Things you don’t see outside any more

[Butts]

In Birmingham too, they don't have a lollipop anymore though

Are they posted at Pelican Crossings like they are in Falkirk ?

Job consists of pressing the button to activate the crossing.

 

[D6130]

Job consists of pressing the button to activate the crossing.

Can the kids not do that themselves....or are the authorities worried that they may dash across the road before the lights change?

 

[najaB]

Can the kids not do that themselves....or are the authorities worried that they may dash across the road before the lights change?

I suspect it is more about not trusting drivers to always obey the lights correctly. I've seen drivers treating the flashing yellow as a green plenty enough times.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

I suspect it is more about not trusting drivers to always obey the lights correctly. I've seen drivers treating the flashing yellow as a green plenty enough times.

Nah, I'm with D6130 on this one. The powers that be don't seem to believe that children have any sense of self-preservation... and as a result, the kids won't develop one because they're being molly-coddled and wrapped in cotton wool. Do they not have the Tufty Club any longer?

The flashing amber (not yellow, it isn't the railway!) sequence on crossings that still have it is "proceed with caution if clear". Perhaps drivers are a bit more sensible around my way, but I can't recall ever seeing someone start moving on the flashing amber while pedestrians were still crossing. Maybe the odd boy-racer might rev his engine a bit to try and hurry people along, but that's all.

 

[najaB]

Perhaps drivers are a bit more sensible around my way, but I can't recall ever seeing someone start moving on the flashing amber while pedestrians were still crossing. Maybe the odd boy-racer might rev his engine a bit to try and hurry people along, but that's all.

Maybe so, but I've definitely had drivers approach the flashing amber without slowing down and had to hustle to finish crossing! Throw in the fact that kids are smaller and harder to see...

 

[1955LR]

Police on point duty , directing traffic. Used to be one in centre of Kidderminster before the inner bypass and if I remember correctly Barnsley. Some were like clockwork figures, wind them up & set them going!

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Maybe so, but I've definitely had drivers approach the flashing amber without slowing down and had to hustle to finish crossing! Throw in the fact that kids are smaller and harder to see...

Yeah I can see that- if there isn't already a queue, an approaching driver might not be as ready to stop as they should be... though I'd argue that that is down to the "flashing amber" stage no longer being applied to new crossings and being removed when crossings are updated- meaning drivers are less familiar with it. Presumably there's a reason why this is happening, but it does slightly reek of the "nanny state" both not trusting us to behave sensibly, and being unwilling to penalise drivers who don't follow the rules.

 

[birchesgreen]

Are they posted at Pelican Crossings like they are in Falkirk ?

Job consists of pressing the button to activate the crossing.

No they just wave a hi-vis clad arm to stop traffic.

 

[Pete_uk]

White dog mess

 

[Gloster]

White dog mess

You must be joking! There are still plenty of places were it can be spotted: they might be a bit better at clearing it from the main hotspots, but there are still plenty of not-so-obscure corners where it can be encountered.

 

[daveo]

Still exist in West Cornwall: older men too.

Careers teacher to pupil - What job do you want to do young man?

Pupil - Lollipop Man sir.

Teacher - And why do you want to do that?

Pupil - Because you only start work when you're 65!!!

 

[PeterC]

You must be joking! There are still plenty of places were it can be spotted: they might be a bit better at clearing it from the main hotspots, but there are still plenty of not-so-obscure corners where it can be encountered.

I haven't noticed any for over 30 years. Dogs in your area must be getting very high calcium diets

 

[Matey]

Screw top Quart size beer bottles and associated wooden crates. Beer can openers (perforators) The type that spurted the contents over you if the can had been shaken! Keys on sardine tins. Old surplus army lorries in regular use.

 

[GusB]

Screw top Quart size beer bottles and associated wooden crates. Beer can openers (perforators) The type that spurted the contents over you if the can had been shaken! Keys on sardine tins. Old surplus army lorries in regular use.

I'm not a regular consumer of sardines but I occasionally buy corned beef; some of those tins still have keys.

 

[Matey]

I'm not a regular consumer of sardines but I occasionally buy corned beef; some of those tins still have keys.

The sardine tin keys were much longer or else the lid curled up and cut your fingers.

 

[Killingworth]

I'm not a regular consumer of sardines but I occasionally buy corned beef; some of those tins still have keys.

Those tins were sharp. 70 years ago I nearly took the top of my finger off with one of them when it recoiled on me, and still have the scar to prove it

 

[Lloyds siding]

Police on point duty , directing traffic. Used to be one in centre of Kidderminster before the inner bypass and if I remember correctly Barnsley. Some were like clockwork figures, wind them up & set them going!

My favourite video of a policeman on point duty...on the Promenade, Douglas, Isle of Man; at the time of the TT races.

 

[AY1975]

Screenshot the photo with the snipping tool, save the screenshot and post that - it'll almost certainly be a much smaller file size.

Or even paste the screenshot directly intro your post. The software allows that.

OK, I might have a go some time if I get a spare moment before this long-running thread gets locked.

Last night I saw some yellow sodium lamps still in working order adjacent to London Overground's South Acton station in the London Borough of Ealing. Not sure if Ealing still has many of them left, though.

Earlier this year there was also one still operational just outside Carshalton station in the Borough of Sutton, but again I think Sutton has replaced most of its yellow sodium lamps with LED lamps in the last few years.

 

[route101]

OK, I might have a go some time if I get a spare moment before this long-running thread gets locked.

Last night I saw some yellow sodium lamps still in working order adjacent to London Overground's South Acton station in the London Borough of Ealing. Not sure if Ealing still has many of them left, though.

Earlier this year there was also one still operational just outside Carshalton station in the Borough of Sutton, but again I think Sutton has replaced most of its yellow sodium lamps with LED lamps in the last few years.

See less and less orange sodium streetlighting. Still quite a bit in Glasgow but they are replacing them slowly but surely.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 7 Dec 2022 ==

Do any traffic helicopters or aircraft still operate these days?

 

[AM9]

See less and less orange sodium streetlighting. Still quite a bit in Glasgow but they are replacing them slowly but surely.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 7 Dec 2022 ==

Do any traffic helicopters or aircraft still operate these days?

Does anybody remember the mercury vapour lighting that was common in the '50s, especially along trolleybus routes. It was recognisable by its slight blue-green tinge to a very white light.

 

[D6130]

Does anybody remember the mercury vapour lighting that was common in the '50s, especially along trolleybus routes. It was recognisable by its slight blue-green tinge to a very white light.

Was that not more-or-less the same principle as the early energy-saving domestic lightbulbs from the 1990s?

 

[Killingworth]

Stamp machines outside Post Offices. The shells of four are still there outside the old Crown Post Office in Bath.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Does anybody remember the mercury vapour lighting that was common in the '50s, especially along trolleybus routes. It was recognisable by its slight blue-green tinge to a very white light.

Yes, just, they used to have it by my Nan's house, I think it was in the old gas lamp fittings or something looking very much like them.

 

[AM9]

Was that not more-or-less the same principle as the early energy-saving domestic lightbulbs from the 1990s?

I don't think so because they relied on a glowing vapour rather than an arc creating UV that a flourescent coating on the tube converted to visible light with CFLs, - hence the name 'compact flourescent lamps'.

 

[Ediswan]

Was that not more-or-less the same principle as the early energy-saving domestic lightbulbs from the 1990s?

Yes and no. Both are gas discharge, using mercury vapour. The difference is the operating pressure. Mercury vapour lamps run at high pressure, creating visible light directly. CFL runs at low pressure, requiring a phosphor coating to convert UV to visible light.

 

[450.emu]

See less and less orange sodium streetlighting. Still quite a bit in Glasgow but they are replacing them slowly but surely.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 7 Dec 2022 ==

Do any traffic helicopters or aircraft still operate these days?

Most of the helicopters have relocated to Haringey to enforce the new Low Traffic Neighbourhood

 

[150249]

A stagecoach bus that turns up

 

[Gloster]

Cars with dicky seats: they were fitted in a boot with a rear-hinged lid, to which was attached a car-seat cushion. The lid was lifted, the cushion, hinged at the bottom, unstrapped and somebody sat on the cushion with their back against the lid and their feet in the boot. They were already uncommon in the 1960s, but some old 1920s or 1930s cars were still about. About 1970, while on holiday in North Wales, my mother took me to visit an old friend and they decided to go into Criccieth. As the friend only had an old two-seater, I was put in the dicky. Even then quite a lot of people stared at an old car with a small boy sitting the boot. And, yes, it rained.

 

[GusB]

Cars with dicky seats: they were fitted in a boot with a rear-hinged lid, to which was attached a car-seat cushion. The lid was lifted, the cushion, hinged at the bottom, unstrapped and somebody sat on the cushion with their back against the lid and their feet in the boot. They were already uncommon in the 1960s, but some old 1920s or 1930s cars were still about. About 1970, while on holiday in North Wales, my mother took me to visit an old friend and they decided to go into Criccieth. As the friend only had an old two-seater, I was put in the dicky. Even then quite a lot of people stared at an old car with a small boy sitting the boot. And, yes, it rained.

I seem to recall that Volvo estates (from the 200 series) had rearward-facing seats in the boot area of the car. My memories are from the early 80s.

There was also the Peugeot 504 and its successor, the 505, which had an extra row of seats in the back, although these were forward-facing. A few local taxi companies had them, although whether they were actually licenced to carry the additional passengers is anyone's guess.

 

[AY1975]

Pubs with a separate public bar and saloon bar: I think that distinction may still have existed at least in some pubs in the 1970s and 80s but had largely died out by the time I was of legal drinking age in the 1990s. AIUI the public bar was historically intended for working class customers, especially when in their working clothes, and the saloon bar for more well-heeled customers (and drinks were more expensive and a better choice of drinks was on offer in the latter to reflect that fact).

And pubs with a separate hatch for off-sales: you still see them occasionally but they're very few and far between these days.