon
on the left hand corner at the Alcester island just past Broad Lane
Caravans coming along the Alcester Road from Studley.
I keep meaning to have a look at it, but it's not really a
very convenient place to stop!

Kind regards

Dave
 
Have just driven from Longbridge, via Cotteridge to Acocks Green, on route my son noticed the lamposts are painted different colours, red in Cotteridge changing to blue just by Lifford then grey in Acocks Green, anyone know the reason why they are different colours? is it just to show the different areas?
 
I think it shows how long ago tey were painted. I remember in the 50s and 60s main road lamp poles being green, and side road ones ( which were much smaller) were maroon and cream.
 
HI LLoyd
do you remember the old type gas light where a chap on a bike would come around the streets lighting up the lights at a certain time also do you ever recall him coming around with his big stick to snubb them out even up terraces and back yards where ever there was one
best wishes astonian
 
I certainly remember a man on a bike opening up the top lantern and doing some type of maintenance on these gas lamps. I stand corrected here but I think they had a clockwork mechanism that opened a valve that allowed the gas to burn and heat up the mantles.
I assume there was also a pilot light, so the clock would need to be wound up? and those mantles would need replacement, hence the bloke on the bike:)

Incidently if you visit Malvern link the top road still has numerous gas lamps all in full working order, they look quite splendid and emit a very pleasnt slightly warm glow, most attractive.
 
HI BILL
You are quite right what you have said every time the man came up our terrace cromwell square on lichfield rd i always stopped and talked to him
up the terrace we all had our own gardens and our fence was right next to the lamp and he would park is bike on our fence we lived at 5 back of 92 lichfield rd aston
and our little house was one up and one down with a scully with the stairs in it to go to bed room we was cramped all eight of us kids and our parents
they had the double bed to themselves us kis was four or five at the top end and the other thre or four at the bottom
mrs arnold was the previous tennant before we moved in she alaso done an article on the forum for her memories of aston and the house for carl chinns when they started this forum years ago on come in and mek your self at home which is included in the beging chapters of our wonder full forum and our lovely extented family of members
did you ever have an old man come around knocking your door asking can he paint your number on your house door for 6 penny peice we did he done the whole terrace
we had twenty houses up our terrace and out of the whole terrace we had the biggest garden so come bon fire night all the neibours brought there blunder to burn
it was almost big as a park fire we alwas out done the street neibours neibouring to us our rivals was the sargent family up a couple of entrys away our flames reach the sky we could see there flames but we always out done them and mom would do a ton of chestnuts from robinsons fruit and veg and baked spuds by the ton until the early hours of the morning
the sharpes and the goughs and the jarretts was there till morning light and the fire was still burning the next day best wishes astonian
 
Coleshill has two georgian post Boxes and one of these, according to a book I have is reputed to be a George V box (though I'm not sure which) Niether of the boxes carry a rednal number which I find quite odd. Can anyone tell me why? and are there any other Georgian Post Boxes in the Birmingham area?

georgian post box.JPGgeorgian post box 2   Coleshill-36jg.jpg
 
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