Now I am the first to admit that Friday afternoons in February can be slow, and not everyone will see the point in a story about iron covers and old petrol cans, but I can.
More so, because some may soon be lost to us and others just have a history.
I have long been fascinated by those iron coal hole covers, most of which disappeared a long time ago, either to be recycled or just cemented over.*
Like ghost signs, they carry the names of iron foundries, which no longer trade and come in all sorts of designs.
There are still a few here in Chorlton but they will not last another decade.
This one is different, and is relatively new, and gives access not to a coal cellar but a drain.
It can be found outside Morrisons, just past the entrance on the way to the tram stop and I am guessing doesn’t even get a glance from most of those that pass it by.
Nor I suspect will many people think much of this petrol can.**
After all plastic petrol cans can be bought in plenty of shops and warrant little interest unless of course your car has run out of petrol.
But once, along time ago any serious motorist would not have contemplated setting off without a tank of petrol secured in the boot or the side of their car.
In the early years of motoring there were few petrol stations and it was as will to have secured a supply before driving away.
All the big oil and petrol companies supplied their own cans, with the company name or logo emblazoned on the side, and supplies could be obtained from a variety of different places, ranging from iron mongers to blacksmiths.
What makes this one a little different is that it belonged to the GPO and was collected by my old friend David Harrop.
Location; everywhere
Pictures; metal drain cover, 2019, from the collection of Andrew Simpson, and GPO petrol can, circa 1920, courtesy of David Harrop
*Coal Holes, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search?q=coal+holes
**Petrol Pumps, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search?q=petrol+pumps
I have long been fascinated by those iron coal hole covers, most of which disappeared a long time ago, either to be recycled or just cemented over.*
Like ghost signs, they carry the names of iron foundries, which no longer trade and come in all sorts of designs.
There are still a few here in Chorlton but they will not last another decade.
This one is different, and is relatively new, and gives access not to a coal cellar but a drain.
It can be found outside Morrisons, just past the entrance on the way to the tram stop and I am guessing doesn’t even get a glance from most of those that pass it by.
After all plastic petrol cans can be bought in plenty of shops and warrant little interest unless of course your car has run out of petrol.
But once, along time ago any serious motorist would not have contemplated setting off without a tank of petrol secured in the boot or the side of their car.
In the early years of motoring there were few petrol stations and it was as will to have secured a supply before driving away.
All the big oil and petrol companies supplied their own cans, with the company name or logo emblazoned on the side, and supplies could be obtained from a variety of different places, ranging from iron mongers to blacksmiths.
What makes this one a little different is that it belonged to the GPO and was collected by my old friend David Harrop.
Location; everywhere
Pictures; metal drain cover, 2019, from the collection of Andrew Simpson, and GPO petrol can, circa 1920, courtesy of David Harrop
*Coal Holes, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search?q=coal+holes
**Petrol Pumps, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search?q=petrol+pumps
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