Splendours of Hove

A long overdue welcome to our Hove Ambassador, Emma, who has sent me these fine montages of covers around the Palmeira / Brunswick Square hood. The one in the middle stopped Emma in her tracks, such was its enormity. It is also interesting because it's the only Haywards coalhole cover I've seen which lists their address as 96 Blackfriars Road, as opposed to the more normal Union St. Thank you Emma, keep sleuthing.

Steyne Gardens, Worthing

This is a well worn unbranded Patent Safety Plate Improved
It's on the west side of Steyne Gardens (that's pronounced Steen, by the way) in Worthing.

Duke of York St, London SW1

Once more unto the Smoke and a stroll through the refined streets of St.  James revealed this modern replacement coalhole cover from Durey. What's pleasing about this one is the star design which of course also serves a useful function of reducing  the chances of slipping.

Rubbings are go

Montage

Star Foundry from TW Porter

J Every from Lewes

C+J Reed from Brighton

Flower

Another Every and Newman

Large Haywards

Modern stars

At last, I've located and photoed my coal hole cover rubbings from 2002 or 2003. There's a fine selection of foundries, styles and even sizes. All rubbings are from the North Laine and Old Steine in Brighton. The rubbings were done on a large A3 pad of artist's paper with black rubbing crayon from the now-disappeared artist supply shop on the corner of Richmond Parade.

Clermont Road, Brighton

This fine unbranded 'starburst' cover is near Preston Park station in the Brighton 'burbs. It could possibly be from the Star Foundry, although stars are common motifs on coalhole covers.

Go West pt 2 - Worthing

 Another trip to Heene Terrace in Worthing reveals a lovely horde of Pyke and Palmer coalhole covers from 140/141 Upper Thames Street, London - presumably the mother (or daughter) foundry of Palmers's Brighton - also found on Heene Terrace.

And at the top there's a large Hayward's coalhole cover. There are 2 different sized covers on this terrace which is interesting because all the properties were presumably built at the same time. Maybe the coalholes were installed later.

The bottom cover is presumably a replacement in a Pyke and Palmer surround. It looks rather fine. Unlike the ones in the next post. 

Hatton Garden, London EC1

Visiting Hatton Garden from Brighton is a lot more pleasant now that the Thameslink service has been improved and Farringdon station has been upgraded in a rather tasteful way.

I was intrigued to find that Luxfer coalhole covers dominated the street. Luxfer was a foundry based in the Finsbury EC area of London and probably better known for its pavement lights. I particularly like the way the Luxfer covers look like sliced cakes, ready to be gobbled up.

There is also a Haywards coalhole cover (top) with a combination of glass inserts and holes - another first sighting, I think.

Queens Gardens, Brighton

A trio of interesting covers in Queens Gardens in the North Laine, including 2 from Brighton foundries - at least one them local.

The cover in the square hatched surround is by Every & Newman, Makers, Brighton.
The circular one, although a common design, is interesting because its been placed in a circular stone surround.
The Star Foundry (which was in nearby Bread Street) cover also contains the name TW Porter.

Charlwood Street, London SW1

This is a nice coalhole cover from Pimlico. I particularly like the font used and the fact its from an ironmongers (V Pullin, 16 Warwick Street, London SW), not a foundry.

Tidy and Over Streets, North Laine, Brighton

These photos are taken in adjoining streets (Over Street in the middle) in Brighton's North Laine area, near the station. The North Laine (Laine is another name for a field and the street pattern in this part of Brighton follows the old field boundaries) was the industrial heartland of Brighton after the railway arrived. There were foundries and basketmakers, among other trades. These only survive in the form of street and pub names. Both these streets have been repaved so its good to see that the coalhole covers have been kept. At least one resident of Tidy Street still uses theirs.

Francis St, London SW1

All of these covers (or, in the case of the 2nd one down, a modern replacement) were in close proximity to each other outside a mansion block round the back of Westminster Cathedral (not the Abbey). Some had been replaced with modern covers, some had been repaired. What I liked about them were that they were all different and had features frequently and infrequently found on coalhole covers - circular windows (quite rare), intricate star patterns (quite common) and concentric circles (common). The text on the 3rd one down reads: "Hayward + Brothers. 187 189 Union Street Rough" I think this should be "Borough" not "Rough".