Cadogan Hotel, Sloane Street, London

This monstrous extravantly glazed Haywards No3 is outside the hotel famous for being the place that Oscar Wilde was arrested. Many thanks to Graham, one of my surfing friends who also likes a good coal hole. The hotel is closed for refurbishment so I hope this is on the list.

Outer Circle, Regents Park, London NW1

Some of the most expensive property in the world overlooks Regents Park so I was going for some seriously fancy coal hole covers.  Unfortunately,  most are modern  replacements except for this well preserved T Sampson cover from the nearby Euston Road.

York Square, London E14

I was recently in the Limehouse area of East London and straying a few yards north of the busy Commercial Road, stumbled across the Georgian oasis of the York Square Conservation Area and its surrounding streets including a Saxon church.

The buildings were nearly all handsome 2 storey brick homes, directly fronting onto York stone pavements. York Square itself has 2 pubs fronting onto it. I even saw a family of song thrushes in the churchyard. As you'd expect this close to the City, gentrification has set in and houses in York Sq sell for over £700,000.

There were some lovely coal hole covers around which were mainly not marked with the maker or suppliers name but I did find a CM McCarthy of 284 Mile End Road and another from Stepney. The area is mainly in Tower Hamlets and the Council has published a guide, although it doesn't specifically refer to coal hole covers.

North Gower Street, London NW1

Up in London for beer and curry,  I found these 2 beauties just off the Euston Road. They're from Thomas Sampson 394-398 Euston Road, an ironmongers or foundry I've not encountered before.

New finds in Euston

I was visiting a different part of London to normal yesterday and was hoping to find some interesting new covers. I wasn't disappointed.  Just outside Euston station on Euston Square I saw this Dudley and Dowell cover from Warley in Worcestershire. Perhaps it came in a train to Euston.  In Tavistock Place in the yard of Mary Sumner House there were 3 double sized Winser and Co (London) covers. They were notable because they had places for an iron ring to help lift them.

Dean Trent Street, London SW1

No, not a geezer called Dean, but presumably an ex Dean of Westminster Abbey as this is near the place. This is a monster size Haywards cover.

Smith Square oddity

There are a few oddities in Smith Square. The biggest is that the  former Conservative HQ is now occupied by the European Union.  Sitting on the grass outside the rather lovely church in Smith Square, I noticed this other oddity It's odd because it's in the road,  unlike every other coalhole cover I've seen.  I assume it's because the crypt (which houses a fine cafe) extends out under the road.

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.

A sad pilgrimage

Up in the sweltering Smoke for a day,  I fulfilled a long standing ambition and went to find the site of the Hayward Brothers foundry in Borough SE1. The foundry churned out thousands of coal hole covers and other streetscape paraphernalia in Victorian days.

Alas,  its site at 187-189 Union Street is now occupied by a modern block of flats and studios and a non-descript car park on the corner. A truly uninspiring and dispiriting development. There aren't even any Hayward coal hole covers in the immediate neighbourhood

The trip wasn't entirely wasted because on Blackfriars Rd I spotted a building with Blackfriars Foundry signs on it and I also had a nose around the wonderful Peabody Estate - a great example of Victorian social housing

which raised my spirits a little.

Cowley St London SW1 and Chelsea

Apologies for my absence for a few months. I've not seen any 'new' coalhole covers, until last week that is.

This Luxfer cover bearing the address, 16 Hill St, London EC is round the back of Westminster School. The (almost) square panels are filled with concrete but I think they may have originally been glass.

Visiting Stamford Bridge the other week to see the very sad defeat of the Fulham Under 18s team in the final of the FA Youth Cup, I saw some 'never seen before' coalhole covers on Finborough Road. Unfortunately, I was in such a rush to get to the station to get out of the hellhole that is home to C*****a FC. I've tried to identify them on Google Streetview but can't zoom in enough. You can see what I mean here.

I'm now tweeting as @theplanorak and will post pictures on there as well, so please 'follow' me and tweet me your pictures as well.

Greville Street London EC1

A few hectic months at work have deprived me of chances to find new coalhole covers to document. However, another visit to the Hatton Garden area has delivered this beauty - a large cover with intact glass prisms and air vents, from an unknown manufacturer.

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.

Waterman Street, London SW15

On a recent pilgrimage to the home of football (Craven Cottage), I rounded the corner to my favourite pre-match place of refreshment, The Bricklayer's Arms in Putney. I was stopped in my tracks by a pair of un-named coalhole covers in this grille design. I was intrigued because they would probably let water in.

Maunsell Street, London SW1

Three fine covers from around the corner of the august Royal Horticultural Society in the quiet backstreets of Westminster. I particularly like the Haywards concentric circles. The floral design is from Burt and Potts of Westminster and the one split into quarters is a Luxfer Prisms, from 16 Hill Street, London EC. Unfortunately, the glass prisms have been replaced by concrete.

Lord North Street, London SW1

This cover is in the political heartland of Westminster, a street that Harold Wilson and many other MPs have lived in.

Of more interest to me though is that this is the first 'Smellie' cover I've come across, hailing from Rochester Row, not far away. Smellie was probably an ironmongers as it doesn't seem likely that there was a foundry there.

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.

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".

Westminster Bridge Road, London SE17

It was this beautiful coalhole cover that made me think of setting this blog up. I came across it near Waterloo station. The text around the outside ring reads, "This ring to be fixed with Portland Cement. For Haywards Patent Plate 12in". The next inscription towards the middle reads "Clapham & Camberwell", then "Economy.Efficiency. Durability " and the name of the foundry is in the cross in the middle: "H.C. Davis and Co".