Hi Joe and Lister Friends, The gasmeters I can remember had to be fed with shillings. I can't remember what we fed the prewar ones with, though---- maybe pennies? Our meters were located in the little cubbyhole under the stairs, which ensured that anyone tall enough risked decapitation ---or a sore head, if they stood upright too quickly! Fortunately Dad didn't need to go there and Mum was short! Collectors also tended to be stocky little men----typical Midlanders! Under the stairs also was the favoured place to become a family shelter, during air raids once we'd located to a home that didn't have an Anderson shelter in the garden. A good deal warmer, too in the dank days of winter. The visits of the meter man were looked forward to, because if the amount in the meter was in excess of gas used, the extra coins were returned; a sort of bonus payout, as you might say. This frequently happened, as it was common practice in the families that I knew to "feed" the gasmeter with shillings whenever there were some in your purse. Remember the traditional big fat brown leather household change -purses our mothers and grandmothers had? Roomy, with partitions and fastened with a clasp? No handbag needed; the housewife would "sing out", "Just going up the Wolfe", ( to the shopping centre, not the pub of that name!), and depart clasping her trusty purse in her hand. On the Foleshill Rd. and facing Webster Street was Wilson's Gasmeters. After a stint of several years on the Coventry Corporation buses , and before returning to factory life once again, my father did long distance driving for Wilson's. They were one of about two firms in England, who manufactured gasmeters. Dad's delivery area was from the Midlands to the Scottish border. The Great North Rd was very familiar to him, but he often went north criss-crosing the country, ( to deliver), as he went. I remember the route across the Pennines was spectacular. He had accommodation with a family in Jarrow, where we struggled to understand the dialect---almost incomprehensible to a non-Geordie! Then his large van was updated to an articulated truck with the benefits of having a second trailor which meant not having to lose time unloading and loading the same space. When the cab was being fitted out Dad was asked by the management if there was anything he would like in it. "A radio would be nice ", he said facetiously.To his amazement the new vehicle was fitted with one---a feature rare, and in the luxury class, in the late 1940s. When he left school, at the age of 15, in 1953, my brother went to work for Wilson's, as a sheetmetal worker and completed his apprenticeship there. He made gasmeters! The good old gasmeter that measured the coalgas we used became obsolete with the introduction of North Sea gas. What became of Wilson's? I must remember to ask my brother, who now lives in Bedworth, a few miles distant. He had moved on into the car industry before this. Culminating at the Bayton Industrial Estate, customising Bentleys, at the time of his retirement last year! Even baby brothers get old----in time! And with the end of the coal gas industry has come the demise of the bulky gasometers. The last one, at Longford was demolished in 2002. By chance and at a distance of 10, 000 miles, I witnessed it! How? A kind Lucas researcher emailed me a short video clip and by chance, my brother arrived from England on the same day."Oh, I filmed that for you,"he said, and proceeded to show me. So I saw it from two viewpoints---a poignant moment. Gasometers, along with Cooling towers and Courtauld's largest chimney had been central to my life and memories for my formative years. I was attached to them and feel as though I've had appendages amputated. Silly---but there it is! There was a majesty and kind of beauty in those bulky structures! Gasmeters---and their collectors are history now. My equivalent is the meter man who reads them for the Electricity Provider. In my last home the meter was indoors---a nuisance, as we had to provide a housekey for the reader. Newer homes, like my present one have it installed outside---mine is in the porch. How much longer will this last? Time moves on, and progress rapidly nullifies today's latest technology. What next? Will I be spared the time to see ? Interesting point, that! Regards, Muriel -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.300 / Virus Database: 265.6.11 - Release Date: 12/01/2005