Metropol

When we used to always have power cuts in the winter? And how everything went dark and quiet.

Not nowadays. We've got a power cut here btw. House alarms are going off and i can still comunicate with the outside world by the wonderful technology that is laptops and mobile phones. Can't use my landline as its one of those stoopid Amstad emailer ones.
It was dead easy to find candles as i have tealights in nearly every room. I wish had my mums oil lamp. That threw out some decent light.

miss hellfire wrote:When we used to always have power cuts in the winter? And how everything went dark and quiet.

The 1970s power cuts were due to the 3-day working week, and not necessarily the season (although increased requirement for electricity from coal-fired power stations during winter didn't help the situation).

Well we all know what impact those long dark cold evenings had on the population growth in the 70s. In view of your current powerless situation should we expect the stomping of "little Hellfire feet" in early October?

Powers back. well about 45 mins ago it was back on. Remember it being an all nighter in the 70's. And no i'd rather die a grim death than bring little hellfires into the world.

We had a 3-day power cut in the early 90s. Thank god for coal fires.

Around 10 years ago I designed a shop layout for an aunt I had worked with previously. Everything from bespoke cabinetry and glass shelving to a counter with built in cash register. It was called "The Candle House" as an homage to the original Broxburn Candle Factory (it was known as the Candle House in the 1930s). I was really very proud of it. I built a model of it to show them my ideas (as I was used to set models from theatre) which I kept until a couple of years ago.

Unsurprisingly it was full of candles and oil lamps, beautiful candelabras and the like. It was very of the moment. I used to have an abundance of candles at home so would never be caught short in a power cut. Had some amazing ones from an American firm called "The Yankee Candle Co" which were scented with mouth watering fragrances. My favourites were "hazlenut coffee", "lemon sorbet" and a "mixed berry" one. We imported them - first in Scotland certainly, one of the first in the UK. They're everywhere now.

Alas, aunty Rae closed the shop just before winter as she is retiring and it means I'll no longer get any for Christmas.

This thread prompted me to have a look and see if I had any left and I don't. I'd be fucked if the lights went out now.

Must get some in, just in case.

I love Yankee Candles. Star Fruit and Orange is very nice, as is Siberian Silver Fir but I think Cinnamon Stick is my favourite.

marksi wrote:I love Yankee Candles. Star Fruit and Orange is very nice, as is Siberian Silver Fir but I think Cinnamon Stick is my favourite.

You have excellent taste.

I have quite a collection of scented candles, but rarely light them. I always keep a supply of ordinary candles under the kitchen sink though, together with a torch and spare batteries.

Power cuts in Plymouth seem to happen on an increasingly regular basis, but usually during the day. The last one was for about 3 hours, although the power kept returning for brief periods during that time.

Many others seem to occur when I'm not at home or asleep though: the only evidence being that the microwave and any electronic equipment without self-adjusting clocks are flashing madly. Judging by the time difference these power cuts generally don't last more than 10-20 minutes though.

There was a corner of manchester that had daily 4-hour power cuts last winter for about a fortnight with no explanation. thankfully I wasn't in it.