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Electrical Apprentice
"I remember being an
apprentice in the electrical contracting industry,
based in Nelson Street in Edinburgh's New
Town in 1956."
Replacing the Gas Lamps
"At that time
the council were replacing the old gas
lamp standards with modern concrete ones for neon
lights.
About 100 yards down from my workplace,
on the corner of Great King Street and Drummond Place,
the Council had dug a hole for the new lamp post but a man
had placed a chair there and was sitting reading a book.
He sat there all day.
The next day there was a photo in the
press. It was Compton Mackenzie who
had been protesting that the new concrete
electric standards were inappropriate for the New Town."
Gas Lamps
"I
notice that some of the gas lamps
were converted to electric incandescent lamps, but they would not
have been as efficient as the neon lights.
I remember the gas lamps in Caledonian
Place, but they
were automatic. Not even I am old
enough to have been around when they were manually lit.
Edinburgh
"When I was in
the electrical industry, I had colleagues
who worked for the old Lighting Dept in King's Stables Road, and it
was common knowledge that Edinburgh had the best street lighting in
the UK.
It just
goes to show that you can't please everybody all the time,
even Compton MacKenzie!
Leith
"For those
who are interested in old street
lampposts, still to be found in the streets,
there was an
excellent example in Parliament Street, Leith,
last time I looked.
You
might like to add it to your
Street Furniture
page on the EdinPhoto web site."
George
Ritchie, North Gyle, Edinburgh |