Interesting man hole covers in Camden – numbered and wood-filled

Walking down Parker Street a few weeks ago, on my way to find The Herds* I saw three circular man hole covers at the junction with Newton Street and went to get a closer look to see if any fragments of wood were in them. Nope. But, unusually, they all have their identification codes still visible.

More recently, whilst leading my Art Deco Camden walking tour last Saturday, I glanced down at the tarmac in Greenland Street, just before its junction with Camden High Street, and noticed a square cover plate containing remnants of wood block road surface, set within the parking bay. I returned after the walk to take some photos: 

I'm unsure what kind of utilities were accessible beneath here but eighteen of the 25 small square sections still contain wood. Wow!  How had I missed this before? Probably because I was only looking for circular covers as per the ones in Chalk Farm Road. You'll find a list of my ever-expanding collection of woodblock sightings in the A-Z here.  

There may well be other similar grid-format examples nearby, but on Saturday it was too hot to be out in full sunshine in the middle of the day so I will have a look another day. 

Round the corner in Greenland Place there is another interesting 'ghostsign' manhole cover – Mercury Communications – remember them?!

*did you see The Herds? Wow! Images and videos can be found on my Instagram @janeslondon / @janeslondonwalks

More bits of woodblock paving – Bermondsey and Chalk Farm

Walking northward through Camden recently, as I passed the the station and crossed Inverness Street I stopped occasionally to check that these manhole covers in Chalk Farm Road are still filled with wood blocks – yep. Good. 

I went for a wander, musing that the markets here aren't markets any more, just Bansky and Winehouse opportunities surrounding some food outlets. I continued up the street then just after The Roundhouse, I found another wood-filled manhole cover within the large triangle of pavement at the corner of Regent's Park Road:

Only two segments retain wood, but that's enough for me!

A few days later I was ambling through the residential streets between Long Lane and Tabard Street in Bermondsey, SE1, and I found another man hole cover in Hankey Place, the wood almost hidden by the greenery growing within it. How lovely!

This broken line design is new to me – the lines are usually solid as per the one at Chalk Farm, above. We can assume that this was a specific feature of covers made by this particular maker, who is shown around the rim of the cover plate as: Frederick Bird & Co., engineers, ironfounders, West Drayton near London. This is a company I have seen adorning many coal hole cover plates including those made by Bartle & Co of Notting Hill Gate who implemented Bird's patented self-fastening locking system, as shown here. 

Lots more lumps of London wood blocks here.

Small remnants of wood block road surface in Shoreditch, EC2

Oooh... I've found more bits of +100year-old wood still embedded in our streets.

Well, your honour, I was wandering along Scrutton Street, London EC2, heading in a south-easterly direction, when I happened upon this manhole cover outside No.44, opposite No.51:

Nice. So I retraced my steps and found more wood in another manhole just a few metres away outside No.48-50 – it was hard to make out the how many segments contain wood being as it was filled with rain that day:

I thought about hunting for more, but the weather was miserably cold and I'd been on my feet all day, so I will check next time I am in the vicinity.

To see all the woodblocks I have found so far, click here. A guided walk on this subject should be available by June via janeslondonwalks.

Ooh ooh – more woodblocks sighted in Camden Town

Rushing from a bus stop opposite Sainsbury's to Camden Town tube station yesterday, I glanced down at the kerb outside the pub on the corner (these days called The Camden Eye, previously The Halfway House and many more names pre-that) and I noticed a man hole cover plate half filled with wood blocks. 

I just took a quick snap, above left. The second pic is a screengrab from Google Streetview here.

I have added it to the A-Z of Woodblocks here