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Street furniture

In 1779 Birmingham was lit by 700 lamps, lit on only 160 nights per year for 8 hours per night. Why Commissioners of Lamps and ‘Scavengers’ ? Viv.
 

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Nice find Viv. I am thinking that Scavengers may be what we now call recycling? I know the younger generation think they invented recycling, but the Victorians went on to develop it to a fine art.
 
Street furniture [well almost!]:
A few years ago O2 installed this mini phone mast and associated cabinets on the pavement in our road. Never mind that it is in a conservation area [phot 1]. O2 are now applying for planning permission to erect a 20 metre high mast in the public car park in Moseley Village for 5G. [phot 2].
Progress?
 

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What with phone masts and all those masts going up for automatic meter reading, the country is going to look like a massive purcupine soon.

Maurice :cool:
 
Virgin Mobile have been digging up pavements and laying fibre optic cables in many towns of South Devon, for a year or more. Now every street has at least one silver metal cabinet to obstruct pushchairs and the partially sighted. They have been canvassing for custom since although I do not think all this is solely for their use otherwise streets would be continually fill of excavations.
Twice they left cards saying 'sorry we missed you', despite the fact that we were home. Maybe too tired to find the front door? ;) Anyway they are the last people we would want to supply internet of phones.
 
Why Commissioners of Lamps and ‘Scavengers’ ? Viv.

Scavenger appears as an occupation in the 1911 Census of England and Wales. This job title was used to describe someone who cleans the streets, removes refuse, generally a workman (a modern-day garbage collector, janitor, or street cleaner) employed by the local public health authority.
So presumably they were responsible for the streets which includes lighting.
 
Virgin Mobile have been digging up pavements and laying fibre optic cables in many towns of South Devon, for a year or more. Now every street has at least one silver metal cabinet to obstruct pushchairs and the partially sighted. They have been canvassing for custom since although I do not think all this is solely for their use otherwise streets would be continually fill of excavations.
Twice they left cards saying 'sorry we missed you', despite the fact that we were home. Maybe too tired to find the front door? ;) Anyway they are the last people we would want to supply internet of phones.
they are always diggin up the road and pavement here. and putting junk on them. then a few weeks later dig it up again to lay more cables for some other co. and more junk on the pavement.
 
Well folks, it's the 140th anniversary [thank you google] of the birth of Sir Giles Scott. If you were a scouser like me you would know that he designed Liverpool Cathedral - a truly incredible building reflecting civic pride at its' best.

More popular he designed the K2 Telephone Box in 1924: the iconic bright red GPO phone box. Somthing I grew up with but most now removed possibly because of cheap [& not so cheap!] wide spread use of mobile phones. Can't think of one still in Birmingham?

This is the later version the K6.
 

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There’s weren’t many K2’s installed outside London, so I doubt there are any examples left in Birmingham. Viv.
 
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