Telegraph (Telephone) Pole Finials

[19and41]

I've not seen such an item on a wooden pole here in the states.  Thinking how many poles there are here, that would be a shedload of caps!  If you consider the number of wooden poles along all the railways in the states and all the roadside poles (in Indiana where I grew up, the portion we lived in had a road each mile, east to west north to south with poles along most of them)
Then, all the ones along each street in each town, the mind boggles.

[FABphones]

Nowadays Finials are hard to spot in situ, not many poles still have them. As the poles aged, became unsafe and in need of replacement, they became a feature of times past. Many wooden Finials rotted, and the metal Finials appear to not have been replaced back on a pole when a new one went up.

Attached image (from the Internet) shows poles on their side after removal. These are of the style more commonly seen - mostly flat, some tapered.

Although large, I think my Finials will display nicely alongside the phones. I hope to mount them on smaller section of pole, the same diameter as originally.

I'm very pleased to have found them, and during my search for them have learnt a fair bit about poles, planting depths, plaques, badges....    

[RB]

Yeah, pole history is a read all by itself

[FABphones]

Another way to reach those elusive Finials?

[Key2871]

Whoops, looks like someone wasn't paying attention..

[david@london]

Looking through vintage postcards of Epping Forest (north-east of London) yesterday, spotted this tall pole finial in a photograph of York Hill, Loughton.
Have been keeping an eye out for telegraph poles with finials since this topic was started......latest score unfortnately still stands at zero - they seem to be very scarce now.

[FABphones]

That is a gorgeous example, and I have driven that road hundreds, if not thousands, of times and never looked up.   Drat.

Have you done a Google walk past, is it still there?

[david@london]

Me too, CJ...a regular dog walking area - used to live quite near there.
Here's a streetview screenshot, a different pole in a different position.
Finial has vamoosed...perhaps to your collection?

Also a pole with a similar tall finial in Saxmundham.....

[FABphones]

Thanks for that .  The pole there now isn't nearly as impressive as it's predecessor.

I had the time this evening to take a look via Google Earth as I was also intrigued to see if that beautiful Victorian street lamp was still there - and it is, although it's position appears to have slightly moved.

[david@london]

Peasenhall, Suffolk....

[david@london]

Nice finial on a pole which seems unusually tall....
Bungay, Suffolk, c1930s

[FABphones]

Very nice.   

I took a look to see what pole is there today.

[countryman]

Interesting that there still is a pole in the exact same position after all the changes in telecommunication.
Most lines are buried meanwhile - and some may even be dead :-(

[FABphones]

Turned wood finial, sadly past it's prime.
 

[Etienne]

Nice poles.

About 10 years ago, the telegraph poles along the railroad between La Rochelle and Luçon were still there (the wires were long gone). It was the only place I could still see those poles. And we had time to watch them, the track was so rotten that although it was a major secondary line (Bordeaux-La Rochelle-Nantes-Rennes) the trains could not speed over 50 Km/h! (and were almost always late). The glorious days of the SNCF are long gone now...
Now the tracks are being renovated (meaning we lost the shabby chic design of Luçon's station, with its completely original 19th century platform, too short and low for modern trains - "Please pay attention, passengers leaving in Luçon, please step out only from cars n°1 and 2") and those poles are certainly gone.