Tuesday, February 13, 2024 6:11am
London’s 1,300 gas lamps are under threat from LEDs – but they have a defense force who have just won a key victory, writes Lucy Kenningham
One farthing was the cost of hiring link boys to carry burning torches to guide you around the city, before the age of gaslighting began.
As cute as they may sound, these urchins aren’t completely reliable. They can lead to your death and can actually lead to nighttime robberies. Permanent lamps have the distinct advantage that they cannot be manipulated to become victims of medieval-style robbery. So, with the development of gas lighting technology (no, not that kind of gas lighting), London got the world’s first gas lamp in his 1807. Location: Pall Mall.
Over the next two centuries, gas lamps were installed in public spaces across the country. Londoners were used to strolling along illuminated boulevards and defying curfews.
Over time, other forms of lighting began to emerge to replace gas-fired flames with attractive glass structures. Incandescent lighting, or light bulbs, first graced the streets of Newcastle, England, at the end of the 19th century. High-intensity gas discharge lamps later appeared. It is said that if you add up all these lights, he would be 2.8 meters across London.
But the more than 1,000 remaining original gas lamps are at risk. From LED.
Compounded by rising energy costs and environmental concerns (admittedly mostly the former), UK street lighting is rapidly being replaced by LED. Energy usage is reduced by approximately 67% and carbon emissions are halved. This is not important.
Some councils are turning off their lights for longer and longer periods of time, leading to more dark nights. Some people oppose this (horrifying), but others support it (such as Stargazer – Andrew Griffiths MP, former chair of the APPG for Dark Skies).
By 2027, 70% of the lighting along Britain’s national roads will be lit with LEDs. Over the past seven years, the UK council has spent his $500 million on LEDs (although, strangely, the full amount was not paid in Crawley).
In London, a group of traditionalists are rallying under the name london gasketeers We are lobbying for the protection of the capital’s 1,300 remaining working gas lamps (see a map of gas lamp locations here). They tweet things like, “This is a handsome autumnal specimen with the cipher of King George IV written on the post. Located in Carlton Gardens, London SW1.”
Yesterday, campaigners scored a victory as four such ramps in the Soho area were granted List II status.
this is why i love us @London Gaschetti motion.They are truly our passionate supporters. @SimonCallow Lamplighters, local residents, business owners, tour guides, photographers, community group members and cultural heritage organizations celebrated in the drizzle. pic.twitter.com/81HnsaRgHE
— Tim Bryars (@TimBryars) February 12, 2024
“These will now be duly protected so that their unparalleled brilliance can continue to illuminate the lives of Londoners and millions of visitors for generations to come,” said the Minister for Arts and Heritage. said Lord Parkinson, 41, a former Conservative Party MP. Parkinson, the London Gasketeers and actor Simon Callow were photographed at one of the century-old lamps to mark the listing (see above).
But this motley crew of lamp enthusiasts is not alone in celebrating the registered status of these street lights. These are charming, Narnia-like things that not only remind you of the past, but also cast a warm glow onto the street below, rather than the harsh glare of LEDs.
Will Self said it typically well: “You don’t have to be some kind of Victorian re-enactment buff to appreciate the beauty of gaslighting.”