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Street furniture

That would be around 1937 That is when Birmingham started using mercury vapour lighting - or to give them their correct name Osira 400w MA/V lamps. They gave out a gloomy blue / green light. Some authorities used to use 2 addition 60w tungsten Lamps to provide some kind of colour rendering.
 
Fury in model village as broadband firm installs ‘eyesore’ telegraph poles [Guardian headline a few weeks ago re Bournville Village Trust]

1719911570070.jpeg. Only just come across this -

The poles were erected by broadband provider Brsk, which claims to be “rolling out the fastest full fibre broadband the UK has to offer”, and in many places is creating its own infrastructure to do so.

The infrastructure consists of old fashioned telegraph poles - over a 100 in Bournville alone. Conservation area but Brsk apparently don't need planning permission! Now being installed in Moseley. No consultation, council powerless, inappropriate siting, residents protests - all to no avail.

So much for conservation areas and planning restrainsts - clearly big business can do what it likes but woe betide you if you break the rules!
 
In the village I lived in when I moved from Brum all the phones and electrics were on poles, over the years most were removed and the cables laid under the footpaths.
Problem then was that because of ancient culverts getting in the way some of the mains electric was just four inches under the surface and frequently got chopped when digging occurred for any reason
We also had a mains transformer on poles in the pub carpark opposite, very interesting when it caught fire and the firemen wouldn't attempt to put it out for fear of electrocution.
All around us now Gigaclear are laying broadband fibre under the footpaths.
 
Apologies as this isn't really on topic but the electric street poles on Japan really amazes me!
main-qimg-e3bab076a2cbc67037349c32cd89b4e8-lq.jpeg
I guess it's something to do with potential earthquakes - safer above ground?
 
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Just a bit more on this!

I remember about 50 years ago {?} telephone lines in Birmingham were on poles BUT BT then put the cables underground. Must have cost a fortune. I also remember the Birmingham Cable Co. installing underground cables for fast broadband etc. Again must have cost millions for Birmingham alone. So new cables on poles must be related to profit and not II think not for any technical reasons.

I didn't know anythink about this until a few weeks ago. An awful lot of people are going to be upset when a pole apears outside their house festooned with cables. Protests already taking place where they are installing them all over the country as well as in Brum.
 
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