wrote:
This is a US CU:
http://electrical-contractor.net/jt/mainrng4.jpg
and this is the install:
This house was built in 1940, and wired with an early form of
Romex...Cloth wrapper, no ground wire. Apart from the water bond, there
is no grounding. All receptacles are two-prong. The only bath recep is
part of the light over the mirror. The main room, with almost fifty
feet of perimeter, has exactly one receptacle. The only kitchen
receptacle shares a single-gang box with a switch for the exhaust fan.

Hmmm. I don't think British wiring would have been much better -
especially with it being war-time.

Of course, our wiring has improved considerably since then; we've even
banned wire-nuts. Theirs hasn't, and they haven't.

Owain