Another Parish Pump...

... the long weekend away was amazing but it's great to be back home so I thought it was time for another in my parish pumps of St Peter Portseries. This one is dated 1918 and is in the Lower Pollett. These pumps were used by resident to obtain their water before the water mains were installed to provide a water supply to each property. When I first saw the date was into the 20th century I thought it quite amazing that by then people did not have water supplied to their houses but then I thought back to my own childhood in the early 50s. We lived in St Peter Port but well out of town and when we moved in the only water tap was in the scullery; which was attached to the house in an extension to the kitchen. There was no electricity; only gas. There was also a plumbed outside toilet in an outhouse very close to the house. Luxury; we didn't have to walk to the bottom of the garden.

In 1954 the house was modernised and a bathroom put in upstairs. By bathroom I mean a room with a bath in it. There was no toilet or sink. But the bath was plumbed into the water supply and an old gas geyser provided the hot water. You had to light the pilot light and turn the lever so that the flame went into the geyser. I hated the BOOM as the gas lit and right up until I left home at the age of somewhere around 23 I never plucked up the courage to light it. At that time we also had electricity installed.

But back to my blip. The lady on her mobile sighed loudly as she had to walk around me; but I think she added a lot of interest to the pic....