How old must my wiring be ?

[ecchi]

I live in a flat that is part of an old house that was converted long ago (and when I say old house, my landlord is about 80, and he inherited it from his grandfather). One advantage/problem is that it has nice high ceilings. When a bulb blows I can only just reach it to change it, standing on the tallest chair I own. So my knowledge of the thing the bulb goes into (rose?) is limited to what I can feel with my fingertips when at full stretch.

Today the bulb blew (I assumed) so I got up on a chair to change it. My spare bulb refused to work (see I'm prepared, I got a spare bulb, all ready), so I swore and went out to buy another one. When I took the spare out to replace it with the third bulb, the real reason the light would not work announced itself by the insides of the thing the bulb goes into falling to pieces and dropping to the floor. Once I had got my emergency light set up (told you I was prepared, I've even got an emergency light) I picked up the pieces and found that they were made of Bakelite !!!!

Now I am wondering how old the wiring must be if the electrical fittings are still made of Bakelite? Probably not been changed since the lighting was converted from gas. |shocking|

I must check that my fire insurance is up to date.
|hotjump|