Todays domestic job...

[sparkwright]

My late parents house which they bought as a new build in 1952 had plastic (PVC?) sheath and insulation. Other houses on the estate built the year before had rubber.

That would certainly be in line with my estimate, I worked out a big house built in 1953, and it was a combination of mostly early plastic/pvc and some rubber - all neatly buckle clipped under the tongue and groove floorboards.

 

[IJWS15]

We had a semi (moved in 1991) that was built 1952 - all rubber insulation apart from the earths on the socket circuits which were bare copper. Some insulation disintegrated as the wires were moved when it was rewired. It had neutral fuses as well.

Son wan't happy as I wouldn't let him play with his scalectrix until it was done.

 

[SUNRAY]

We had a semi (moved in 1991) that was built 1952 - all rubber insulation apart from the earths on the socket circuits which were bare copper. Some insulation disintegrated as the wires were moved when it was rewired. It had neutral fuses as well.

That all sounds about right for the era. Typical installation then would have been a 60A double pole fused cast iron switch feeding a 6 way fuse box for power circuits and a second cast iron switch with 4 fuses, 2 live & 2 neutral to feed the 2 lighting circuits. with the obligatory borrowed neutral for the 2 way switching.

Son wan't happy as I wouldn't let him play with his scalectrix until it was done.

He'd have been even less happy if he'd got an electric shock

 

[SUNRAY]

Came across an oddity last week, school workshop built late 70s, all PVC single / T&E apart from a fan circuit in VIR singles

We added a pre-cast concrete garage in the garden about 1966 and that was all PVC T&E except where we needed single for 2 way lights and that was done with rubber& cotton as we had some.

I reckon that someone helping out, possibly a teacher, did something similar with some old stock while adding the fan.

 

[securespark]

I did a rewire in 1990 where I stripped out shed loads of cable branded Ashathene.

 

[crystal ball]

We added a pre-cast concrete garage in the garden about 1966 and that was all PVC T&E except where we needed single for 2 way lights and that was done with rubber& cotton as we had some.

I reckon that someone helping out, possibly a teacher, did something similar with some old stock while adding the fan.

Unlikely, it looked part of the original construction and the fan was incorporated in a skylight as were some others in the block

 

[SUNRAY]

I did a rewire in 1990 where I stripped out shed loads of cable branded Ashathene.

That's the name I was trying to think of with the double plastic. The other was something like Cagathene/Camathene with the rubber inner.