I still see some of the old lead-sheathed cable in use from time to time, although it's quite rare now.
Also have found the IRV cable in oak or other hardwood capping as described by Trumpy and Paul, had it on the lighting circuits in our old house until 1990,
In old houses, lighting circuits are the most likely places to still find really old wiring methods in use. So many houses have had the circuits for sockets and other devices rewired in more modern times, but lighting circuits are often still original: Rubber singles in thinwall conduit from the 1930s, for example.
We've just changed over to the Red/White/Blue 3 Phase colour code over here, it was Red/Yellow/Blue before that.
Is this a change
back to white though?
The old British Standard used red/white/blue. Phase B was changed from white to yellow in 1964. Curiously though, white continued as the phase B color in flexible cords after the fixed cables went over to yellow.
As the adoption of green/yellow for earth (in flex only) was in the pipeline, I wonder whether this was done deliberately to avoid having yellow on two conductors. If so though, it would have made more sense to just leave fixed cables with white as well!
I don't have all the intermediate amendments here, but the 1966 IEE Regs. still show white for flex, yellow for fixed cables. By 1970 though, flexes changed to the European colors, with brown for all three phases.
[This message has been edited by pauluk (edited 06-23-2005).]
