Manhole Covers of Hanwell and West Ealing

As then as today; Old Manhole Covers of Hanwell and West Ealing. Look down to seek your heritage. This is the texture of reality; small eyes in a pushchair gazing down on the pavement as it trundles underneath - and then these...

Left: Borough of Ealing (not London Borough, you under- stand, so 1926-1960), with the name of the makers of this fire hydrant.

Right: METESCO, the Metro- politan Electricity Supply Com- pany, active between 1899 and 1926. The electricity came from the Acton Lane Power Station.

Incidentally, if you think being interested in manhole covers is a bit odd, this is a hobby of Jeremy Corbyn...

Left: Post-Office Telegraphs, manhole cover from between 1896 and 1912 (when the telephone network was nationalised).

Right: post-1912 Post Office Telephones manhole cover. The streets of West London - history beneath your feet. Click to enlarge.

Left: maker's mark on a pavement, Clitheroe Road, Hanwell. As increasing stretches are being relaid, with ordinary asphalt rather than paving slabs, the character of the street subtly changes, and with it, inexorably, does spirit of place.

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