Things you don’t see outside any more

[ABB125]

Is that a 3-phase light bulb, or is only one of the 3 wires going into the box actually connected?

 

[dgl]

Is that a 3-phase light bulb, or is only one of the 3 wires going into the box actually connected?

it'll be only one phase, still some of them around Crewkerne.

 

[High Dyke]

I've certainly not seen a battery powered milk float in a very long time, they've been replaced by diesel Ford Transits locally.

I followed a milk van (as opposed to the traditional float) down the street the other morning. It is a new electric powered vehicle.

I would say ‘Rag and Bone’ men who collected any possible reusable stuff, but in Doncaster, there are still a few people who go round in a truck and collect scrap metal weekly, their megaphone blaring down the street. Does anybody else have that? Not noticed it in Sheffield yet.

Local scrappy round our way seems to use a van with megaphone attached mostly, but sometimes still gets his horse and cart out.

Also, the red elastic bands that the postman used to discard. I can recall going round my estate once a week looking for these and within a month made myself a rubber band ball the size of a tennis ball. I read that they no longer use red elastic bands which I guess explains why we don’t see them lying in the pavement/road.

They tend to be the brown coloured type of rubber band these days. I picked up a couple outside my house the other morning.

 

[XAM2175]

Streetlights on wooden poles served by overhead wires are probably not to common now. Although personally I quite like these traditional looking street lamps much better than the modern nonsense common place today.

How on earth are the modern ones 'nonsense'?

 

[MattA7]

How on earth are the modern ones 'nonsense'?

The more modern LED lamps tend to be poor at spreading the light out only giving visibility directly under the lamp.

There is also concerns about the health and environmental consequences of newer led street lights. They may be very energy efficient however if they cause sleep problems and are killing nocturnal wildlife it defeats the purpose of being “eco friendly”

some street lighting manufacturers are even selling “wildlife friendly LEDs” that give off a amber light similar to that of sodium lamps

 

[py_megapixel]

Some street lighting manufacturers are even selling “wildlife friendly LEDs” that give off a amber light similar to that of sodium lamps

Well, it sounds like the problem has, in principle, been solved then... it's just a question of whether local authorities will bother actually implementing the solution.

 

[gg1]

The more modern LED lamps tend to be poor at spreading the light out only giving visibility directly under the lamp.

There is also concerns about the health and environmental consequences of newer led street lights. They may be very energy efficient however if they cause sleep problems and are killing nocturnal wildlife it defeats the purpose of being “eco friendly”

Completely agree, they're also excessively bright when directly below the lamp, I would hate to have to sleep in the front bedroom of a house which had an LED streetlamp directly outside.

I also think they can be distracting when driving, with the light intensity changing from bright-dim-bright-dim-bright as you drive along the road, an effect you don't get to the same degree with traditional street lighting.

 

[XAM2175]

The more modern LED lamps tend to be poor at spreading the light out only giving visibility directly under the lamp.

I apologise, I read your comment as saying that the modern poles were nonsense, not LED lamps (which you didn't specifically mention).

 

[DynamicSpirit]

Hadn't seen one for a very long time, but on Friday I saw a coal van delivering to someone's house a couple of streets away

On that theme, you no longer see rows of houses all with chimneys billowing out smoke from their coal fires.

Another thing you certainly see less of these days is kids playing out in the street.

And far fewer children walking to school unaccompanied. I remember as a child walking to/from school as an experience where the closer you got to the school, the more you were immersed in crowds of other children with scarcely any adult anywhere in sight - all without any obvious problems. These days it seems children are far too delicate to be trusted to walk anywhere until they are of teenager-ish age. (In part, hence all the pollution from school runs)

Also, it's been a long time since I've seen any groups of children out on their cross-country runs for PE lessons - something we did reasonably regularly when I was at school.

 

[Ediswan]

The more modern LED lamps tend to be poor at spreading the light out only giving visibility directly under the lamp.

That is down to the fitting as a whole. One of the advantages of LEDs is that it is much easier to control the light distribution, wide or narrow as desired. Where you see a narrow spread, maybe somebody decided it should be that way. Maybe they didn't check the specification of the fitting carefully enough.

 

[ATW Alex 101]

And far fewer children walking to school unaccompanied. I remember as a child walking to/from school as an experience where the closer you got to the school, the more you were immersed in crowds of other children with scarcely any adult anywhere in sight - all without any obvious problems. These days it seems children are far too delicate to be trusted to walk anywhere until they are of teenager-ish age. (In part, hence all the pollution from school runs)

Also, it's been a long time since I've seen any groups of children out on their cross-country runs for PE lessons - something we did reasonably regularly when I was at school.

Most of todays precious children need dropping off in their parents Chelsea Tractor as close to the classroom as possible!

 

[py_megapixel]

Most of todays precious children need dropping off in their parents Chelsea Tractor as close to the classroom as possible!

Not sure you can really blame the children for that though as this attitude has presumably been instilled in them by excessive degrees of "helicopter parenting"

 

[ATW Alex 101]

Not sure you can really blame the children for that though as this attitude has presumably been instilled in them by "helicopter parenting"

Quite, the parents to blame. You only have to see the result of such parenting in the attitude of kids today.

 

[AM9]

That is down to the fitting as a whole. One of the advantages of LEDs is that it is much easier to control the light distribution, wide or narrow as desired. Where you see a narrow spread, maybe somebody decided it should be that way. Maybe they didn't check the specification of the fitting carefully enough.

Part of the reason for LED streetlights having a better defined downward pool of light is to reduce the amount of light pollution. That is an issue for wildlife over a far wider area than just the road below. Personally I prefer LED lights because they generally have a high CRI light allowing better visibility of moving objects. The less well bits between the lamps aren't really a problem as I normally drive within the speed limit however quiet the roads are.

 

[PeterY]

On that theme, you no longer see rows of houses all with chimneys billowing out smoke from their coal fires.



And far fewer children walking to school unaccompanied. I remember as a child walking to/from school as an experience where the closer you got to the school, the more you were immersed in crowds of other children with scarcely any adult anywhere in sight - all without any obvious problems. These days it seems children are far too delicate to be trusted to walk anywhere until they are of teenager-ish age. (In part, hence all the pollution from school runs)

Also, it's been a long time since I've seen any groups of children out on their cross-country runs for PE lessons - something we did reasonably regularly when I was at school.

And I thought all children had to taken to school by car (chelsea tractors) nowadays, hence the choked roads in the morning.

In all my school days, I never got a lift. I had to walk 1.5 miles whatever the weather.

 

[Ediswan]

Personally I prefer LED lights because they generally have a high CRI light allowing better visibility of moving objects.

Do you have a reference for high CRI allowing better visibility of moving objects ? I am not disagreeing, just the first time I recall seeing that claimed as a general benefit.

 

[DelayRepay]

Completely agree, they're also excessively bright when directly below the lamp, I would hate to have to sleep in the front bedroom of a house which had an LED streetlamp directly outside.

I do - I had an old sodium light right outside my house until a couple of months ago, when it was replaced with a new LED one. I have less light in my bedroom now than I used to (although it was never really a problem as I used thick curtains).

What I don't like about the new streetlight is it only lights the area directly below it. The old one used to light up my drive and front door. Since it's been replaced, the area around my front door is pitch black, so I've had to have a security light installed.

 

[MattRat]

Not so much 'outside' but more 'out and about'. People washing their hands after using the toilet. People are more than happy to wear a mask everywhere, even were it isn't needed, but god forbid they clean the sh*t stains off their hands. Covid isn't the only illness....

 

[Bevan Price]

Trolley Buses.
Clean, quiet and no pollution. The last ones in UK (Walsall, Huddersfield, Bradford) finished by the late 1960s.

 

[Busaholic]

Trolley Buses.
Clean, quiet and no pollution. The last ones in UK (Walsall, Huddersfield, Bradford) finished by the late 1960s.

Slightly later in the case of Bradford = 1972. As it had been one of the first two systems in the U.K. (1911) it was certainly the longest lasting.

If sense prevails, they'll make a comeback here as they have in many parts of the world, not that they ever left in some cases.

 

[D6968]

I followed a milk van (as opposed to the traditional float) down the street the other morning. It is a new electric powered vehicle.

Local scrappy round our way seems to use a van with megaphone attached mostly, but sometimes still gets his horse and cart out.

They tend to be the brown coloured type of rubber band these days. I picked up a couple outside my house the other morning.

Think the PO had complaints about the Red Bands, even though they were bio digradable, so back to the brown ones

 

[Killingworth]

Think the PO had complaints about the Red Bands, even though they were bio digradable, so back to the brown ones

Any found may be posted back to Royal Mail in the red boxes positioned all around the country. Advice from our local delivery office after compaints about rubber band litter. This may not be an official national policy.

 

[MattRat]

Slightly later in the case of Bradford = 1972. As it had been one of the first two systems in the U.K. (1911) it was certainly the longest lasting.

If sense prevails, they'll make a comeback here as they have in many parts of the world, not that they ever left in some cases.

That would require building infrastructure, something the Government is mostly allergic to at this moment in time, so your only real hope is a change in the guard, so to speak.

 

[MattA7]

Could the reason for doing away with trams/trolley busses be the hazards overhead electric lines create

Apparently A new Trolley bus system in Leeds was given preliminary government approval and funding in March 2010 but cancelled in 2016

 

[Ediswan]

Think the PO had complaints about the Red Bands, even though they were bio digradable, so back to the brown ones

I recall it being suggested that birds were mistaking the red rubber bands for worms and eating them.

 

[GusB]

On the subject of street lights, I certainly recall having lights on wooden poles. They were replaced with metal ones, I think, in the mid 80s. The street felt a bit odd for a while after the wires had gone.
More recently, it took a bit of getting used to the old yellow sodium lamps being replaced with LEDs instead.

One thing that was fairly commonplace when I was a kid was the Invacar. I don't recall seeing any at home, but when I went to visit grandparents further south they were quite a few of them on the road.

 

[Dr Hoo]

On the subject of street lights, I certainly recall having lights on wooden poles. They were replaced with metal ones, I think, in the mid 80s. The street felt a bit odd for a while after the wires had gone.
More recently, it took a bit of getting used to the old yellow sodium lamps being replaced with LEDs instead.

Locally a very old metal lamp standard (that looked suspiciously like a previously-loved ex trolleybus wiring pole) complete with aerial wiring link and a sodium lamp was recently replaced by a super new wooden pole, underground supply and LED fitting.

 

[Busaholic]

That would require building infrastructure, something the Government is mostly allergic to at this moment in time, so your only real hope is a change in the guard, so to speak.re

A lot of the new systems and lines are being constructed without catenary for significant portions, particularly in city and town centres, using reserve battery power. This significantly decreases costs and time scales, as well as grounds for opposition.

 

[Bevan Price]

Could the reason for doing away with trams/trolley busses be the hazards overhead electric lines create

Apparently A new Trolley bus system in Leeds was given preliminary government approval and funding in March 2010 but cancelled in 2016

I think there were several reasons for the decline of UK trolleybuses.
1. Many local authorities used to generate their owm electricity. Costs increased when they had to buy electricity from the former CEGB.
2. Car parking was making it increasingly difficult for trolleybuses to overtake badly parked vehicles.
3. It was expensive to reroute trolleybuses when councils wanted to introduce one way roads & other traffic mismanagement schemes.
As often happens, great god motor car was considered more important than pollution or inconvenience to public transport users.

 

[MattA7]

Another thing you used to see was lights above road signs to illuminate it at night less common these days as most road signs are reflective