I have read that a long running competition amongst national newspaper night editors  for the least exciting headline stalled with no one able to better “small earthquake in peru, not many dead”. However, lamp posts, or the unexpected lack of, are of great concern to those missing illumination.

The lamp post at the end of Sydney Wharf, lighting the final six houses plus the bridge over the railway, was unexpectedly removed at the end of last month. Well meaning BathNES technicians thought that they were helping the developer, who asked for the lamp post to be removed from their land, and complying with best practice by getting the light onto the public highway. This is so that it can be repaired without needing written permission from the landowner.

Unfortunately their efforts to relocate  it were more difficult than expected, runnning into cellars, parking and contested ownership. I was contacted by concerned residents worried about the delay. A flurry of emails and phonecalls followed between five different parties until consensus was reached. The developer even paid for the lamp post to be upgraded to ‘herritage’ style, befitting the fine Georgian history of electric lighting.

The lantern is now in place awaiting only the wiring before the grand switch on. There’s more to these dull headlines than you’d expect.