Broken glass and gas lamps on Horse Guards Road

I'm still writing about the zone between Horse Guards Parade*, St James's Park and The Mall, because there's so much to discover ins such a small space. Scroll down to see the previous posts. 

At the junction with The Mall there is a building known as the Admiralty Citadel. It's a bug lump covered in creeper.  At this time of year it's possible to see a panel affixed to its side telling us that it houses a dry riser inlet valve (amongst other things). 

In front of that there is a smaller building also covered in creeper looking like the big building had a baby, or a poo. Next to that, there's a tall skinny glass sculpture. This is the National Police Memorial. The water feature at the base has been removed (as per many other memorials near here) and the lights no longer illuminate it, but I actually now prefer it for its simplicity and the way that daylight seeps through and enhances its damaged and repaired corner sections, where different coloured glass has been inserted, resembling jewel-like slivers.

Nearby, within the pavement, I noticed a circular utility plate, approximately the same size as a coal hole cover plate, but bearing a design I have never seen anywhere else – three concentric rings of Jazz Age era letters that look like E D repeated.

A few metres along the path I found anther one, and then another and another, some of them almost obliterated by the road surface. I wondered what they were used for as they certainly weren't for the delivery of coal. 

I crossed over to the park side of the road and found another one very close to one of the huge gas lamps.

And then it hit me – Aha! yes! These plates must be access for either the gas feed or the electricity for the timers that power these impressive lanterns along Horse Guards Road which were installed during the rein of George V** 

The letterform on these plates is very Art Deco, a chunkier version of the 'Broadway' typeface, but what is the relevance of ED? Who was Ed?! It's more likely to signify something like Energy Department.

 

A GRV cipher on one of the lamp posts.

Any further info, please leave a comment or contact me via email: jane@janeslondon.com

*In an earlier post I wrote this as one word, horseguards, and queried whether this should have a possessive. Having just checked the a few maps, I only now discover that it's Horse Guards; two words with no indication of possession. No guards for a horse to wear. Nor does the horse do the guarding. Well, not alone, he has a guard on his back, the guard being a man, a soldier.  I'll stop now as I am confusing myself! 

**These lamps feature on my London by Gaslight guided tours which I will continue to offer into the late spring, starting at 8pm or later – let me know if you are interested.

Brushfield Street, Spitalfields. A large lamp post and a pastiche pub.

Seasons greetings people... I am back in the room having let this slip for a while. I hope you've had /are still having, a nice Christmas.

This was just going to be about the lamp post but something else has evolved.
Let's do the lamp post first...
On the corner of Brushfield Street and Crispin Street, E1, there is a lamp post with an extra large base that has hinged doors on two sides. Perhaps these spaces could have been used for storage or, more likely, for access to wires within and this could have been the junction box for the lights in this vicinity...?
There are logos/emblems on the outside that include the letters 'B.W.' and 'W.D.'. And there is a depiction of a castle-type building which looks a bit like the the Tower of London.
Can anyone enlighten me as to its original use ?
Enlighten ha ha.

The two pics at bottom show the lamp post and The Gun public house from Google Streetview in 2012

As you can see from the montage above, the lamp post sat outside The Gun public house. TI say 'sat' as in past tense because the 1928 pub was demolished a few years ago along with most of The London Fruit and Wool Exchange.
The Gun was a proper locals and local workers community centre – just what a pub should be – see here for an account of the pub's last days.
Well, last weekend, whilst leading one of my walking tours around Spitalfields, I stopped in my tracks when I saw that a new drinking establishment has recently opened up on the same site. Peering in through the windows, it looks to me like a swanky American hotel bar; all shiny stuff and padded cushions,.
But the really annoying, gob-smackingly-insensitve thing is THE NEW PLACE HAS BEEN GIVEN THE SAME NAME!  I expect the old pub landlords must be even more vexed than I am. Grrrr.
I suggest you compare the type of pub you see in the pics on the Spitalfield's Life link with what's there now to see what kind of customers this area of London is now trying to attract.
I took no pics of the new place. Go see for yourself. But do not go inside. Anyone who tells me they have been in there and purchased something will be crossed off my Christmas card list.