London’s 1,300 original gas lamps are under threat from LEDs – but they have a defence force who have just scored a significant win, writes Lucy Kenningham

One farthing – that was the cost of hiring a linkboy whose job was to carry a flaming torch guiding your way across the city, before the era of gas lighting began.

Cute though that might sound, these street urchins were not fully to be depended on – they could lead you to your death or indeed a nighttime robbery. Permanent lamps have the distinct advantage of being unable to manipulate you into becoming the victim of a mediaeval-style mugging. So, upon the development of gas lighting technology (no, not that sort of gaslighting) London got the world-first gas lamp in 1807. Location: Pall Mall.

Over the next two centuries, gas lamps started popping up in public spaces across the country. Londoners got used to strolling along illuminated boulevards and rejecting nighttime........

© City A.M.