Bench at the Gasholder

Once upon a time, round about the 1850s, gasholders started to become a part of the urban ladscape, storing gas which was then sent on to bring light and warmth to local homes. Their distinctive presence came to be loved and loathed in equal measure by those who lived within sight of them. Many have now been destroyed, but some have been repurposed and redeveloped as up-market housing: as here , near Kings Cross in London. These are a couple of people enjoying a quiet moment in one of the urban gardens here, protected from the rigours of English weather. I rather like the slightly hard-to-read nature of these images, where shadows battle with columns to confuse the eye.

For Jude’s Bench Challenge.

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Author: margaret21

I'm retired and live in North Yorkshire, where I walk , write, volunteer and travel as often as I can.

57 thoughts on “Bench at the Gasholder”

    1. It sue is. An acquaintance of mine once was about to step out of her back door early one morning, and just stopped herself in time, when she realised her garden wasn’t there … And a supermarket in town had to close for a few weeks while they did remedial work to prevent the store disappearing into the bowels of the earth.

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      3. One off the sites they were drilling to see what was there before allowing building to take place. Seeing the drill core was quite good. The geologist explained it well

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  6. I wasn’t quite sure what I was looking at! The benches are great though. King’s Cross has changed A Lot since my journeys down from the north. I hated gasometers though, ugly contraptions.

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  8. This apartments look pricy! I had to follow the link to learn about what a gas holder is… it is not familiar to me, but after reading about there might have been some over here in the states… but I have never seen one. Before my career as an educator and bakery cafe manager, I worked a summer or two at the electric company in the city I grew up near, their name was Houston Lighting and Power. Founded in 1882, their original business was providing light in the form of gas lamps in the city, then in the early 1900s they began generating electricity and built the electric power generating stations and transmission lines I knew growing up in the 60s, 70s and 80s. Like many companies in the US, they’ve ceased to exist as the government de-regulated. Keep making your days count and stay well. Peace.

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    2. You have an interesting backstory Clay! And as to gasholders, it’s true I haven’t seen any outside the UK, but everywhere must have had similar storage solutions. Just visually different I suppose. Half term here for our schools. Are you still soldiering on?

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      1. It’s a three day weekend to celebrate the presidents. Washington and Lincoln and Darwin, too – though Darwin wasn’t a president all were born in February with Darwin sharing his birthday with Lincoln. Winter is in full force here with snow and temperatures nearing zero (F) over the next couple of days. Teaching kids is still fun, but tiring.

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      3. Hi Margaret – yes good busy thanks. No difficulties though it can be hard to feel chipper in these times. Hope all good your side? I intend catching up with at least your more recent posts. With best wishes from SA

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      4. It is indeed tough to feel chipper! But on a personal level, life is good. Don’t worry about cathing up with my posts! I’ve yet to read your latest …

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