Portland Place, Brighton

One of the few bonuses of visiting the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton is mooching around the backstreets looking for coal hole covers. This one is in the fine wide avenue of Portland Place and is  the first Every and Newman plate I've seen featuring anything but circles.

Paston Place, Brighton

Another exciting recent find was this Darby & Co of Clapham Junction cover near the hospital in Kemptown. The star design is very similar to many others, but this is the first time I've seen a Darby cover. Darby is one of the manufacturers listed on the Faded London blog.

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.

Herbert Road, Brighton

This is a most exciting (for me) find round the corner from my house. It's a cover inside someone's gate from a new foundry for me - Frederick Betts, from 33 Skipton St London SE. A couple of doors up the street, a house had railings and a gate  which also carried this mark.

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.

Right royal coalhole cover, Hampton Court Palace

This is one of my favourite finds.  On a recent trip to Hampton Court Palace I found this cover in a yard outside the kitchens. An obvious place to put one,  presumably well after Henry VIII's days.

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.