Paul,
I've been going through a few OLD threads and seems there are a few more people at ECN from the UK, these days, I wondered if they would care to comment on these photo's?.
Regarding your fuse carriers in the UK, do yours have little apertures on the front for testing a fuse while it is still in the fuse base?.
Also, with respect to that bottom pic, is there no requirement in the UK to rip out the old stuff and start again, when adding new circuits?.(with respect to the multiple consumer units)
Over here, a new, larger swithboard would have to be installed, during any upgrade or substantial increase in loading.
That is a real mess!. [Linked Image]