Could anyone say what these were for? Were they to allow light into cellars and protect as a means of breaking in. Used to be loads of them in Grange Road, just a few now in Grange Road West (cemented) It's a shame that houses don't get built anymore with cellars, handy for storing things in and other usage.
I think you have answered your own question Derek. Yes, used for admitting light into the cellars. There still used to be a window to the cellar on the building line - invariably with layers of crud on it. Some still lurking around that have glass inserts in the "grid". They were flat on the top surface (of course), but had a 45 degree prism on the underside. Designed to admit as much light as possible. Oh to have a decent sized cellar these days !
They're almost certainly skylights for cellars. I can remember other old shops in Birkenhead that had them - all now long demolished - and below the grille there'd be a window letting light into the cellar.
In busy streets, lots of litter and other gunge ended up in the space below those old cellar grilles - the ones that weren't glazed. Sometimes, coins would also be accidentally dropped into them. I can remember some enterprising kids retrieving coins using a long stick with some chewing gum on the end. This was before Blu Tac was invented.
I remember a LOT of houses having these as well, when we travelled into town I used to walk past and think that they were for delivering the coal into.
I remember a LOT of houses having these as well, when we travelled into town I used to walk past and think that they were for delivering the coal into.
You are right Doc.
On Borough Road before they blatted the houses to make way for the tunnel flyover sketch, almost every house had a circular grid/manhole outside it. About 20" dia. at a guess. These WERE for dumping the coal down directly into the cellar. The alternative would have been for the coalman to trog through the house to get it into the cellar!
As stated, a good source of finding cash for us urchins. A cane was a must with either a bent spoon (don't tell me mum) or chewy on the end. I once got a ten bob note with a needle inserted in the end of the cane and speared it.
I suppose and it's only a guess but they could also have been used to deliver goods down into the basement where most had their workshops. Light is the obvious answer though!
Vaguely remember Stanley Street, Liverpool, in the late 60's having grids that were lifted and fruit and veg seemed to be the aroma coming from them. Yuk, not a nice smell. Never really took much notice. They seemed to be like shoots to take stuff from road level to beneath the warehouse, but that could have been a different type of grid. These converted cellars are selling for a fortune in London again, and people walk across your ceiling. There was one shown on TV not so very long ago. Looked amazing, but the 'click clack' of the high heels was a bit off putting.
Last edited by granny; 15th Mar 20148:57am.
Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect. ~Chief Seattle
