Posted by Prue Eckett on April 05, 2001 at 02:20:13 from 203.96.111.201:
Forgive me if I'm going over old territory but I seem to remember this topic came up a while ago. While reading Pigeon Post for the umpteenth time, I found that when Dick fixed the bell so the pigeon's arrival at Beckfoot could be monitored, electric wires crossed the yard to the house. From this I assumed that Beckfoot did indeed have electricity. Now, i find that in actual fact, the house bells(to which the pigeonhouse was attached, were battery powered, as Dick warns Mrs Blackett that they need to turn off the alarm or the batteries will run down. So in fact the place didn't have electricity at that time - not unusual in outlying areas anywhere in the world. Amazing what you read when you're not looking for it!