Old door bell push buttons.

Bunkers, shelters and other buildings
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Leodian
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Joined: Thu 10 Jun, 2010 8:03 am

Re: Old door bell push buttons.

Post by Leodian »

Thanks for the 'Hall Porter' one MiggyBill :). It is a good one.

Thanks warringtonrhino for that information :). I had assumed it used to be an entry/exit to part of the bank, but I should have realised that it could be to other premises as the removed signage over the doorway seems to read 'Lloyds Bank Chambers' which was presumably the general name for this fine building.
A rainbow is a ribbon that Nature puts on when she washes her hair.

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Leodian
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Re: Old door bell push buttons.

Post by Leodian »

It's very quiet on Secret Leeds recently so I thought I would add this old door bell push button to the collection. It is on the old Midland Bank building at the junction of Meanwood Road and North Street. A bank is marked there on a 1908 map in the Old Maps UK website so I wonder if the button is also that old? The photos were taken on May 5 2016. The first is a close-up of the bell and the second is a view of the nice wood door by which the bell is located.

There seems to be remains of what would have been 4 screws, so perhaps they held something that once covered the bell? I later realised that I did not try pressing the bell to see what (if anything) happened ;).

The hand-written notice by the door seems to read "Deliveries to building two doors down, the tall white building with (?) door intercom, opposite parking meter". The notice has an arrow pointing to the right of the notice, i.e. along the last bit of North Street.
Close-up of the old door bell push button on the old Midland Bank at the junction of Meanwood Road and North Street, Leeds (taken May 5 2016).
Close-up of the old door bell push button on the old Midland Bank at the junction of Meanwood Road and North Street, Leeds (taken May 5 2016).
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The nice wood door on the old Midland Bank at the junction of Meanwood Road and North Street, Leeds (taken May 5 2016).
The nice wood door on the old Midland Bank at the junction of Meanwood Road and North Street, Leeds (taken May 5 2016).
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A rainbow is a ribbon that Nature puts on when she washes her hair.

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Leodian
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Re: Old door bell push buttons.

Post by Leodian »

The remains of this old bell push button caught my eye on June 9 2016 when I was having a long meander around the centre area of Leeds. It is by the door of 'The Head of Steam' on Mill Hill (that bar/pub was known until recentlyish by at least Spencers but its very old name of the Black Lion is still carved above the door). OK, the button is in poor condition as it is missing its central push bit but I thought it deserves a place in this thread as it may be quite old! The first photo is a close-up of the button and the second shows its location on the right of the door frame.
Old bell push button on the Head of Steam bar, Mill Hill, Leeds (taken June 9 2016).
Old bell push button on the Head of Steam bar, Mill Hill, Leeds (taken June 9 2016).
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View of The Head of Steam bar, Mill Hill, Leeds (taken June 9 2016).
View of The Head of Steam bar, Mill Hill, Leeds (taken June 9 2016).
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A rainbow is a ribbon that Nature puts on when she washes her hair.

harrym1byt
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Re: Old door bell push buttons.

Post by harrym1byt »

volvojack wrote:
Leodian wrote:Seeing this old door bell push button on the North Street frontage of the old Dispensary made me wonder of the many people that will have used it, at least particularly when the building was still a dispensary that did emergency treatment and if needed also hospitalised them. Admittedly the building's main entrance was (still is) on Hartley Hill but the North Street door may likely have been used a lot. I took these photos on April 1 2016 (not an April Fool prank). The first is a close-up of the button, the second shows the doorway with the button and the nice carving above it and the third is a view of the North Street frontage of this very fine building.

PS. I pressed the bell but heard nothing and nobody came, though I'm not sure what I would have said if someone had come!
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Don't recall ever seeing that front door in use when I worked in North Street in the 1950s, The times I visited there the entrance was on Hartley hill opposite the car park.
I remember being taken there in the 1950's again via the side entrance. Nothing serious, just a scrape on my elbow which had turned a bit nasty.

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Leodian
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Re: Old door bell push buttons.

Post by Leodian »

It's quite quiet on Secret Leeds lately so I thought I would add this old looking door bell push button to this thread. The button is on what used to be the Church Institute (now Albion Court) on Albion Place, Leeds. According to information in the Leodis website the building's foundation stone was laid on October 29 1866 by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the building was opened during 1868. I would guess though that the push button is not as old as that.

I took these photos on January 26 2017. The first is a close-up of the push button and the second shows its location on the right of the doorway. I did not try the button so I don't know if it works or not ;).
OldPushButtonDoorbellAtWhatWasOnceTheChurchInstitute(NowAlbionCourt)AlbionCourtLeedsJan262017..jpg
OldPushButtonDoorbellAtWhatWasOnceTheChurchInstitute(NowAlbionCourt)AlbionCourtLeedsJan262017..jpg (104.67 KiB) Viewed 2988 times
WhatOnceWasTheChurchInstitute(NowAlbionCourt)AlbionPlaceLeedsJan262017OldDoorbellOnRightOfDoorway..jpg
WhatOnceWasTheChurchInstitute(NowAlbionCourt)AlbionPlaceLeedsJan262017OldDoorbellOnRightOfDoorway..jpg (112.96 KiB) Viewed 2988 times
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Loiner in Cyprus
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Re: Old door bell push buttons.

Post by Loiner in Cyprus »

If I remember correctly in the 1950s when I was taking piano lessons I took my College Of Music exams at the Church Institute so if the door bell does work I hope it is a chime at concert pitch A.

jma
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Re: Old door bell push buttons.

Post by jma »

We used to live in a terrace house in Westover Road, Leeds 13, wired for bells which rang in the cellar kitchen and there were bell pushes exactly like that front and back, with indoor equivalents in all the rooms except the attics.

By coincidence, I submitted a comment to Leodis yesterday about the Church Institute although it referred to an indoor illustration of the lecture hall where I successfully sat the police promotion exam to inspector in January 1971. Gloomy room - happy memories. :D

volvojack
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Re: Old door bell push buttons.

Post by volvojack »

[quote="jma"]We used to live in a terrace house in Westover Road, Leeds 13, wired for bells which rang in the cellar kitchen and there were bell pushes exactly like that front and back, with indoor equivalents in all the rooms except the attics.

By coincidence, I submitted a comment to Leodis yesterday about the Church Institute although it referred to an indoor illustration of the lecture hall where I successfully sat the police promotion exam to inspector in January 1971. Gloomy room - happy memories.


I bought a house in the Grovehalls Beeston and that not only had a bell push on the outside and in all the rooms but even had one in the bathroom which all were connected to a box on the kitchen wall. i got my electician pal to get this working and when you pressed any bell a ball popped down in the box indicating which room. Used to drive the wife crackers until we had the kitchen and bathroom modernised.

jma
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Re: Old door bell push buttons.

Post by jma »

The way the flunkey knew which bell was ringing on ours was that there were indicators in a wooden box on the wall in the cellar kitchen. The box had a glass face, black on the back of the glass to hide the works and with little windows - seven altogether, I believe - each labelled in gold with the location of the bell, including the rather pretentious "drawing room." Each bell had its own spring-mounted indicator in the box and pressing a button activated the relevant electro-magnet causing a buzz and a wobble on the relevant indicator which continued for a few seconds. No flunkeys, of course, but we used to use it for things like signalling a telly programme was starting. One problem was that unless you were in the kitchen, you couldn't tell even if somebody was ringing the doorbell. My dad fixed that by wiring in a big bell in the hallway. That also meant that when tea was ready, my mother could do a der-diddy-der-der on the back door bell which we all could hear. Obviously, she had to do a set signal like that or we wouldn't have known which bell was ringing when we were upstairs. :lol:

Upstairs Downstairs for the working classes. :lol: No Hudson and no Mrs Bridges, I'm afraid ;)

volvojack
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Joined: Tue 26 Jan, 2016 11:57 am

Re: Old door bell push buttons.

Post by volvojack »

[quote="jma"]The way the flunkey knew which bell was ringing on ours was that there were indicators in a wooden box on the wall in the cellar kitchen. The box had a glass face, black on the back of the glass to hide the works and with little windows - seven altogether, I believe - each labelled in gold with the location of the bell, including the rather pretentious "drawing room." Each bell had its own spring-mounted indicator in the box and pressing a button activated the relevant electro-magnet causing a buzz and a wobble on the relevant indicator which continued for a few seconds. No flunkeys, of course, but we used to use it for things like signalling a telly programme was starting. One problem was that unless you were in the kitchen, you couldn't tell even if somebody was ringing the doorbell. My dad fixed that by wiring in a big bell in the hallway. That also meant that when tea was ready, my mother could do a der-diddy-der-der on the back door bell which we all could hear. Obviously, she had to do a set signal like that or we wouldn't have known which bell was ringing when we were upstairs. :lol:

Upstairs Downstairs for the working classes. :lol: No Hudson and no Mrs Bridges, I'm afraid


Brlliant description jma. thats exactly how ours was, however i would never dare to refer to our Lass as Mrs.Bridges / Flunkey etc. as that would have been more than my life would have been worth.


You mention a signal for when Tea was ready.
When we were kids . late 40s we sometimes went to stay with a well off Aunt in Nottingham. Uncle Dennis was the top jolly in the Prison Service dealing with people coming out of prison and Aunt Kitty was the Matron at Notingham Hospital .when she was serving meals she used to hit a brass gong which was in the hall.
When they were both out at work we used to pretend we were the man who hit the large gong at the beginning of the J.Arthur Rank Films

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