Gas Lit Houses

We viewed an old cottage when we were house-hunting in the late 1960s which still had gas lighting.

And ye, I remember caravan holidays and that 'pop' as the gas lamp was lit.

The Rex cinema in Wareham, Dorset, had gas lighting, supplemented by electricity, until recently.

My grandma had a gas lit house. I also remember gas lit caravans in the 50s. I loved the soft light and the gentle hiss.

Our tenement close was lit by gas lighting.
I remember the old lady who lived on the ground floor had a black range, heated by anything she could find to burn in it.
Her walls had gas light fittings, that was 1959, when I was four.

I have not lived in a gas lit house, but I nearly brought one that still had it's gas lamps, plus some.( Not many) electric lights. It also had a well for drinking water.
Now I like the idea of a project, a house to update and put our own stamp on but . . .

This was in the 1980s by the way !

My granny had gas lights in her cottage. You had to replace the gas mantle periodically, and it started off with a bright light when new but got progressively duller. Must have been awful to read by. Some pubs still have gas lights, more of a gimmick than necessity I assume. I can think of two.

BBbevan you're right they did give out a beautiful soft light. A sort of brighter candlelit effect - it was very flattering to the skin. Maybe I should overcome my fear and have the electric light uninstalled, it might make my wrinkles less obvious !

Love the pic Marydoll. Was that in a house or museum?

Yes. The downstairs of our (very old - falling down old) house was lit by gaslight downstairs. No such luxury upstairs. Oil lamp or candles up there.

I would love to go back in time, just for a little while.

Yes, the mantles were a nightmare. You just had to touch it so lightly with the match and it had a hole in it.

I remember the smell of the gas mantles. Such a comforting smell.

Yes, we had a cast iron range and fireplace like the one in Marydoll's picture. Don't remember them cooking with it though. We had a very early gas stove.

That upright fire was so good for making toast. And for just looking.

Gonegirl Nothing tastes as nice as toast made on a toasting fork and then covered in butter ! Unfortunately my mother was easily distracted and frequently the bread was black and found to be on fire !

My nan still lived in a gas lit house with outside privy until mid '60s. The council then housed her in a lovely modern flat, tore down the pair of grand Victorian semis and built a town bypass in their place.

I lived in a house just lit by gas until I was in my teens.
It was just what I knew so it didnt seem odd.
We had two open fires , one was a range with two ovens and trivets which swung over the fire for a kettle and saucepans.
It also had a boiler at the back for the hot water. Strangely I don't remember the gas lights in the bedrooms although there must have been.
It seems so very primitive now.
Just remembered that of course, we ironed using flat irons which were heated on a solitary gas ring.

annsixty they heated the flat irons in front of the fire with us. Can still remember the scorched smell of the cotton iron-holders.

Yes I remember the irons. Later on we had a big piece of ASBESTOS we used to rest it on. And yet here we are, at a ripe old age !

I grew up in a house that had gas mantles and open fireplaces in the bedrooms. I don’t remember the gas mantles ever being used - we had electric lighting - but the fireplaces were used in the wintertime. My mother cooked on a Yorkshire range for years until the linings failed in on the oven, and then she graduate to a gas cooker but always complained it didn’t cook bread or Yorkshire puddings properly!

Oh I had forgotten the holders
I think ours were made of flannel or pieces of old blanket which were stitched together to be thick enough.
Youngsters have no idea have they?

Oh, we had a cast iron stand for our flat iron! I remember the clang when the ironer paused to turn the garment.

Asbestos, is a natural mineral and has been around in the atmosphere since time began, and while all asbestos is carcinogenic, those who develop asbestos related cancer, have usually had prolonged contact with abestos, especially blue asbestos dust, either through handling it in building construction and drilling or hammering it, or spouses washing and ironing the clothes of men working with asbestos in this manner or people working near asbestos factories or other situations where there was a lot of dust in the atmosphere.

I do not think there has been a case of cancer caused by those sheets of asbestos on ironing boards. The amount of asbestos in them was relatively low.

Our integral garage has an asbestos board ceiling, I think a building regulation requirement when it was put in, in the 1960s. We just put two thick coats of ceiling paint on it when we moved in and have not touched it since.

Well, ironing boards had asbestos for a long while didn't they? (And it used to wear away)

We had the remains of the gas light fittings on the walls of the house I lived in when I was a child.

One of the churches in our group still has gas lighting. With candles and an open fire, it's very atmospheric at Christmas.

I've still got my mum's ironing board, complete with asbestos.