MYSTERY OBJECTS

[Big Kev]

I recognise a yard brush when I see one! Did I mention that I got a new one for Christmas?

You may have mentioned it in passing

[Cathy]

Because he is dressed so well, I think he is a horse and carriage driver/ chauffeur and the broom is to sweep any mess or horse dung out of the way for his wealthy passengers.

[Stanley]

"Did I mention that I got a new one for Christmas? " you did Wendy and I grieved for you....
Wendy is right of course, he's a crossing sweeper. A way of making a living in a city by making sure the hoil poloi didn't tread in any horse muck. Usually kids but this was a bit different. It didn't fool Wendy.....
Next one?

[Marilyn]

I hope the broom (wot Wendy got for Christmas) is getting lots of work...
Has it still got the tinsel on it, Wendy?

[Wendyf]

All tinsel long since worn away! My lovely brush keeps very busy.... No need for commiserations Stanley, it was the first item on Santa's list.

[Stanley]

A lamentable statement Wendy. You are too practical!



Can anyone tell me what this is?

[chinatyke]

A mould for home-made candles?

[plaques]

A mould for home-made candles?

Looks like a good suggestion to me China.

[Gloria]

Not much of an idea. Not sure of the size, looks like an ancient radiator, where hot water is poured into the top tray and runs down into the fins. Not sure why there is a ring attachment either.

[Tizer]

Going on from Gloria's suggestion, how about a `hot seat' for use in cold weather? You pour hot water into the tubes then sit on it! (well, it was just a thought!).
Or is it an early prototype Slush Puppy maker?

[Tizer]

Mrs Tiz suggests it's something to do with the dairy - put ice in the tubes then lower it into the milk to cool it.

[Stanley]

China got it straight away! Sorry about that. I am trying..... Someone put another up!

[chinatyke]

China got it straight away! Sorry about that. I am trying..... Someone put another up!

Wow! It was a pure guess because the tubes appear to be slightly tapered. I was also thinking about heat exchangers like Gloria until I noticed the taper.

[Tizer]

.. Someone put another up!

OK, where and what is this building?

[Marilyn]

The ventilation turrets on the roof suggest a warm climate.
I shall say India...building doesn’t appear to be fenced or guarded, therefore I would say a public building.
Library or Council Offices?

[Stanley]

I agree with Maz that it looks like a public building but not necessarily abroad, ventilation of such buildings was seen as essential for much of the 19th century when the 'Miasmic' origin of infectious diseases was a common belief. So I'll go for UK. What intrigues me is the number of windows that are stopped up with masonry. Reaction to the Window Tax? At a guess, a lecture hall of some kind?

[Gloria]

Looks like a buzzer on the side of the door, so possibly not a building open to the general public. Cars outside, very difficult to tell, but think they are left hand drive. A uk embassy in foreign lands?

[Tizer]

In the UK is correct and it would have been a public (council) building originally (but not Library or Council Offices). Not a lecture hall and not involved with education. As for the windows, it's an early 19th Century building but the whole of the frontage was given new windows to give a unified appearance in the 1970s. Therefore the photo is pre-1970s. I think the blanked out windows were built that way originally but not because of window tax, rather because of the building's function.

[Stanley]

Early cinema, theatre or camera obscura needing darkened rooms?

[Tizer]

Good thinking! But nowt to do with those...

[Wendyf]

Public baths?

[Tizer]

Nice try Wendy, but no.

[Gloria]

A prison??

[Wendyf]

The design is similar to toll houses, but it's too big for that. Custom house?

[plaques]

Prison for nuns.... A nuns clositered convent / monastery.