"Mary Fisher" writed in
t:



It's a strange place for a coal chute - in a pavement! They've always
been in the wall (i.e. vertical) in the houses I've live in which had
coal cellars.

Where I grew up in North London, they were either immediately in front of
the front door, or in the pavement, in line with the front door. (And they
were still, by and large, in use!)