Cycling UK Forum

I've ridden past this thing countless times, and always wondered what it could be, so today I finally stopped to take a couple of photos, in the hope that someone here can enlighten me.
It's about 10m tall with fluting at the base, and very sturdy cast iron. Far too tall for a light column but I suspect it was something to do with an early gas supply. The top just seems open ended. Not connected to the cables, they're attached to a pole covered in ivy.
Any suggestions?

It’s a stink pipe, to allow gases to escape from a sewer, to control explosion risk. Some of them are highly ornate.

Although the modern equivalent is a stink river, whereby you maximise profits by dumping s**t in the nearest watercourse.

A friend had one of these outside his house, tall straight and rusty. All rather ironical as he (then) owned and ran an anti corrosion business in the oil industry!

Brilliant thanks.
I bet there are thousands of them on Instagram.

I bet there are thousands of them on Instagram

And Geograph