From flaming torches to high-pressure sodium lamps
Lighting a Bloomsbury Square
The ironwork outside 17 Bedford Square is a reminder that people relied on flaming torches to light their way through the streets in the days before gas and electricity. On arrival they could put out the flames with a large iron snuffer on the railings.
Gas and electric lighting
Gas lighting lit the first streets in 1807. Along three sides of Bedford Square the lighting still came from the old lamps until 2006. The lamps were fitted out with electricity and light bulbs. Visit one of the Royal Parks to see places still lit by gas at night.
Again until 2006, two of the lamp posts in Bedford Square retain a horizontal bar. Lamplighters could lean their ladders against the bar to climb up and adjust the mantle or gas flame.
Reshaping Bedford Square
In 2006 the roads in Bedford Square were realigned. All the lamps were replaced with rather ugly, modern replicas.
Modern lamps
Buses and heavy traffic run down Gower Street to the east side of Bedford Square and here the road is lit by modern, high-pressure sodium lights. These lamps are controlled by sensors which switch the lights on when it gets dark and off again when the sunrises.
Submitted by: Andrew Hunt, 20 January 2007
