This photo was taken on February 24th 1954 and shows passers-by basking in the warmth from Britain’s first outdoor overhead gas heaters. They had been installed at the Northern Gas Board’s showrooms on Grainger Street in Newcastle.
The heaters were designed and produced by a German engineer called Gunther Schwank and had already proved successful in a number of European cities such as Hamburg and Milan. They cost £20 each to install and three pence an hour to run, the idea being that people would be likely to pause and linger in front of a warm shop window.
The Northern Gas Board envisaged every street in Newcastle city centre being warmed from above, but the scheme never took off. Half a century later, overhead gas heaters became commonplace outside pubs and restaurants.