DoneThat
The Adelphi to the Savoy, London
This solitary gas street lamp in Carting Lane is the last remaining Sewer Gas Destructor Lamp in the City of Westminster manufactured around 1870. It uses a mixture of ordinary town gas which, when burning, draws up methane from the local sewer and burns that too.
It is because of its association with sewer gas that the lane is also known as Farting Lane.
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Carting Lane continues up some steps to the Strand where, on the corner, is The Coal Hole pub. This view is looking back down the lane from the top of the steps.
The gas street lamp is at the far end of the row of black bollards.
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The Coal Hole is said to occupy what was once the coal cellar for the Savoy Hotel and in the Victorian era, the pub was a 'song and supper' club where regulars were encouraged to sing comical songs and sentimental ballads. Gilbert and Sullivan regularly performed here in Edwardian times.
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Savoy Court is the only named street in the United Kingdom where vehicles are required to drive on the right. This is said to date from the days of the hackney carriage (taxi) when a cab driver would reach his arm out of the driver's door window to open the passenger's door without having to get out of the cab himself. Additionally, the hotel entrance's small roundabout meant that vehicles needed a turning circle of 25 ft to navigate it. This is still the legally required turning circle for all London cabs.
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