The Old Lamp Lighter Sanny Dillon.

A Memory of Kilbirnie.

The gas lamps in Station Road, Kilbirnie, were the responsibility of staff on duty at the High Station. This line went right through to Glasgow Central Station and of course it was the age of steam. Sanny Dillon was the lamp lighter and being small he carried with him a large pole with a hook on it. The idea was to hook onto a chain and pull it down, thus lighting the gas lamps that were on either side of Station Road. The boys at the time made their own poles and in the darkness, laid in wait for the emergence of Mr Dillon coming out to light his lamps, of which there were many. We would wait for him to light three or four lamps then quietly sneak out and with our poles (or indeed climb up the lamp post) and turn them off. By the time he got to the end of the street he turned round to find all his lamps had been turned off. Sanny knew who was at it, it was invariably the Allan twins and their motley crewe. Sanny also knew what would happen to us if he told our fathers, so he never did. Because of that we found our entertainment elsewhere and Sanny gained our respect and appreciation, the old lamp lighter of long long ago.


Added 25 January 2013

#239800

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