Things you don’t see outside any more

[gg1]

Tidal flow signals on gantries above major roads - not sure if they still exist anywhere now. They consisted of a square box showing a white arrow to indicate that you may use this lane, or a red cross indicating that you may not use this lane because it is for traffic coming the other way. They were to enable the direction of traffic in some lanes to be varied according to the time of day (e.g. going towards the town or city centre in the morning peak and away from it in the evening peak).

Until about two or three years ago there was a tidal flow system on Queens Road, just south of Sheffield city centre, which I think had been in operation since about the late 1980s or early '90s but has now been replaced by a more state-of-the-art traffic management system. I seem to recall that there also used to be such a tidal flow system on the Mancunian Way or at least one of the major roads near Manchester Piccadilly station.

The Aston Expressway in Brum still has them.

I don't think they were ever common though, the only other road I recall ever seeing them on was a single carriageway 3 lane road in Cardiff around 20 years ago.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Tidal flow signals on gantries above major roads - not sure if they still exist anywhere now.

I seem to recall that there also used to be such a tidal flow system on the Mancunian Way or at least one of the major roads near Manchester Piccadilly station.

Think this might well have been the five lane Upper Brook Street (A34) leading away from the Mancunian Way in Manchester. Middle lane of the five was bi-directional, the direction of travel of the tidal flow as signalled on overhead gantries, and its use, was always somewhat "interesting".

Was in place for several decades from c. 1966.

 

[ABB125]

Tidal flow signals on gantries above major roads - not sure if they still exist anywhere now. They consisted of a square box showing a white arrow to indicate that you may use this lane, or a red cross indicating that you may not use this lane because it is for traffic coming the other way. They were to enable the direction of traffic in some lanes to be varied according to the time of day (e.g. going towards the town or city centre in the morning peak and away from it in the evening peak).

Until about two or three years ago there was a tidal flow system on Queens Road, just south of Sheffield city centre, which I think had been in operation since about the late 1980s or early '90s but has now been replaced by a more state-of-the-art traffic management system. I seem to recall that there also used to be such a tidal flow system on the Mancunian Way or at least one of the major roads near Manchester Piccadilly station.

The Aston Expressway in Brum still has them.

Are those on the A38(M) still in use though? I've never seen them displaying anything other than 3 lanes each way, red X for the middle lane.

 

[gg1]

Are those on the A38(M) still in use though? I've never seen them displaying anything other than 3 lanes each way, red X for the middle lane.

Last time I drove along there at peak time was about 3 years ago and they were in use then, I haven't seen or heard anything locally about the system being stopped since then, though it's possible it has and I missed it.

 

[birchesgreen]

Yes still in use.

 

[swt_passenger]

I think A38 Saltash tunnel is 2+1 and still has tidal flow overhead gantries, as did the Tamar Bridge - but the latter may have a fourth lane on the side now, so I’m not that sure how it all works together.

IIRC back in the 70s the last stretch of the A3 into Portsmouth, where the ferry port is now, had an overhead gantry tidal flow system.

 

[OhNoAPacer]

I imagine after storm Eunice that for a lot of people things they used to see outside may well be their fence!

 

[Welly]

Tidal flow signals on gantries above major roads - not sure if they still exist anywhere now.

Lincoln still has tidal flow gantries along Canwick Road https://www.google.com/maps/@53.220...4!1sE9WkcwxswNpMYEGs3g2qbQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

 

[nw1]

Bright yellow sodium lights, which were red when they first came on, gradually turning yellow. Commonplace until around 2010, but seemed to be very rapidly replaced between 2010-15, even newer examples from the 1990s.

Last time I saw them en-masse in England was in the Croydon area in late 2013; it appeared Croydon borough kept them a little later than most.

There are still a few round the M25/M3 junction, and Northern Ireland still had many in late 2018, but certainly in England I haven't seen large concentrations of them for many years.

On a similar note, pure-white mercury lights in residential areas, which were pink when first turned on. Disappeared a little earlier but still lasted well into the 00s.

 

[Butts]

Wall mounted mechanical Vending Machines outside Newsagents .....

Beechnut et al....

Plus 10 Guards or Cadets or Sovereign and other Cigarettes.

 

[D6968]

Wall mounted mechanical Vending Machines outside Newsagents .....

Beechnut et al....

Plus 10 Guards or Cadets or Sovereign and other Cigarettes.

Bubblegum Machines…

 

[Butts]

Bubblegum Machines…

Anglo Bubbly or Bazooka Joe ?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Wall mounted mechanical Vending Machines outside Newsagents .

Plus 10 Guards or Cadets or Sovereign and other Cigarettes

Must be over ten years since cigarette vending machines were last allowed in the UK. And almost five years since packets of ten cigarettes were permitted.

 

[Butts]

Must be over ten years since cigarette vending machines were last allowed in the UK. And almost five years since packets of ten cigarettes were permitted.

It's a lot longer than that since the mechanical cigarette machines were to be found outside - decades longer !!

Probably 40 years ago or more ?

 

[Non Multi]

It's a lot longer than that since the mechanical cigarette machines were to be found outside - decades longer !!

Probably 40 years ago or more ?

There's a survivor at Uxbridge Tube station, It was still in situ 2 years ago.
[Photo by C. Sampson]

UXBRIDGE-08 120512 CPS

Uxbridge Underground Station, relocated in 1938, designed by Charles Holden. The stained glass windows are by Erwin Bossanyi, and are of Middlesex, Buckinghamshire and Uxbridge UDC. The wheels are by Joseph Armitage, and are depicting upturned wheels and springs. The fag/cigarette machine is a...

www.flickr.com

 

[D6968]

Anglo Bubbly or Bazooka Joe ?

Anglo Bubbly, have no recollection of Bazooka Joe. Can you still get Hubba Bubba?

 

[tomwills98]

Tidal flow signals on gantries above major roads - not sure if they still exist anywhere now. They consisted of a square box showing a white arrow to indicate that you may use this lane, or a red cross indicating that you may not use this lane because it is for traffic coming the other way. They were to enable the direction of traffic in some lanes to be varied according to the time of day (e.g. going towards the town or city centre in the morning peak and away from it in the evening peak).

Until about two or three years ago there was a tidal flow system on Queens Road, just south of Sheffield city centre, which I think had been in operation since about the late 1980s or early '90s but has now been replaced by a more state-of-the-art traffic management system. I seem to recall that there also used to be such a tidal flow system on the Mancunian Way or at least one of the major roads near Manchester Piccadilly station.

One of these? A470 coming out of Cardiff

 

[route101]

Bright yellow sodium lights, which were red when they first came on, gradually turning yellow. Commonplace until around 2010, but seemed to be very rapidly replaced between 2010-15, even newer examples from the 1990s.

Last time I saw them en-masse in England was in the Croydon area in late 2013; it appeared Croydon borough kept them a little later than most.

There are still a few round the M25/M3 junction, and Northern Ireland still had many in late 2018, but certainly in England I haven't seen large concentrations of them for many years.

On a similar note, pure-white mercury lights in residential areas, which were pink when first turned on. Disappeared a little earlier but still lasted well into the 00s.

Yes the M25/M3 still has them but looks like they are going soon. South Coast virtually has no sodium now, few lights in Portsmouth. Glasgow is probably the best city in the UK for remaining sodium.

 

[AY1975]

It's a lot longer than that since the mechanical cigarette machines were to be found outside - decades longer !!

Probably 40 years ago or more ?

There was still one in or just outside the entrance foyer of Putney station in the late 1970s and early '80s but I'm not sure if it was still in working order by then. You still see them on the streets in Germany and Austria (or did until recently) although I believe that you now have to swipe your "Personalausweis" (national ID card) or passport on them to prove that you're over 18. Also, the ones they have these days tend to have buttons rather than drawers for each brand on offer.

Another thing smoking and tobacco related that you don't see any more, at least in the UK (again it's still allowed in Germany or was until recently) is tobacco advertising - it was outlawed in the UK in 2003. Before that you used to see cigarette adverts on billboards, on bus stop advertising panels, on railway stations, on the sides of buses (even after the bus operators had banned smoking in the 1990s!) and on shop fronts (and inside the shop, usually behind the counter). Ironically, latterly the health warning at the bottom was often the only thing that gave any clue as to what was being advertised.

 

[Butts]

There was still one in or just outside the entrance foyer of Putney station in the late 1970s and early '80s but I'm not sure if it was still in working order by then. You still see them on the streets in Germany and Austria (or did until recently) although I believe that you now have to swipe your "Personalausweis" (national ID card) or passport on them to prove that you're over 18. Also, the ones they have these days tend to have buttons rather than drawers for each brand on offer.

They are electrical not mechanical the push button variety.

Austria became one of the last Countries in Western Europe to ban smoking in cafes not that long ago.

 

[D6130]

There was still one in or just outside the entrance foyer of Putney station in the late 1970s and early '80s but I'm not sure if it was still in working order by then. You still see them on the streets in Germany and Austria (or did until recently) although I believe that you now have to swipe your "Personalausweis" (national ID card) or passport on them to prove that you're over 18. Also, the ones they have these days tend to have buttons rather than drawers for each brand on offer.

Cigarette vending machines - albeit the modern digital versions which accept credit/debit cards - are still very common in Italy, especially outside tobacconists' shops (for when the shop is closed) and at petrol stations. As a non-smoker, I am not sure whether you have to swipe your national identity card or not, but the one in our village seems to be well-used by the smoking fraternity.

 

[nw1]

Yes the M25/M3 still has them but looks like they are going soon. South Coast virtually has no sodium now, few lights in Portsmouth. Glasgow is probably the best city in the UK for remaining sodium.

I think Wiltshire (specifically Salisbury) still had quite a few recently, in 2018. Not sure what the situation is now as I haven't been that way for a while. In addition to Glasgow, there's also NI - as I said above sodium lights were still very widespread there in autumn 2018 (on the Belfast-Newcastle axis).

I do miss them, there was something very comforting about the warm orange glow of those lights and the red colour as they turned on at twilight was very atmospheric. Also for me they'll be forever associated with my childhood, teens and younger adult years...

Globally (or should I say, in Europe as a whole, and North America) they seem very rare though. They are (or were, in the 00s) also widespread in the Republic of Ireland (which seems to use the same styles of light as the UK), but aside from that I've only seen them on motorways in Belgium, some isolated stretches of motorway outside Thessaloniki, and in San Jose, California.

 

[Ediswan]

Are there any maggot vending machines left ?

 

[route101]

I think Wiltshire (specifically Salisbury) still had quite a few recently, in 2018. Not sure what the situation is now as I haven't been that way for a while. In addition to Glasgow, there's also NI - as I said above sodium lights were still very widespread there in autumn 2018 (on the Belfast-Newcastle axis).

I do miss them, there was something very comforting about the warm orange glow of those lights and the red colour as they turned on at twilight was very atmospheric. Also for me they'll be forever associated with my childhood, teens and younger adult years...

Globally (or should I say, in Europe as a whole, and North America) they seem very rare though. They are (or were, in the 00s) also widespread in the Republic of Ireland (which seems to use the same styles of light as the UK), but aside from that I've only seen them on motorways in Belgium, some isolated stretches of motorway outside Thessaloniki, and in San Jose, California.

Yes, there is a few left in Salisbury and around Wiltshire. I have seen Philips MAs in the Netherlands too. The lights in Ireland from what I have seen are quite similar to Glasgow, strung on wires.

 

[Sprinter107]

I think Wiltshire (specifically Salisbury) still had quite a few recently, in 2018. Not sure what the situation is now as I haven't been that way for a while. In addition to Glasgow, there's also NI - as I said above sodium lights were still very widespread there in autumn 2018 (on the Belfast-Newcastle axis).

I do miss them, there was something very comforting about the warm orange glow of those lights and the red colour as they turned on at twilight was very atmospheric. Also for me they'll be forever associated with my childhood, teens and younger adult years...

Globally (or should I say, in Europe as a whole, and North America) they seem very rare though. They are (or were, in the 00s) also widespread in the Republic of Ireland (which seems to use the same styles of light as the UK), but aside from that I've only seen them on motorways in Belgium, some isolated stretches of motorway outside Thessaloniki, and in San Jose, California.

I too also thought it was very atmospheric to see the sodium lights come on at dusk, first red, then orange.

 

[AY1975]

Yes, there is a few left in Salisbury and around Wiltshire. I have seen Philips MAs in the Netherlands too. The lights in Ireland from what I have seen are quite similar to Glasgow, strung on wires.

I've also seen British style sodium lamps in Canada and Australia, though they didn't seem as commonplace as in the UK at least when I visited those countries in 1999.

I am guessing that Hong Kong (a British colony until 1997) and New Zealand (which has a lot of street furniture similar to that in the UK) may also have had them, but I don't remember seeing any in either of those countries in 1999.

 

[route101]

I've also seen British style sodium lamps in Canada and Australia, though they didn't seem as commonplace as in the UK at least when I visited those countries in 1999.

I am guessing that Hong Kong (a British colony until 1997) and New Zealand (which has a lot of street furniture similar to that in the UK) may also have had them, but I don't remember seeing any in either of those countries in 1999.

I have seen some british style lamps to the south of San Jose. As for Australia dont recall any sodium in NSW or Victoria.

 

[AY1975]

I have seen some british style lamps to the south of San Jose. As for Australia dont recall any sodium in NSW or Victoria.

I certainly remember seeing some in NSW in 1999. I don't recall any in Victoria, though.

Another type of street lamp that used to be commonplace in some parts of the country, I think mainly in the South-East (especially Kent), was the butterfly light. These consisted of an ordinary filament bulb and a butterfly-shaped lampshade, hence the name. They could be found on lampposts, attached to roadside telegraph poles or attached to buildings. Some of the side streets in Canterbury city centre still had them in the 1990s. Not sure if any survive today.

 

[adrock1976]

During winter or cold weather, I have not seen anybody wearing a balaclava since my primary school days.

It is a useful garment for keeping the head, ears, and neck warm.

Sadly, balaclavas (particularly plain black ones) now seem to have been hijacked by organised crime gangs for robbing banks, shops, etc.

 

[XAM2175]

During winter or cold weather, I have not seen anybody wearing a balaclava since my primary school days.

I have, quite recently.

They were an armed police officer, mind.