Electricity Is Still a Mystery
At dusk on Monday 12 November 1883, the first of a series of experimental electric lamps were switched on in Hastings and the streets were lined with people agog. Previously, the lights had been gas powered and the local council had initially resisted the chance to embrace this cleaner, safer, form of power for fiscal reasons; most of the members of the council owned the company that supplied the gas.
But the tides of change are difficult to resist, so the council members took a more pragmatic view and set up a committee to look into switching to the alternative. It was driven by the gas-owning council members who then formed a company – the Hastings and St Leonards Electric Light Company – and awarded themselves the contract for also supplying the electricity. Initially, the lamps were placed along the seafront from the east end of Carlisle Parade to the west side of Warrior Square. For 15 lights they were paid £375. Those with a particularly cynical view of the world might be interested to note that their chair was a prominent local estate agent.
Unlike today’s street lighting, these amber pins came on at sunset and went off again at 11pm, effectively imposing a blacked-out curfew on the residents. On balance, it was a very eco-friendly system and perhaps the council might consider reintroducing it as a way of encouraging the area’s weekend visitors to get a nice early night rather than stumbling home full of half-priced cocktails at 3am.
At Rock House, the electricity company has been slow to encourage our own enthusiasm to add to the planet’s carbon emissions, but having finally managed to get a supply installed and fitted to half of the house, I thought I would celebrate the end of our months of enforced candlelight by draping Christmas lights over a hastily purchased plastic tree. Unfortunately, the house appears to be rather resistant to this new aesthetic addition. Switching the twinkly little stars on means inadvertently switching everything else off.
The electrician says there is no obvious reason for it and a call to the electricity board helpline is less than illuminating. ‘Sometimes it just happens,’ the man at the end of the line explained. ‘If you think about it,’ he continued, ‘the whole concept of electricity is still a mystery.’
I said that perhaps he had a point, philosophically speaking, but what about my Christmas lights? ‘Have you tried candles?’ he replied.
Next week: Taking stock…
But the tides of change are difficult to resist, so the council members took a more pragmatic view and set up a committee to look into switching to the alternative. It was driven by the gas-owning council members who then formed a company – the Hastings and St Leonards Electric Light Company – and awarded themselves the contract for also supplying the electricity. Initially, the lamps were placed along the seafront from the east end of Carlisle Parade to the west side of Warrior Square. For 15 lights they were paid £375. Those with a particularly cynical view of the world might be interested to note that their chair was a prominent local estate agent.
Unlike today’s street lighting, these amber pins came on at sunset and went off again at 11pm, effectively imposing a blacked-out curfew on the residents. On balance, it was a very eco-friendly system and perhaps the council might consider reintroducing it as a way of encouraging the area’s weekend visitors to get a nice early night rather than stumbling home full of half-priced cocktails at 3am.
At Rock House, the electricity company has been slow to encourage our own enthusiasm to add to the planet’s carbon emissions, but having finally managed to get a supply installed and fitted to half of the house, I thought I would celebrate the end of our months of enforced candlelight by draping Christmas lights over a hastily purchased plastic tree. Unfortunately, the house appears to be rather resistant to this new aesthetic addition. Switching the twinkly little stars on means inadvertently switching everything else off.
The electrician says there is no obvious reason for it and a call to the electricity board helpline is less than illuminating. ‘Sometimes it just happens,’ the man at the end of the line explained. ‘If you think about it,’ he continued, ‘the whole concept of electricity is still a mystery.’
I said that perhaps he had a point, philosophically speaking, but what about my Christmas lights? ‘Have you tried candles?’ he replied.
Next week: Taking stock…