A Belisha beacon was an amber-coloured globe lamp atop a tall black and white pole, marking pedestrian crossings of roads in the United Kingdom, Ireland and in other countries historically influenced by Britain. The flashing light warned motorists that this was a pedestrian crossing.
It was named after Leslie Hore-Belisha, the Minister of Transport who in 1934 added beacons to pedestrian crossings, marked by large metal studs in the road surface. The first one became operational on July 4, 1935.
These crossings were later painted in black and white stripes, thus are known as zebra crossings. Legally pedestrians have priority (over wheeled traffic) on such crossings. (I believe they’ve been replaced over the years by WALK signals for pedestrians.)
This little incident apparently happened not long after Belisha beacons were set up in London. The King and his Queen were enjoying a pleasant drive through the city in the royal limousine when they passed an intersection where one of these lights had been installed.
“Pull over up ahead,” King Edward instructed their chauffeur. Then his said to his wife, “I want to try walking across at one of these crossings and see how it actually works.”
The chauffeur stopped the car and the King got out. He walked back up the street to the crossing and about five minutes later he returned.
As he climbed back into the car he was chuckling. The Queen looked at him curiously and asked, “What’s so amusing?”
He grinned at her. “One of my loyal subjects just called me a doddering old fool.”
It pays to use kind words. 🙂
This is my response to today’s Ragtag prompt: UNAWARE
Thanks for reviving an old London memory of my days as a kid when learning at school about the Belisha beacons. It just belonged to Britain.
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You’re welcome. I wonder if that driver ever found out? If so, I hope he was properly mortified. Queen Mary would have had him planted in her garden. 😉
Do Belisha beacons still exist in Britain?
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Kudos to the King for taking it in stride… and with humour.
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I don’t remember seeing any the last years I visited. Ir is all done by traffic lights now.
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Some things do disappear in time. When I was a girl we had “kitty-corner” crosswalks on some busy downtown streets, too. Long gone now!
One joke I read in the Friendship Book long ago: a fellow from Yorkshire was visiting his grandson in London. They went out to see the sights and wanted to cross one crazy-busy street. Finally Grandpa said, “It looks like the only way to get to the other side of this road is to be born there.” 😉
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I suppose the driver impatiently took off and might have been hard to locate. Still, you can’t help but wish he DID read about the incident and was duly reproved. Thanks for your comment, Dale. 🙂
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Still… I think it would be a lot of effort for something harmless, to be honest. Then again, I’m not a Brit and maybe am too “lax” 😉
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🙂
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