by The Curious Scribbler

It is sad to see the removal of the curlicued streetlights which are such a characteristic of our lovely promenade.

Out with the Old

SWALEC are out in force today, with crane and cherry picker removing the tops of the street lights on the prom, lowering them gently to the ground and chopping them up with an angle grinder to be carried away. The poles are then capped with a new fitting.

In with the New

Of course I can understand the reason for doing so.  The new LED technology will illuminate the town for a fraction of the electricity cost and the planet will benefit from the reduced emissions.  But was it really impossible to find a design of lamp head more fitting for our Victorian town?  The new plate-like fitments are an undignified truncation upon the old poles.  And the vista of white globes leading  towards Constitution Hill will soon be a distant memory.

Old lighting on the Aberystwyth promenade

Shorter stemmed bifurcating globes of a less elaborate but similar style also flank the sea from the Pier to the Castle, and are an important part of a vista which so many people enjoy.  They may not be all that old, the metal plate on the lamp bases reads NJG 2001 but they do need a lick of paint.

The shorter lights on the south promenade

I do so hope that for these, at least, a less radical solution will be found,  and modern bulbs could somehow be inserted in the old globes, or a new but ornamental form of lamp be obtained.  With the renovations of the Old College,  an apotheosis of Victoriana, soon to become a gleaming public attraction it would be very sad to find the entire South Prom adorned with such utilitarian little slabs of lighting. In our heyday these lights used to support hanging baskets of flowers in the summer season.  As the post-covid world wakes up the delights of holidaying at home, perhaps these ornamental posts should be cherished and fully adorned once more.

The lamps used to also suspend hanging flower baskets