Art on the streets ………. a thank you to the Victorians

I collect street furniture …….. and I am not alone in appreciating those functional objects that were a feature of our streets for a century and more.

Birmingham, 1983

They range from the horse trough, coal hole covers and pillar boxes to the very tall sewer ventilation pipes, public urinals and old tram transformer boxes.

Not all are Victorian, but what they have in common is that they were made of cast iron, and many were finished off with elaborate designs which make them not only functional but also decorative.

My favourite remains the humble coal hole cover, which came in all sorts of shapes, and an abundance of designs which often incorporated the name of the manufacture and place of origin.

Added to these there are the smelly Victorian sewer pipes, which were installed to vent gases from the sewers.

For me they compete with the humble public urinal, some of which were below ground but others which wee placed at prominent crossroads and were nothing more than walk in hut.

Blackheath, 

Some still perform the task they were made for, while others were long ago abandoned, but have more recently been restored and act as a bit of street furniture.

All of which brings me to mt three.  They are a Victorian urinal from Birmingham, which I came across in 1983, a coal hole from Blackheath in south east London, donated by Karine Lepeuple, and a Victorian sewer pipe from the collection of Yvonne Richardson, which is in North Lodge Park, Darlington.

In the course of the years, other people have offered up their favourites, which leaves with making the standard appeal, for pictures, anecdotes or memories of street furniture.

Location; Birmingham, Blackheath, Darlington

Darlington, 2008

Pictures, Victorian urinal, Birmingham, 1983 from the collection of Andrew Simpson, a Blackheath coal cover courtesy of Karine Lepeuple, 2018, and a Victorian sewer pipe from the collection of Yvonne Richardson, 2008