Memories - early or general

Indeed, Slim, I fell foul of the physics lab electrical system a couple of times. From memory the bench sockets could be individually assigned from 2vdc up to 240vdc from a bank of lead/acid batteries or 240vac mains in the cabinet at the front of the room. On one occasion I was working on a low voltage (under 10vdc) "current balance" experiment and, while writing up the notes, I needed to re-check a measurement. Upon putting the brass key into the brass connector there was a big flash and bang at which time I realized the supply voltage had been changed to 240vac at the cabinet and I'd been writing up notes surrounded by bare wires carrying mains voltage. I think it was Ron Hough teaching at the time who was somewhat perturbed by the incident! The second occasion was a similar change of supply voltage, however, I'd been working on a basic electronic circuit and when it failed to give any results I had just started to inspect the circuitry a little closer when a large electrolytic capacitor exploded in my face. Luckily I wore glasses so no damage, however, I was picking bits of electrolytic capacitor out of my hair for the rest of the day. "Health and Safety" - what!

How about the Bakelite 2 wire adapters? You could take out a light bulb and use the socket for something that you had wired up with one of the adaptors. Remember blowing the fuses in our house on Charter Ave, when I tried to wire 3 different things in one adaptor at the same time. All went well, until I turned my bedroom light on!!

Mick, not Bakelite but I still have these in one of my "squirrel" boxes!

Lethal or what?

The type on the right is a plug for an ordinary BC lamp holder. Used to be very common. I saw someone using one once to plug in an iron! Of course, no earth... makes me shudder.

Early 50's my dad's mother came to live with us in our house on Charter Avenue. I think she must have been passed around dad's brothers and sisters, and then it was our turn. Granny Strong was partial to Butter Mints. We live about 5 minutes down the road from Charter shops (next to St Stevens church), and my job was to run up to the shops for a quarter of Butter Mints. It wasn't long before I started to sneek one or two whilst on my way home. Got home one day and the sweets were tipped out and counted. Granny knew exactly how many there were in a quarter and knew what I had been up to!!

Early days on Charter Ave, mum & dad had an Ascot water heater fitted over the kitchen sink. Running hot water at the turn of a switch. My mum thought it was luxury.

I fitted many Ascot sink and multipoint water heaters when working for West Midlands Gas Board, this would be in the late fifties, early sixties. Perhaps running hot water at the turn of a tap would have been more appropriate. Most pre-war properties in Coventry at the time only had a gas geyser that was fitted over the bath and only supplied hot water to the bath. I am sure some of our older members will remember the geysers, perhaps you are not old enough Mick.

Yeah, remember that, Gas Centre (I'm old enough) Lever out the gas jet, light the pilot light and then turn back under the tank?

Remembering now, we also has a little gas fire that was inset into the bedroom wall?

I have already posted this picture some years back. This guy was probably fitting your fire 30 years before you were born.

Does anyone still have the leaded rain water tank over their outside loo? Brilliant rain water for washing hair, nice and soft. I threw my toys out of the window once and they landed in the water tank. Dad was not too happy about it and left them there for me to see and suffer.

I'm not sure that there are a lot of outside loos left. Most old houses have been extended over anything with plumbing. Though the house I stayed in at university had no discernible connection the the sewer with the effluent of the whole street just vanishing underground somewhere. It was a quality rental - it had rats but no slugs and snails like other properties. Sorry about the toys.

We had a water tank at Poole Road when I was little and the tap was inside the kitchen. Yes it was lovely to wash your hair in, I think it was also used in the copper to do the washing. We had a thing on the wall for hot water. When we had running hot water installed. The soft water tap was replaced with the hot water tap. The tap from the tank was put outside. I think when it got older it started to go a bit grotty and unhygienic. Mum and dad had it removed so that the outside loo was a bit lighter. When we were kids we used to play ball in the entry. Very often the ball would finish up in the tank. If we could not reach it by standing on the dustbin we had to wait until mum and dad were out so we could climb out of the bathroom window. When I got married we lived in Butt Lane where we also had a tank but we removed it when we extended the kitchen into the old toilet and coal house. The tank went to the top of the garden where we used it to make compost in.

We lived at the side of an entry too in Welland Road, had a tin bath hanging on the wall outside. Also when it was a hot day and the tar melted in the road we would use a stick and write our names in tar on the wall in the entry. Also we went to a nearby railway siding and armed with a jam jar looked for the fanciest snails we could find. Oh for the fun of it all!