TCSU and LBH-EP – bold and brassy additions, but what do they mean

Last Thursday, whilst leading my Notting Hill Ghostsigns walking tour, we happened upon a utility access plate near Portobello Road market, within the pavement outside 294 Westbourne Grove, which has an additional small brass plate screwed to it bearing the letters TSCU. One of the group proclaimed it as a trip hazard, which it surely is, being as it sticks up higher than the main plate and the screws that hold it in place protrude even more so. 

Convinced I'd very recently seen similar elsewhere, perhaps in this vicinity, I took a quick snap for reference and made a mental note to find out more some time in the near future*. 

Well, the future was only two days ahead because, as I exited Hoxton station and turned into Cremer Street, heading south towards, I saw a similar example within the pavement near the gate just beyond the railway line, and another a little further along abutting the wall. I realised I must have spotted one of these the previous Sunday when I rushing to meet friends in Columbia Road market. The pic below is the view looking North along Cremer Street:

The little brass additions here are the same design as the Portobello ones but these bear the letters LBH-EP which is surely must be London Borough of Hackney – Electricity Power, or similar(?). 

Further along Cremer Street, near the southern end, there is another plate bearing the same letters but in a different punched-out stencil design, the rivet fixings on this one being even more sticky-uppy than the others. 

I wonder how many people have actually tripped up on these things? Surely, to avoid this potential hazard, they (thever 'they' are) could have devised something flatter/thinner and instructed the contractors to weld them into the recessed areas of the original cover plates...?  

*I just googled, and I discover that TCSU = Traffic Control Systems Unit. Hmm... strange, seeing as this is about 50metres from the junction where the traffic lights are located.

Carvings in Cornhill, inlets and outlets, and lofty observations in the City of London

Wandering around the quiet streets in The City of London after visiting Leadenhall Market I ambled into Cornhill. I stopped to admire one of my favourite buildings which sports this gorgeous bit of hand-carved typography* and the shop next to it that retains its curved glass windows and mosaic threshold:

I crossed the road to take a wider view and as I looked down at the pavement I spotted something that amused me. Whether this was an accident or a clever bit of cement graffiti, it appeals to my puerile sense of humour! Further along the street I noticed the lettering within a brass strip on an access plate had worn away to become almost illegible. It actually reads: SMOKE OUTLET FROM BASEMENT:

I entered Finch Lane, a narrow street that evokes the era of Georgian coffee houses and as I passed The Cock and Woolpack pub. It occured to me that I don't think I have ever been inside. How very bizarre. A quick snap of the view to Threadneedle Street and then left into Bartholomew Lane where I pondered if the skinny space between two buildings was once an alleyway: 

At my feet I noticed more eroded brass letters where a London Fire Brigade manhole offers access to inlets rather than an outlet:

Whoops, forgot to include this strange adjoinment (I think I might have just invented that word!) where two properties meet at an odd angle on Threadneedle Street, facing the Royal Exchange, creating a very unusual triangular inlet:

I couldn't find anything in there that might offer access to the Spinkler Tank Infill or a Dry Riser Inlet which I suspect is probably in the road, but there were workmen and their vans in the way. I bet this space is used as a hidey hole for a single smokers. 

That'll do for now. See you soon, JPx

*find out more abut this building on my City Deco guided walk via janeslondonwalks.com

More wood blocks street paving in London and further afield (part 3)

In April 2021 I wrote piece about areas of wood block paving still visible in London. These I'd found mostly in the Clerkenwell, Islington, old Finsbury and Shoreditch areas, plus the large remnant at the south side of County Hall. I followed that up six months later with an update, adding other sightings in Southwark and Islington along with a panel in an alley off Clerkenwell Rd that I did indeed go to look at in person, and I did take more pics, but what have I done with them?!  

Well, since then I have spotted some more, and one of them was just a couple of days ago, a few minutes' walk from my home in Holloway N7. I was crossing the junction of Holloway Rd heading west and standing on the central reservation directly in front of Barclays, now closed and empty, and looked down to see this wood-filled manhole:

How, had I not seen it before?!  In my defence, I rarely ever cross the road at that point. Here's the Google Streetview of that location, looking back from Barclays to where I was standing. As you would expect, I then made a search of the whole junction to see if there were any others in the vicinity, but no. 

So I came home and added my photos of my new find to my 'Wood Blocks More' folder which contains, in no particular order... 

Within the covered entrance to Bermondsey Leather Market on Weston Street:

A couple in Hampstead, NW3:

Further afield, outside London, I found a lovely example in Waltham Abbey: 

And in Whitstable there is a paved floor within the gatehouse entrance to the castle gardens:

Someone told me they saw a filled manhole cover in Chalk Farm Road, Camden, but whoever that was didn't take photos or provide me with any more info. I've just been up and down that road onscreen via Google Streetview but I can't find it. I'll have a proper look next time I am visiting the markets.

I'll leave you with a pic of one of the first examples I ever spotted – I cannot believe that I omitted to include this one, as well as the other two that are very near here, when I compiled my initial post on this subject back in April last year. Unusually, this is not in the road but instead it's set within the pedestrian pavement outside Pizza Express, Upper Street, Islington, hinting perhaps that the road used to wider. Here it's looking lovely after the rain and I think the outer shape resembles the London Underground roundel: 

Re the other two nearby, they are actually in Islington High Street, behind the old tram electricity station, today an Amazon outlet. One is still intact see here, but the other one a few metres south on the No Entry sign near The York pub, was infilled about two years ago. I do have some pics before they slapped it full of tarmac and when I find them, and the photos in the Clerkenwell alley, and the Camden example, I will compose Part4. Ooh the excitement, ha ha!

………

Update August 2023: I have set up a London A-Z Directory of Woodblocks. If you can add to the list, please leave a comment under this blog post or email me at jane@janeslondon.com

More wood block paving in London

Earlier this year I pulled together a collection of images showing areas of road and pavements where I have discovered patches of wood block surfaces, see here.

Well, I've found another one and two of my contemporaries have spotted others. All three are where small sections of wood remain within removable metal sections, such as man hole covers.

Ian Visits recently posted on his Instagram page that he found this one on the corner of Redcross Way in Southwark Street:

The wood blocks here are really large here; possibly the largest pieces I have seen as each takes up half of each quadrant and look to be cut specifically for this man hole cover. 

Dave Brown alerted me to a grid of wood that he spotted in Leo Yard, a little alley off Clerkenwell Road:

It's very unusual – Dave's pic here seems to indicate that it's a lightwell (for letting light down into a basement area) that has later been in-filled with wood. This little courtyard is not googlestreetview-able so I need to go and check it out for myself – I will then update this post with some alternative photos.

And, finally, my own find. Having walked up an down St John Street from Angel to Barbican many many times over the decades, I am surprised that it took me until September 2021 to notice this beauty at the junction of Spencer Street, between The City University buildings and the Spa Green Estate:

Update August 2023: I have set up a London A-Z Directory of Woodblocks. If you can add to the list, please leave a comment under this blog post or email me at jane@janeslondon.com

Pavement patterns in Caledonian Road

I was ambling back from my sorting office yesterday pondering why there is so much bird shit splattered around lately.
As I was crossing Cardozo Road I noticed that the textured crossing was particularly 'colourful'. I wondered whether Daily Mail readers' children might think it was cappuccino froth topping and try to eat it (or something similar, you know what I mean).
Hmmmm... Perhaps birds could be supplied with little plastic bags for their deposits or fitted with tiny nappies...?
I took a photo and wondered how this could be crowbarred (crow! ha ha) into a blog post. Then I noticed all the paint splatters nearby...

Last two pics show the junction of Penn Road and Caledonian Road. I never fail to be amused by the double yellow lines in the cycle path there. 

It's evident that someone has been having fun with paint on their shoes and on the wheels of a bike. There are also squiggles on the pavement where areas have been cleaned in definite patterns using what I assume is a jetwasher.
Walking further along the road towards Holloway I found the name Sam near the junction of Penn Road.
Nice one Sam... now please turn your attention to the whole pavement – and then get to grips with most of the London Underground and the Jubilee Bridges.

More about the pavements of Cally Rd next week.... ooh the excitement...!

A Wooden Cover Plate in Tollington Park

Strolling along Tollington Park, a lovely road in N4, last week I happened across a large rectangular cover plate within the pavement that was, and still is, wooden on its uppermost face. I have never seen such a thing before.
I thought at first this was the secondary layer; the metal and concrete lid having been removed but, no, on close inspection it can be seen that the wood is flush with the pavement.
Walking further along the pavement, that's sidewalk to my readers in the States ;-), I noticed that it was the same dimensions at the old BT ones that have the pebble-dashed tops, see above bottom right.
So, this means underneath that eroded wooden top with holes in it there are wires and all sorts of circuit doobreys for telephones.
Is this OK?
I assume so, seeing as the wood appears to have been exposed to the elements for quite some time already.
Hmmm... pondering...

The pavement signs of Borough

Here are two examples of what were originally intended to be informative signs embedded into manhole covers on and around Borough High street.

But alas, as you can see, some of the letters have magically lifted off or just flown away.
I have yet to find one that doesn't have some letters missing so I will make a fairly educated guess that some mischievous folk are having a whale of a time prising off individual letters to hilarious effect.
Ooh my sides have split.