A historian has shared exactly why some street railings have kinks in them, leaving a number of keen history buffs looking about the streets around them in a completely new way
You might walk past these railing every day – but you’ll no doubt look at them in an entirely new light after realising their true purpose.
Those who live in London, or have paid a visit to the capital, may have noticed some oddly-shaped street railing, which have a noticeable kink on them – or you might have ignored them entirely. Take a look at them now, and you might think it’s an interesting design feature – probably with no real purpose. But that’s not the case at all.
It turns out most people had no idea that these railings with distinctive kinks had a “vital” purpose during the dark days of World War II, marking a significant turning point in British history.
Historian Alice Loxton shared that they “may appear to be ordinary railings” but they are actually a “vital part of London”s World War II story”.
In a TikTok video, Alice, who goes by the username @history_alice, explained: “They are the emergency stretches used by Air Raid officers to carry wounded civilians during the Blitz. Thousands of stretchers were produced for the war effort. They were made from a single material making them cheap to manufacture.
“The design too was straightforward – two poles flanking a stretch of wire mesh – this meant they were very easy to clean, particularly in the case of a gas attack. The bend in the poles allowed them to be picked up and carried easily too.”
She continued: “Now during the war, many of London’s railings were removed so that the metal, it was claimed, could be used for the war effort.
“So, many streets suddenly had no railings at all, with short metal stumps left behind, so it made sense when they tried to rebuild the city and tidy up the damage to reuse the old ARP stretchers.
“So it’s quite incredible to think these railings, which you might walk past without giving them a moment’s notice, a moment’s thought, once upon a time were perhaps responsible for saving hundreds of lives.”
The video has clocked up more than 1.8m likes and counting, and many followers were left absolutely gobsmacked by this “fascinating” piece of London history.
One person marvelled: “That is so friggin cool and so interesting. So much history and sadness in those railings.”
Another commented: “I used to live in a house that had these and I didn’t know its history.”
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