NPR: Carrying The Torch For London's Last Gas Lamps

An NPR article about London's last gas lamps.

Rich Preston/NPR

"In the United Kingdom, British Gas employs 30,000 workers. Five of them could be said to carry a torch that has been burning for two centuries. They are the lamplighters, tending to gas lamps that still line the streets in some of London's oldest neighborhoods and parks.

"London still has about 1,500 gas lamps. The group English Heritage decided to preserve them after almost all the others were replaced by electric lamps. These look almost exactly the same as when they were first installed 200 years ago. They're just a little taller to accommodate modern traffic.

"The gas lamps that still stand in London are now protected by law. If one is knocked down, it is replaced with an exact replica. They cast a calming, mellow light, maintained by these few remaining lamplighters — literal keepers of the flame."

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Antique Metal Roller Shutters in Lviv

Image
Lviv still has quite a few Austrian- and Polish-era metal roller shutters, which cover windows and doors of old storefronts. Some of the shutters are still used; most, however, look as if they haven’t been opened in decades. The panels with the locks are stamped with the manufacturer’s mark – typically the company’s name and location, some even with a street address, such as the company N. Bielicki Lwów , which was located on ul. Gródecka 43 (Horodotska St.). this panel is upside down - I think because several old shutters were used to patch up this door as seen in picture below Prague
Read more

Antique Iron Fences in Chicago

Image
I discovered some old fences while in the States this summer  –  first I found several beautiful antique fences on Hoyne Street in Chicago, and then I came across some in my suburb and in Annapolis, and now back in Lviv I have also started paying attention to them.  In all three places  –  Chicago, Winnetka, and Annapolis  –  I found fences made by Stewart Iron Works. This is not surprising as at one point this company was the largest iron fence maker in the world. *** The Stewart Iron Works Cincinnati Ohio Stewart Iron Works, an ironworks plant located in Covington, Kentucky, was founded in 1886 and incorporated in 1910. A branch in Cincinnati operated from 1903 to 1915.  Cincinnati Iron Fence Co. – Inc – Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.A.  Produced fences from the late nineteenth through the early twentieth centuries W.T. Barbee Fence Works It’s hard to find information about this company: "This company was apparently located i
Read more

The Ukrainian Alphabet and the Soft Sign

Image
There are several differences in the Ukrainian alphabets used in the diaspora and in Ukraine, in particular, what we call the alphabet, the way we pronounce the letters, the melody we use when singing the alphabet (or the lack there of a song), as well as the difference I only recently discovered - the placement of the soft sign. In Ukraine the soft sign "ь" doesn't come at the end of the alphabet as I learned, but third to last. It was quite a big shock for me to discover. However, this was a relatively recent change. In 1990, the soft sign was moved from the end of the alphabet to the place after the letter "щ" as it is in the Russian alphabet. I'm surprised it wasn't moved back a year later when Ukraine gained its independence. First of all, we usually say "азбука" or "абетка" while in Ukraine it is more common to say "aлфавіт" or "абетка" (for children). When we (at least my Chicago diaspora community) sing
Read more