The London Gasketeers (the name alludes, one assumes, to the swashbuckling heroes of the Alexander Dumas novel) are a newly created group set up to campaign for Britain’s historic gas lamps. Founded in January 2022, the Gasketeers operate by using social media and already have a number of high-profile supporters, including the actor Simon Callow, the historian and TV presenter Dan Cruickshank, and the President of the Victorian Society Griff Rhys Jones.
The focus of their current concern is the plan by Westminster City Council (reported by Sherds in previous issues of this magazine, see CA 383 and 386) to convert 275 historic gas lamps to LED. Conversion does not mean replacing the gas mantle with a glass bulb, it means replacing the entire glass and iron lantern at the top of the lamp post with modern ‘facsimiles’.
Westminster stoutly defends its plan on the grounds of energy efficiency, the cost of maintenance, the difficulty of obtaining spare parts, and the inadequate light level, which puts people (especially women) at risk. Campaigners dismiss all these arguments, though: light levels can be adjusted, tiny amounts of gas are used, and there is no shortage of spare parts or the skills to maintain the lamps, thanks in part to the British firm William Sugg & Co. Ltd, which is a world leader in heritage lighting and has been advising local authorities in Britain as well as in Prague, Vienna, and Berlin on the restoration of their gas lamps.
Dispersed ancient Mediterranean cities