Category: General Interest Articles

Articles of general interest on no particular subject

Where To Rock This August

WHERE TO ROCK THIS AUGUST

…..and some interesting stuff about the artists hitting the capital this month.

We are fortunate to live near a city that frequently hosts the biggest names in rock and pop music. 2024 saw the likes of Taylor Swift and the mighty Bruce Springsteen. This year the city has among others, already welcomed Stevie Wonder, the Stereophonics, Sting and Oasis. However, the fun is far from over. Tom Jones can be seen twice at Cooper’s Field on 20th August and then at Cardiff Castle on 21st August. But who else is rocking the city?

Will Smith, the celebrated Hollywood star known for The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Men in Black, is performing in his other guise of noted rapper Live at Bute Park on Monday 25th August. The show is supported by disco legends Nile Rodgers & CHIC.

Will is known for being able to solve Rubik’s Cube in less than one minute, a feat he performed in one of his movies. In 2005 he achieved a Guinness World Record for attending three red carpet events in Manchester, Birmingham and London in just 12 hours. The first hip-hop star to be nominated for an Oscar, he was then famously banned from them for 10 years, after slapping comic Chris Rock at the ceremony in 2022.

 Catfish and the Bottlemen, the Welsh indie rock band from Llandudno, announced their first big stadium show for 1st August at the Principality Stadium. Hugely successful since 2016, that year they won ‘British Break Through Act’ at the Brits and their 2nd album ‘Ride’ reached Number 1 in the UK album charts.

The band’s name originates from lead vocalist Van McCann’s earliest musical memory: an Australian street busker he encountered in Sydney, known as Catfish the Bottleman. The busker earned the nickname “Catfish” due to his distinctive, spiky beard and ‘Bottleman’ because he played beer bottles strung to a wire.

 Midge Ure’s ‘Live Under the Stars’ show is at the Tiger Yard, Cardiff Bay on 16th August. Ure is known for his success in 70s and 80s bands such as Thin Lizzy, Visage, and Ultravox. Most famously, in 1984 he co-wrote and produced the Band Aid charity single ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ Selling 3.7 million copies, it became the second biggest selling single in UK chart history. Ure who co-organised the Band Aid and Live Aid events with Bob Geldof also serves as an ambassador for Save the Children.

Ure’s stage name, Midge, (real name James) is a phonetic reversal of Jim. When he was presented with the OBE by Queen Elizabeth in 2005, Ure wore a black kilt with matching black shirt, jacket, socks and a silver tie, to pick up his honour. ‘The Queen said something about it. I can’t remember what, but I think it was a gracious comment rather than ‘What on earth are you wearing.’

 Basement Jaxx are Live at Cardiff Castle on Sunday, 24 August. The English electronic music duo, consisting of Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe, emerged in the underground house scene of the mid-1990s. They have had international chart success and won Best Dance Act at both the 2002 and 2004 BRIT Awards.

In the past, Buxton’s father did not let him watch Top of the Pops and played his children Austrian and Japanese music instead. ‘He was always very proud that we didn’t watch Top of the Pops. He thought that made me hungry and want it more’ he said.

 

The End/Beginning Of An Era

THE END/BEGINNING OF AN ERA

Back in 1988 the Village Youth Club started the What’s On magazine under their leader Vic Reed, working from the Wheelwright’s shop near the Church Hall, using a number of old Roneo hand-cranked printers. Vic moved to Victoria Park in 1993, and with the prospect of losing the magazine, he approached five people to continue producing the useful publication.

The team of five included: Marilyn Case, Colin Jenkins, Ann Miller, Eileen Callely and myself, with each taking on roles writing, editing, assembling, stapling and treasurer. This in addition to the 30+ villagers delivering copies to each subscribing household.

We immediately found a print firm in Penarth and with the aid of cut and paste, DOS and slow typing, we produced a new format magazine. The document was delivered to us as single sheets which were then assembled and stapled before distribution. As the printer grew and invested in better equipment and our computer skills developed, we were able to improve the content to include diagrams and photos.

Regrettably, the Penarth printer closed due to ill health and we transferred to the current printer, Allens, to produce the magazine in its finished form ready for delivery.

The magazine has been produced monthly by a small and dedicated team of volunteers ever since 1988 – Over 38 years without a break. I am proud to have been involved for 33 of those years, and am now the only remaining member of the team.

Unfortunately, due to ill health, I will be stepping down from the team and leave the magazine in very capable hands to continue to develop, providing a way for the villagers themselves to share aspects of village life.

Thank you to all those who have contributed over the years with regular or one-off articles, recipes, jokes and letters, which make up the rich mix of content covering all local life.

It has been a real pleasure working on this project with such a dedicated group for such a long time.

In Search of George and The Dragon

IN SEARCH OF GEORGE AND THE DRAGON

With the Summer still here, walking in and around the Vale is as popular as ever. Whilst Valeways walks celebrate a 25th anniversary this year, the Visit the Vale website also provides details of a host of other opportunities to get out an enjoy the area. With the Vale steeped in history it is perhaps no surprise to learn that you can indulge your interest in the past by joining one of the Glamorgan History Walks, which also has a dedicated website.

Glamorgan History Walks are an award-winning immersive history and storytelling experience taking in sites and places of significance across the Vale and beyond. All walks are circular (so you finish at the same point you start) and nearly always end at a fantastic old pub. At each location, the history and stories of the places visited are brought to life through storytelling, history discussion and even on occasion, through song and character performance. All walks are organised and hosted by historian, author and broadcaster; Graham Loveluck-Edwards. With tickets priced at £10, this month Vale walks are planned around St Athan (3rd July at 6pm. 3.9 miles /2 hours), Monknash and St Donats (19th July at 10am. 6.8 miles/4 hours), Llantwit Major (24th July at 6pm. 3 miles/2 hours) and Dinas Powys (26th July at 9am. 5.5 miles/3 hours).

Fast forward to August 14th and there is a fascinating walk taking in the area in and around Llancarfan. This 4-mile, 3-hour walk beginning at 6pm, takes in the amazing 15th century wall paintings discovered at St Cadoc’s Parish Church in 2007. During repairs to roof timbers at St Cadoc’s in 2007, the architect suspected something exciting was hidden below the whitewashed walls. Expert uncovering and conservation by Jane Rutherford and Anne Ballantyne, beginning in 2010, revealed remarkable wall paintings hidden for 450 years. Now if you visit the church, you will be rewarded by the sight of stunning paintings centred around a depiction of George and the Dragon. The image of St. George appears to be the largest wall painting of this subject in Britain. A representation of the ‘Seven Deadly Sins’ is equally spectacular. Both were amongst the most popular subjects in Britain’s medieval churches but there are few to compare with those at Llancarfan. With most parishioners illiterate and few printed books unless they were written in Latin or French, wall paintings assisted the parish priest in the telling of Bible stories, the lives of the saints and the moral teachings of Christianity. They became known as the Biblia Pauperum, or the Poor Man’s Bible.

Research indicates that the paintings date from between 1455 and 1485, the period of the Wars of the Roses. However, during the Reformation, they were subjected to the same fate as other wall paintings in ecclesiastical buildings throughout England and Wales: in 1547, the first year of the boy king Edward VI’s reign, an order was given for the ‘obliteration and destruction of popish and superstitious books and images and St. Cadoc’s paintings would have been duly obliterated with limewash. Over subsequent centuries, the church was re-limewashed at least twenty times, a fact which only serves to indicate the skill and patience of the experts who recovered them.

Travelling a little further afield then other July walks planned include historic Cardiff, historic Llantrisant and Kenfig and Sker. You can find out more online: grahamloveluckedwards.com/ You can also find self-guided walks of the capital city on the website https://touristwalks.co.uk/cardiff-city/ These include walks in the city centre, the Bay and one based on Cardiff pubs. An App with walking summaries is free, though there are charges for additional audio/audio visual presentations.

 

Talkin’ About 1960s Vinyl Records

Talkin’ About 1960s Vinyl Records

The overwhelming What’s On readers response to my article on 1960’s poetry – well three people said it was OK (none of which included my wife Jude) – I am delivering on my promise to take a meander through my 1960’s vinyl purchases most of which we still own. Before I go any further, I can hear the readers comments such as ‘I’ve never heard of ‘em’ or ‘They were rubbish.’ This is the idea of my article dear readers – open your mind and let it float downstream. I only kept a diary once in my life for a whole year -1965- which luckily included every record I purchased throughout the year.

In 1964/5 I had a Saturday job in a Stevenage shoe shop. A whole day’s pay was 19 shillings and 10 pence (just under £1). LPs on a decent label cost about 32/6d (about £1. 65p) so that’s why I bought mainly singles! Can you imagine now having to work a day and a half to buy an album. My early favourites were the Downliners Sect a raw rhythm and blues band – their most well-known single being Little Egypt but even that didn’t make the top 50 or the top 500 come to that. It opens with ‘she walks, she talks and crawls about on her belly like a reptile.’ Risque eh? Another two groups I was very excited about were The Primitives and Mal Ryder and the Spirits. The former were another heavy R&B group (now known as freakbeat) who issued three singles as did Mal. My excitement went into overdrive when Mal dropped the Spirits and joined the Primitives for one single. My Primitives singles which I regrettably sold to finance a long family trip are now selling for over £300 each. So, you see I had good taste after all! I later found out Mal was Welsh and became very big in Italy. Not many people know that- or want to I suppose. I liked the Pretty Things too being very envious of Phil May the lead singer’s hair. I did finally get hair like his but 20 years later. I’ve always been at least 20 years behind the times. I am thinking of getting an earring soon or a kaftan! Perhaps change that to 50 years!

But what about the Stones, Beatles, Manfred Mann, Hollies, Tamla Motown, Dusty, Cilla and Aretha et al I hear you shout. Well, my attitude then was I can hear them anytime so I will buy stuff I like that you just don’t hear anywhere. In January 1965 I was watching Juke Box Jury- everyone of a certain age did didn’t they? (If you are younger than about 55 ask your parents about JBJ). They played the Crusher by the Novas. It was voted a big miss, so I bought it. One of my friends said I heard that on JBJ I hoped I’d never hear it again! I did like the Stones too, but I only bought one EP. One of my best friends loved The Animals. NO Stu, do we really have to listen to their 20-minute version of Bo Diddley yet again!!

In September 1965 I started working full time, so I had a little more money. About then, and I have no idea how this epiphany came about, I started reading books about Malcolm X and Michael X and that led me to amongst others Phil Ochs. He was a mate of Bob Dylan and issued LPs called I ain’t marching anymore and All the news that’s fit to sing although I think his best album was Pleasures of the Harbor. I can only play these now if Jude is out! I did buy one LP on the Tamla Motown label – The Great March to Freedom: Dr Martin Luther King Speaks. When he was assassinated in April 1968 a few days later Nina Simone recorded Why? (The King of Love is Dead). I went straight out and bought it! When Nina first performed the song, it was over 20 minutes long but was edited to two sides of a 7 inch single. Considered one of the saddest songs ever written it can’t be listened to without shedding a tear. I can’t anyway.

I do need to return to Bob Dylan with a warning. Jude saw him at the Isle of Wight in 1969 so if you want to shorten your summer just mention it to her when you next see her! I am now a big fan of Bob since Jude and I met but that’s the 70s so beyond the scope of this article. While Jude was watching Dylan, I continued to listen to the sorely missed John Peel with his Perfumed Garden radio show. You didn’t like every track, but you knew sooner or later something would come up you liked. One night he played a tune he described as reminding him of two young girls skipping down a country lane with flowers in their hair. Years later Jude tracked it down for me – The ace and deuce of piping by John Doonan a Northumbrian piper! If you have not read Good Night and Good Riddance How 35 years of John Peel helped to shape modern life by David Cavanagh then do! On the subject of flowers, when I left the civil service after four years, I let it be known I would like an LP or two for my leaving pressie. I received Donovan’s (another fav) box set From a Flower to a Garden and Simon and Garfunkel’s Bookends.

I cannot finish without mentioning David Ackles. His first was absolutely amazing. Try the track Road to Cairo. He had big fans in the shape of Elvis Costello, Phil Collins and Elton John who dedicated his Tumbleweed Connection LP to Ackles.

For those readers who have Alexa in the house here’s your chance to hear some of ‘my’ 1965 purchases. Go on you know you want to! The Crusher (The Novas), Anytime (Riot Squad), You Said (Primitives), 500 miles (Bobby Bare), two Downliners Sect LP’s and their EP The Sect Sing Sick Songs, Here Comes the Night (Them), Why do they treat me like you do (The Freewheelers), Marianne Faithfull LP, Mr Pitiful (Otis Redding), Wolly Bully(Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs), the first Spencer Davis LP, Cara Mia EP (Jay and the Americans), Ian Whitcomb singles You Turn Me On and N N Nervous, Every Minute of Every Day, (Mal and the Primitives) Maria Elena (Los Indos Tabajares), Come on Rolling Stones (paid one shilling so obviously cut price!).

Nigel Billingham

J C Meggitt Story – Post Script

Articles of Interest

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF MR J C MEGGITT –

POSTSCRIPT

In the three previous issues of What’s On, we learned how 28 year old Meggitt had come to Barry in 1884 at the start of the construction of the dock and set up a thriving timber supply business. He had involved himself in civic life and did many “good things” for the rapidly expanding town.

We further learned that after his retirement in the 1930s he undertook world wide journeys to over 35 countries and he wrote in depth of his experiences. His writings were published in booklet format by the Western Mail.

These booklets are being reproduced in PDF format to be uploaded onto the People’s Collection Wales website. However, should you wish to read the full text of his journals in advance of them being available thereon, please drop me a text message on 07532 222 381 and I’ll provide you with a copy.

This story is not quite over yet. Barry Library has acquired Meggitt’s scrap book cum photo album covering the period 1912 to 1918. And what a treasure trove it is! Amongst the many items of interest that have been preserved for posterity are:

  • Invitation to the Investiture of the Prince of Wales at Caernarvon 13th July 1911
  • Photographs of travels to Jerusalem, Cairo and Athens in 1912

  • Photographs of travels to Italy in 1913
  • Clippings from newspapers about Marconi’s early wireless transmissions (1908), the “Great War”, a railway accident at Shrewsbury and other topical items of interest
  • A number of family photographs
  • Photographs of Meggitt and Jones timber yard at Barry featuring women employed during the Great War
  • Photographs of Windsor Road Congregational Church Sunday School on their 25th anniversary in 1915
  • A ticket for a flight in an Avro Biplane 1919

 

And if all of that were not enough, we also have a copy of the history of Meggitt and Jones – Fifty Years – 1884 to 1934 in PDF format.

Tony Hodge

Tucker’s Ve80 Wartime Plant Sale

TUCKER’S VE80 WARTIME PLANT SALE

On Saturday 10th May we held the Tucker’s VE80 plant sale in and around the Church Hall. Whenever we hold a sale there is always a worry that attendance will be low or the weather won’t be good. We are always well supported by our community, but this time you blew us away! The sun came out and so did all of you. We were so pleased to see you all and were especially pleased to see so many in wartime costume. The total raised for Wenvoe Wildlife Group now stands at £2,122. This was raised from the sale of the plants (many of which were so kindly donated), the raffle, Gareth’s pre-owned garden and sports equipment table, the wildlife table, wartime food, profit from the cakes, takings for drinks, the silent auction for the Spitfire in Flight painting and from Joyce Hoy’s succulents and cacti sales.

Heartfelt thanks go to everyone who donated a raffle prize, to Phyllis, Pam and Sian who donated some wartime food items for sale to add to mine, to everyone who donated equipment and plants, to all our fabulous volunteers who make it all possible, to Brenda for her fabulous accordion playing, to our wonderful ‘spiv’ Tony and last, but certainly not least, to all of you. Mike and I are so very grateful to you all.

 

The Life And Times Of Mr J C Meggitt – Part 2

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF MR J C MEGGITT – Part 2

In Part I, we learned how the 28 year old John Claxton Meggitt came from Wolverhampton and established a thriving timber supply business in Barry. Initially this was to supply the timber needed for “false works” in the construction of the Barry Dock and Railway, and subsequently for the construction of the “boom town” that naturally ensued. They also engaged in the business of supplying pit props to the coal mines.

With his brother-in-law, his business became Meggitt and Jones, then subsequently Meggitt and Price. Meggitt was not only a successful business man, but he became very active in both his adopted community and nationally in many spheres of public life. Here are some of those activities:

  • Bristol Channel Timber Importers Association – President
  • Public Administration – Alderman, Glamorgan County Council
  • Barry Local Health Board – Member
  • Barry Urban District Council (Successor to the above) – Its first Chairman
  • Windsor Road Congregational Church, Barry – one of the founders and Superintendent of the Sunday School. Nationally, he was Chairman of the Congregational Union of England and Wales in the late 1920s

 

In addition, together with his wife, he provided Barry’s first hospital, and if all of the above were not enough he was a Justice of the Peace for the County of Glamorgan for nearly 40 years!

As we have read in previous articles, J C Meggitt became quite wealthy from his involvement in the timber trade. At the age of 70 in 1928, he handed over day-to-day control of the company and set about travelling the world for the next decade. We are fortunate in having detailed accounts of his several voyages. He wrote these as a series of letters to the Western Mail which were subsequently published in booklet format. In these he records how he travelled by sea and rail (on the Tran Siberia railway) to visit and record his impressions of some 35 counties. In the 1931 volume he mentions that his travelling companion was Sir T P Thomas, in the other volumes no companion is mentioned.

Copies of these booklets were presented by Sue Culbertson to the Barry Library and are presently being digitized for posterity on the “Peoples’ Collection Wales” website. Ms Culbertson’s great aunt Doris Gooding (her maternal grandmother’s sister) was head housekeeper to the Meggitt family.

The octavo booklets are as follows:

  • “Impressions of a World Tour” – December 1930 to April 1931”
  • “Japan, Across Siberia, Russia and Germany” – 1935 (including impressions along the way of Yugoslavia; Suez Canal; Aden; Singapore, Ceylon; China and Hong Kong”.
  • “South America (Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina), “Robinson Crusoe” Island (ie Juan Fernández Island), West Indies” – 1938”.
  • “South America, South Africa and the West Coast of Africa”– January to March 1939”.

 

As well as the “touristy” aspects of what he witnessed, being a businessman at heart, he delved deeply into, and commented on the commercial and political environs where he was to stay for any length of time. Thus, these booklets are full of insights into the local economy and the lives of the local populations.

I cannot hope to do any sort of justice to the overall scope of the content of the many places he visited, instead I will provide a few of examples of the topics he covered in depth to give you an insight.

In Australia and New Zealand (1931) he pondered on whether British car manufacturers should produce vehicles better suited to local conditions, and drunkenness and the control of drinking establishments.

In Cape Town (February 1939) he wondered whether the former German Colony of South West Africa should be returned to Germany (No, because of the abysmal treatment they had previously meted out to the indigenous population)

From Valparaiso in Chile (1938) he took an excursion of some 345miles to the Juan Fernandez Islands. It was here from 1704 to 1709 that the Scottish seaman Alexander Selkirk voluntarily exiled himself. Based on the experiences he narrated to Daniel Defoe the novel “Robinson Crusoe” was written in 1719.

The pictures were taken in Chile: at a fox farm and a local mode of transport.

This series will continue with further notes about South America and his impressions of China, Japan, the Tran Siberia railway, Poland and Germany in the mid 1930s together with events surrounding his 90th birthday in 1947.

Tony Hodge

 

Talking About Poetry

Talking About Poetry

The Page Turners article in last month’s What’s On got me running, well ambling I don’t run anywhere these days, to my bookshelf and a half of 1960’s /early 1970’s poetry. I was mad keen on poetry at the time with my favourites being The Mersey Poets – Adrian Henri, Roger McGough and Brian Patten – with Patten being my Number 1. I still have their signed copy of the Mersey Sound issued in 1967. In fact, in yet another recent clear out I came across my massive size poster of Patten’s poem Spring Song. I don’t know what to do with the poster but I can’t let it go. My wife Jude has refused for it to go on display. The poem begins “I thought the tree was rather ordinary until yesterday when seven girls in orange swimwear climbed into its branches.” You get the idea. He did write some children’s poetry books too. Here is his opener from Gargling with Jelly called Squeezes

We love to squeeze bananas.

We love to squeeze ripe plums.

And when they are feeling sad.

We love to squeeze our mums.

It was all groovy and fab in those days with people walking round with flowers in their hair (although not in my village) and as Scott McKenzie and the Flowerpot Men told us going to San Francisco. I did go to Carnaby Street once though! I couldn’t afford any of the clothes so I caught the 60’s vibe by buying a collection of poems called Its World that Makes the Love Go Round. Yes, I have got the title right! How about this one from the collection by Alec Cornwell called Sociological Study 1: After Russell

God came down to Trafalgar Square

Preached Peace to the multitude gathered there

While quoting his sermon on the mountain

Four cops kicked him into the fountain

Saying, as they ducked his head:

‘This guy’s a medieval beatnik red!’

Alongside Patten my second fave was Rod McKuen. I have 7 books of his. Here is a 1960’s title of one of his books Listen to the Warm. Now there’s a 60’s title if ever there was one. His book opens with ‘If you cry when we leave Paris I’ll buy you a teddy bear all soft and gold.’ That got me thinking I could probably do as good as that so when I left home in 1969 to live in Germany and Spain I took with me an A4 empty book which stated on the front ‘Supplied for the Public Service’ below the Queens crown. (I had been an uncivil civil servant!) Two years later I had written over 150 poems. Do you want to read one? Come on you know you do! It’s entitled A Very Simple Request During a Norwegian Prayer Meeting.

See that squirrel on the tree

Happy Happy as can be

See that squirrel on the tree

Make it, Make it, Make it me!

If you have you any idea what it is about let me

know. On second thoughts maybe Rod had something I didn’t have. I have bought a couple of his LP’s at car boots in the past. Let’s put it this way his singing is an acquired taste and proved to be a taste I didn’t wish to acquire. I had thought of compiling a book called 60’s c**p poetry but realised mine were too bad to go in it!

I have to admit to readers in contrast to the above I also loved John Betjeman. It’s not a guilty pleasure because I enjoy reading his poems and I am confessing that fact to What’s On readers. I know lots of people made fun of him but in my eyes he could do no wrong. I love his poem Death of King George V set to music by Jim Parker. Brilliant!

As my eyes glanced along our shelves I counted 7 books of Leonard Cohen’s poems. Now we were, and are, big fans of Leonard. I digress here a bit but I never thought I would see him in concert but he came to the CIA in 2008. What me in tears never! Two hours plus of heaven. It’s time to get our Songs of Leonard Cohen LP out again. Sing along everyone “Suzanne takes you down to her place in the river……

I will call a halt to my meanderings and wanderings through our poetry shelf- and a half. I can hear the What’s On editors saying bring it to a swift conclusion Nige you have waffled on much too long. Before I sign off though I ought to say if there is a popular ground swell of positive comment (i.e. one person) I may do a follow up with meanderings through some of our 1960’s vinyl albums.

So I will finish by sharing with you my favourite poem of all time. Spoiler alert. It’s a bit heavy but I think appropriate for these uncertain times. The poem is by Steve Turner and it is called History Lesson.

History repeats itself.

Has to.

Nobody listens.

As the Wenvoe Page Turners said give poetry – and peace – a chance!

Nige Billingham

 

Book Review

BOOK REVIEW

“Barry Railway: Coal’s Last Burst”

This slim volume by erstwhile civil engineer, local historian and author Stephen K Jones has been produced to serve as an overarching summary to bring together several historical strands. These chart the 1880s development and growth of the Barry Railway and Docks to be the largest integrated coal exporting facility in the world and its gradual decline as the world’s shipping changed its fuel to oil from the 1910s.

Over the decades as the export coal trade declined, the docks saw new purposes as for instance the handling of American war materials in preparation for the D Day Landings, oil and banana imports. And let’s not forget the famous Woodham’s “resting place” where so many redundant steam locomotives awaited their new lives on heritage railways throughout Britain.

Woodham’s “resting place”

All in all, a very useful summary of all that concerns the Barry Docks prior to its re-envisaged status as a major waterside development from the 1990s on-ward. It may be obtained at a cost of £4.50 from the Barry War Museum at the Barry Island Station.

A Revolution Taking Place On Vale Streets

A REVOLUTION TAKING PLACE ON VALE STREETS

Have you ever had the feeling street lighting is not what it used to be? Not surprising when we can trace the history back to 500BC! Today the Vale of Glamorgan Council are well advanced in the latest street lighting revolution. LED streetlights are being installed in all residential streets as part of a £1.4 million investment project that will benefit the environment by reducing Co2 emissions and energy costs. But what are the advantages?

Street lighting seems to have started in China in what is now Beijing c500BC, when natural gas (from volcano gas leaks) was led through bamboo pipes to serve as a fuel for streetlamps. Ancient Romans used oil lamps filled with vegetable oil in front of their houses. They used special slaves, whose only duty was to take care of those lamps, to light them, extinguish them and watch that they always had oil. The first organised method of public lighting was in 1417 when the Mayor of London, Sir Henry Barton, introduced a law that all houses must hang lanterns outside when night fell during the winter months. It wasn’t until 1807 that London got its first gas lit street. Every evening lamplighters, men whose job was to take care of the gas street lights, were lighting the lanterns and every morning they were putting them out.

The Vale’s LED project promises a rather more sophisticated and efficient way of lighting our streets. The high startup costs must be balanced by the longer-term benefits. Over 10,000 conventional street lighting lanterns have been replaced by more efficient LED alternatives. The Vale claims the project will reduce ongoing maintenance and repair costs. LED lanterns can last for 20 to 25 years, or 100,000 hours compared to conventional lighting, which only has a life span of three to six years. LED lights are more efficient. A common problem with older streetlights, which contain mechanical clocks, is that their timing and lighting up times can be put out of sync, either by general power cuts or by insects jamming the mechanism. In both instances the clocks must be manually reset.

The environmental benefits extend to reduced energy consumption and lower greenhouse gas emissions. LEDs are free from hazardous materials like mercury, making them much kinder to our planet. Plus, they’re fully recyclable, further tipping the scales in favour of sustainability. When Los Angeles swapped their old streetlights for LEDs, they cut down CO2 emissions by 47,000 metric tons each year. That’s equivalent to taking thousands of cars off the road! Imagine cutting your electricity use by 70%!

The Vale report that a key feature of the new system is that the new lights can be dimmed by 50% between midnight and 6am, when the higher lighting levels are not required due to the lack of pedestrian and road traffic. Many of us have peered out onto the street in the dead of night and felt that the lighting is less vibrant than it used to be, and some have commented on the potential security implications that may result. However, the Vale report that LED lights enhance facial recognition for CCTV cameras.

LED may be the tip of the iceberg. SMART streetlight networks are already being adapted for more uses. The potential is huge. Cities deploy air quality monitors and noise sensors alongside the lighting controls, gathering data to tackle pollution hotspots and excessive urban noise. In Christchurch, New Zealand, planners are exploring using this network to collect and transmit water meter data.

*You can report a street light fault to the Vale of Glamorgan Council using an online form or by telephone 01446 700111.

 

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