#Insulate Britain

[justalittlesolarpunk]

Solarpunk Sunday Suggestion:

Go to a meeting of your local direct action group

[missmacfire]

He is wrong about climate change though. You can show up with a sign, you just need to be many.

A big general strike with concrete demand on the government/city power/what ever would be a wonderful thing.

We can demand stop all fossil fuel subsidies, no new pipe lines or oil extraction, ban private planes, insulated homes, restore wetlands. There are so many low hanging fruit that would be a very good start, what's best depends of course so much on where you live.

The ruling class needs us, when people don't work the economy stops, and that they do care about.

join a union

the power of collection action

[shakesthewizard]

Not reblogging bc I'm not trying to like. Diss this person BUT

1) she is NOT trying to fix him

2) it is NOT platonic

[buttons-beads-lace]

Ok I'm not saying this on someone else's post but I cannot resist saying it. I just saw the first round of the summer's "Houses in the north are made to keep heat in, not out!" posts. 

There is no such thing as one-way house insulation. A house that is well-insulated is better at keeping the outside temperature different from the inside temperature, period. The fact that houses in cold climates are insulated to keep heat inside in winter does not make them hotter in the summer.

Factors that might be making a cold-climate house extra-hot in the summer:

- Small windows / not enough windows / windows not placed correctly to let air flow through the house

- House layout puts the rooms you use most often in parts of the house that get hotter

- Roof / outside walls are a dark color

Better insulation and thicker walls are actually an advantage in hot weather as well as in cold weather, as long as you also have good windows (or good fans). 

[warrioreowynofrohan]

It’s currently -10°C in parts of Britain…and -2°C in central Canada.

We’ve had an unusually warm winter here, but that contrast is just a new level of weird.

[promiseimnotacop]

Kind of obsessed with the pattern the autonomous chapters/sub groups of xr one by one rebranding themselves and dissociating from xr itself and becoming more explicitly anti-capitalist, working class, less ''pacifist'' and more focused because xr itself is fucking cringe.

[eco4-scheme]

Free Cavity Wall Insulation Under GBIS Scheme

Upgrade your home’s energy efficiency with free cavity wall insulation under the GBIS (Green Building Improvement Scheme). This initiative is designed to help UK homeowners and tenants reduce their energy bills and enhance the comfort of their homes by providing high-quality insulation at no cost.

Benefits of Cavity Wall Insulation:

Energy Efficiency

Enhanced Comfort

Environmental Impact

Eligibility Criteria For GBIS Scheme:

Homeowners and tenants receiving certain benefits, such as pension credits, income support, or tax credits, may qualify for free cavity wall insulation under the GBIS Scheme. Our team of accredited installers will assess your property and guide you through the eligibility and application process, ensuring a smooth and hassle-free experience.

Professional Installation:

Our certified professionals ensure top-quality installation using the best materials and techniques. With years of experience, our team guarantees that your home will be properly insulated, maximizing the benefits of the GBIS Scheme.

How to Apply For GBIS Scheme:

Contact us today to check your eligibility for free cavity wall insulation under the GBIS Scheme. Our friendly team is ready to assist you with the application process and answer any questions you may have. Upgrade your home’s insulation, save on energy bills, and enjoy a more comfortable living environment today!

[theemporium]

could you maybe do a sirius x fem reader where he's feeling in a cuddly mood but r is too hot bc of summer and just being grumpy? and he's jus all pouty and wants to be held and kissed, please and thank you xx

thank you for requesting!🫶🏽

.

“Baby—”

“I’m comfy.”

“That’s great for you but—”

“I just wanna show you I love you!”

“Sirius,” you let out a groan, a small huff of frustration following as you sunk back against the sheets. Your eyes narrowed at the ceiling. “I’m fucking sweating my tits off, please let me go.”

Warm weather was a rarity in Britain, everyone knew as much. The country was made for rainy days, nipping winds and stormy nights. On the odd day of warm weather, it would be enough for people to abandon their jackets and get out their shorts for the few hours of sunshine they got.

But this? This was hell.

The weather forecast had warned about a heatwave, though most citizens rolled their eyes. Britain doesn’t get heatwaves. It seemed nonsensical to even think as much. But then the weekend hit, the temperatures went up and now you were dealing with the consequences of the houses being insulated to keep heat in, rather than air conditioned and ventilated.

“But I just wanna hug you,” he groaned as he nuzzled his head further against your stomach. “C’mon, love, let’s take a nap.”

The whole house was stuffy, your body felt like every inch was covered in clammy sweat and the fact your boyfriend was a fucking walking heater a majority of the time wasn’t helping. The sheets felt like they were sticking to you, the duvet felt claustrophobic and the heavy mass of your clingy boyfriend wrapping his body around you was only making you snappier.

“A nap?” You seethed before scoffing. “Absolutely not, I need to be sitting in a freezer right now.”

“Just use a cooling charm,” he murmured.

“I am,” you snapped before letting out a heavy sigh. “You’re too warm to cuddle with right now.”

Sirius raised his head, a pout on his lips as he stared up at you with big, doe eyes. “I just want some love.”

You rolled your eyes. “Now you’re just being dramatic.”

Sirius sniffled. “Prongs would cuddle with me.”

“Then go annoy Potter,” you grumbled as you tried to wiggle out of his hold once again. “I’m gonna go stand in the shower until I feel like an ice cube.”

Sirius’ apprehension quickly disappeared, and was replaced with a knowing grin. “Got room for one more?”

“And let you hog the cold water?” You scoffed with a smile. “As if, baby.”

Sirius’ eyes narrowed. “You’re a cruel woman.”

“I’m a dying woman,” you corrected as you finally managed to scramble out of his hold and get off the bed. You turned back around, leaning over to press a chaste kiss on his lips before swiftly moving out the way before he had a chance to pull you back down onto the bed. “I love you, but not that much.”

Sirius snorted. “I love you too, babe.”

.

[bookshelfdreams]

@hylianengineer sorry I had to make a new post, the answer got too long for replies :D

Ah, the dreaded "but wool is itchy!". Not something I can relate to (I really like it when yarn/fabric has a bit of grip and structure to it, I'm not one for the ultra-soft, fluffy wools) but let's see if I can say smth useful.

First, you're definitely not alone in finding wool scratchy! A lot of people have sensory issues regarding it. Whether it can be helped at all will depend on how sensitive you are; some people can't even handle unspun 17 mic chubut merino and at that point, wool just isn't for them. Which is fine, not everything is for everyone.

Rule of thumb: the higher quality your fibre, the softer the finished garment will be. If it's just listed as "wool", it might contain recycled fibre, wool from sheep breeds that don't have a super fine fleece, or even wool from dead animals, all of which lowers the quality.

Virgin wool (I think) refers to wool that is spun for the first time, so a yarn that has no recycled fibres in it. Lambswool is a sheep's first wool. It is finer and smoother than adult wool.

Another big impact is breed of sheep and origin of the fibre. Merinos are the go-to for high quality items, but are also kept all over the world, so look to where your wool comes from. Aotearoa and South America are well known for their high quality merino wools. Sheep that live in colder, harsher climates produce a sturdy, tougher fleece, especially if they're not merino breeds. Depending on where you are, regional wool might not be what you're looking for. Britain is famous for their wool, but Shetland wool won't be super soft. Try some BFL (Bluefaced Leicester) if you can get it; it is smoother than merino and not as springy.

Wool can be superwash treated by coating the individual fibres, so the scales on the hairs are covered. This means it won't felt and can be machine washed; it also makes it less scratchy. This process is very energy- and water-intensive. The fibres are coated in silicone, I think, which makes the finished yarn feel kinda plastic-y, and it also lowers the insulating and water-repelling qualities of the wool. (All in all, you might as well buy acrylic)

You can also try looking for sheep's wool mixed with other animal fibres. Cashmere, alpaca, and mohair are probably the most common and all have their own qualities (cashmere is shiny and drapey; alpaca is smooth and kind of dense; mohair is light, extremely fluffy and super warm). All are softer than sheep's wool and nicer to the skin.

Anyway, all that to say: Look for virgin wool, look at the breed you're getting if it's specified, look for mixes with softer fibres, look at the origin of the wool. Unfortunately, when you're sensitive, navigating the world of natural fibres can be a bit of a minefield, I know. If wool isn't for you, that's not a moral failing!

[fatehbaz]

On April 21, Ali Hussein Julood, a 21-year-old living in the Iraqi town of Rumaila, on the outskirts of one of the world’s largest oil fields, died from leukaemia. He was told by doctors that pollution from gas flared in the nearby field, which is operated by British Petroleum (BP), had likely caused his cancer. “Gas flaring” is a low-cost procedure used by oil companies to burn off the natural gas expelled during drilling. [...] [I]t also contributes to global warming [...]. Some of the pollutants released during this process, such as benzene, are known to cause cancers and respiratory diseases. Ali, who had been battling cancer for six years when he died, was only the latest victim of the environmental degradation caused by international oil companies like BP in Iraq.

In towns and villages near the country’s vast oil fields, thousands of other men, women and children are still living under smoke-filled skies and suffering avoidable health problems because company executives insist on putting profit before lives. [...]

[A] confidential report from the Iraqi health ministry recently obtained by the BBC blamed pollution from gas flaring, among other factors, for a 20 percent rise in cancer in Basra, southern Iraq between 2015 and 2018. A second leaked document, again seen by the BBC, from the local government in Basra showed that cancer cases in the region are three times higher than figures published in the official nationwide cancer registry.

Like many other problems and crises that are devastating the lives of ordinary Iraqis today, the chain of events that led to the poisoning of southern Iraq’s skies by international oil companies also started during colonial times.

---

In the early 20th century, as its navy transitioned from coal to petrol, Britain found itself in increasing need of oil to run its empire and fuel its numerous war efforts. [...] In 1912, Britain formed the Turkish Petroleum Company (TPC) with the purpose of acquiring concessions from the Ottoman Empire to explore for oil in Mesopotamia. Following World War I, it brought modern-day Iraq under its own mandate [...]. By 1930, the TPC was renamed the Iraqi Petroleum Company (IPC) and was put under the control of a consortium made up of BP, Total, Shell and several other American companies. Together, they pushed for a series of “concession agreements” with the newly formed Iraqi government which would give them exclusive control of Iraq’s oil resources on pre-defined terms for long periods. By 1938, the IPC and its various subsidiaries had already secured the right to extract and export virtually all the oil in Iraq for 75 years. These concessions were granted to the IPC and its subsidiaries while Iraq was ruled by British-installed monarchs and under de facto British control. Thus the state had almost no negotiating power against the British-led consortium [...] In 1955, the Iraqi government started to voice its desire to use the gas being flared in Rumaila and Zubair for electricity generation. In 1960, while negotiating a concession with the IPC, then-Iraqi Prime Minister Abd al-Karim Qasim formally asked the company to let Iraq exploit the gas that it was not using. The same demand came up again and again [...], but IPC and its subsidiaries repeatedly turned the Iraqi government down. [...]

Following the 2003 invasion, the Iraqi oil industry was once again privatised as a result of pressure from the US and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). As was the case in the early 20th century, any negotiations on oil extraction rights took place when Iraq was still under foreign occupation [...]. When the process of auctioning off oil fields in southern Iraq began in 2008, the Iraqi government offered foreign oil companies long contracts of up to 25 years, reminiscent of the early concessions agreements with the IPC. These included stabilisation clauses, which insulated foreign companies from legal changes that might emerge over the course of their contracts. This meant that the companies were, and continue to be, unaffected by any environmental regulations passed by the Iraqi government to reduce pollution [...].

---

Looking back at the development of the oil industry in southern Iraq makes apparent that the kind of pollution that killed Ali has been in the making for some 70 years. His death – like the deaths of many others who succumbed to pollution-related cancers in his country – was not an unavoidable tragedy, but the natural consequence of a long history of colonial violence and extractive capitalism.

Predatory colonial practices that began over a century ago caused southern Iraq’s vast oil reserves to be left under the sole control of foreign companies today – companies that over and over again put profit before the lives of the Iraqi inhabitants of the lands they exploit.

Ali’s death is yet more proof that colonial violence is far from over and that it has many different faces.

---

Text by: Taif Alkhudary. “Southern Iraq’s toxic skies are a colonial legacy.” Al Jazeera (English). 12 June 2023. [Some paragraph breaks/contractions added by me.]

[tanadrin]

One recurring theme in Collapse is the loyal Soviet official or even hardliner military officer visiting the West (especially the US) during the late 80s as part of some international process of negotiating the end of the Cold War, and becoming outraged and/or depressed at just how shitty the post-Brezhnev Stagnation situation is in the USSR by comparison. It feels like the USSR couldn't even deliver a comparatively opulent lifestyle for the nomenklatura, nevermind a competitive set of material conditions for the populace as a whole, and even if you think this isn't a complete indictment of central planning and state socialism, it's certainly an indictment of Soviet economics in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Which is like 30-40% of the entire history of the USSR.

It would be interesting if there were any historical examples of democratic central planning to compare the USSR to; one of the problems I suspect was that there was no real dictatorship of the proletariat, the CPSU was actually pretty heavily insulated from conditions on the ground, and important tools for political feedback like trade unions were banned. Maybe if you don't have a bureaucratic layer with absolute political authority that can use the security forces to suppress dissent, and you do have conditions where people can report freely on ways the system isn't serving their interests, you could do central planning without getting stuck in a long-term economic malaise that it eventually requires wrenching reforms to (try to) escape. But that's not a real-world experiment that anybody has run yet. I guess the closest thing would be big postwar nationalization efforts in Britain?

[outofangband]

Flora, fauna, geography and environment of Arda Masterlist

Here are a collection of headcanons for an anon who asked for more environmental headcanons for the region of Nargothrond! I can do more in depth flora and fauna posts with specific categories; I’ve actually already started one for flowers!

More in the Nargothrond tag!

Disclaimer: I’m going with the likely climate and environment based on what information we have about the surrounding regions however, I’m always happy to do posts with ideas about what environment or ecology could be based on real locations like the one I did for the havens based on Southwestern Australia

Given that Tolkien was inspired in his plains and grasslands of a wide variety of places, everywhere from China to Britain to Northern Africa and the US, I’m imagining a wide range of biodiversity here in this plateau especially given the proximity to these two rivers. I don’t think that all of his grasslands have life from all these places necessarily but I do think there is the potential for more biodiversity. 

I have some headcanons about bioluminescence in the caves of Nargothrond here and about the environment of western Beleriand more generally here!

-While the ecology of the Talath Dirnen or other parts of the region of Nargothrond is not described, we get some descriptions of the trees and plants around Amon Rûdh which is slightly northeast of Talath Dirnen.

-Average temperatures in fall and winter are one to twelve degrees Celsius or thirty to fifty five degrees Fahrenheit. Spring to summer are about twelve to twenty five degrees Celsius or fifty five to seventy eight degrees Fahrenheit

-The climate is temperate with cold winters and warm summers. Snowfall is typically an average high of six to seven inches or fifteen to seventeen centimeters

-Temperature is more stable within the caves though there are additional measures used for warmth during the coldest weather including expanding insulation

-As parts of the river Narog is underground, there are many unique species found there including salamanders like olms, cave amphipods, species of subterranean  Nemacheilidae, Viviparous brotula, and Ictaluridae (cave dwelling fish) and roosting bats (mostly in the far uninhabited passages) as well as a variety of more invertebrates. 

-The area surrounding Nargothrond is mostly prairie like grassland steppe and forested hills. The species of grass are primarily wheatgrasses, fescue, junegrasses and other species from the poa family

-The hills and open plain are made up of a variety of species including apera, Coleanthus,  reed sweet grass, melica, veldtgrass, sages,  weeping alkaligrass, and many species in the daisy family. Wild strawberry and musk strawberry, hawthorn, thistles, and meadowsweet are more possibilities for the more shrub like areas around the hills. 

-We know from descriptions in The Children of Húrin that mountain ash grows in the surrounding areas. Rowan trees, also called mountain ashes. These trees are ecologically important in that their fruits feed a huge variety of animals including red foxes, spotted nutcracker birds, song thrushes, dormice, redwings, roe deer and other cloven hooved creatures, and more. 

[pinturas-sgm-aviacion]

1942 03 Gladiators in the Desert - James Dietz

At the beginning of 1942, 62 Gladiators of different versions remained in the complement of the R.A.F. It was decided to transfer them to special units (referred to as Meteorological Flights), that were constantly engaged in monitoring of weather conditions above the territory of the Mother country and in the dominions. Overall 12 such special units were created, two of them based in Britain, one in Gibraltar, and nine more in Africa. For planes adapted for weather reconnaissance, the armament was removed, and special equipment was installed instead. In case of the Gladiator, a thermometer was fitted between the wings to the rear lefthand strut, a headlamp near the cockpit for illumination, and an additional aerial for measurement of air humidity. No pressurisation was provided for the cockpit, and for flights at higher altitudes pilots had to wear substantial sets of warm insulated clothing. In this role of weather scout the Gladiator survived almost to the end of the Second World War - the last meteorological reconnaissance flight took place on January 7th, 1945

[raisinchallah]

i do think the best material for star trek doctor who crossover would be a really weird tos second doctor jamie and zoe comic to explore the most verdant period of the two franchises chronological overlap (if the 7th doctor and ace met captain picard i think they would blow up the enterprise as symbolism for like the wealthy upper class insulating themselves from poverty and human emotion in thatcherite britain) but also i think tos could bend to the oddness of doctor who more than other star trek eras the overlapping theatricality and b movie pulp type influence upon both eras is quite strong the dead planets remnants of ancient civilizations and powerful beings beyond comprehension meddling with people all hew more doctor who than later star treks... (could enlightenment and spectre of the gun almost reach out and touch each other conceptually across the grand expanse of space and wildly disparate tones and themes) anyways wait til you hear about something thats melding the vibes of the mind robber and the empath yeah they should try and get that to work in some really weird comic ....

[whitmansgrass]

*breaks down your door and bursts into the room with a notepad and pen* in your fics do the nations

1. have to eat and sleep as often as humans do and if not what's the max amount of time they can before getting tired or passing out? do they need to eat or sleep less than humans to be fully functional? do they feel hunger and fatigue as much as humans?

2. do they have a higher stamina than humans (eg running, swimming, etc)?

3. how fast is the rate of healing small (cuts, bruises, small burns, minor concussion, etc) and large injuries compared to humans? can they get permanent neurological issues from a head injury? how easily do wounds scar? are they as prone to getting sick as humans and do they recover faster, and do they get sick during recessions like i think) japan mentioned in canon?

4. (i forgot if you wrote this or not but im not reading 70k words again lol) can they 'feel' their people (each individual person) if they're around the area? do they know basic info about them intuitively? 5. could an empire, like british empire, teleport all across their colonies or just their own country's territory? also, since i think that it was mentioned that britain is more experienced in teleporting than america and that he didn't teach him anything about being a nation, did he (ame) used to be terrible at it when he was younger?

6. how does nuclear weapons testing affect them? do they get burns or get ill following it? also, do they feel unwell if a natural disaster occurs in their country (the land itself affected, not necessarily the people)?

7. can they feel/know if a leader/monarch dies?

8. is their alcohol tolerance higher than humans' or does it depend on the nation?

1. they probably can withstand more than humans, but their functionality decreases if they dont eat or sleep regularly! going hungry probably isnt the greatest feeling, and they definitely can starve, but maybe they can withstand more than a human in a situation can befor ethey finally KO. I think they definitely feel it as much, but they're better at enduring

2. yeah, they have higher stamina! i think one of their primary instincts is to protect their people, so they'd definitely have "enhanced" abilities as compared to their general population

3. it depends on the nation! baseline, as long as the nation is stable, they should heal faster than a human. i think they can get neurological injuries, but so long as they aren't born with them, they would probably get healed after a death, which i see as a healing-enhancement state that would probably propel a wounded nation to some minimal state of operationality. i think it would be different if a nation was born with some neurological condition—if they died, they probably wouldn't be "healed." of course, that begs the question whether a nations people would be willing to take care of an infant nation who was born disabled or with some other trait found undesirable in the time period in which the nation was born, and i don't think many settlements would have been willing to do that. i think that philosophy of letting an "undesirable" nation die until they get one they like could be an explanation for the prevalence of male nations—because girls and boys have a 50% chance of being born right? so where did all the girls go??

I think they definitely get sick during recessions, natural disasters, pandemics, etc. i dont think they have any natural immunity that differs from a human, but they've been alive so long that they've definitely built up some immunity. and i think herd immunity in their country probably insulates them to some degree!

4. they probably can get the basics down! like, they can probably tell which region a citizen is from, and if they're interacting one-on-one, they can probably get a general sense of what a person is feeling. If the nation is in groups, I'm guessing they can probably get a good feeling of what the group's general sentiment is. like, i have a feeling america can probably tell what the results of the popular vote will be before it comes out bc he can just feel it

5. i think there needs to be some substantial connection to an area before a nation can just teleport wherever they'd like? like, if an empire conquered a territory but its just written down on paper, then i dont think they can teleport there. they don't even know the terrain ! but if the influence of the empire is substantial, then i think they have the ability to. whether they can do it well (accurately deciding where they want to teleport to) depends on how well they personally know the land. so empires probably could teleport in their territories? but they might not be really good at it.

6. it's probably hurts a lot! yes to both the burns and the illness! i do think the people are their base but that they also take on the characteristics of the land. natural disasters—maybe the impact depends on how used to them they are? natural disasters on its own i think wouldn't hurt a nation too much? because the "disaster" part tends to characterize the damage done to humans + human settlements. is a natural wildfire really that big of a deal if the fire is useful in bringing in new growth? would an earthquake hurt the earth? i think maybe, in some situations, a natural disaster does hurt nations if its really crazy, and they probably have a good sense when one will occur, but i bet most of the sting comes back from the destruction natural diasters cause to humans and what humans have built

7. yes and it hurts a lot!!

8. i think it also depends on the nation! maybe stronger nations tend to have stronger constitutions? but there is a lot of room for individual variance! im assuming russia would have better tolerance than a lot of countries out there lol, both because of cultural and individual factors

i hope this answers your questions!

[l-carlyle]

Lockwood & Co. feature on the January 2023 Issue of the SFX Magazine

I'll put the text under the break if anyone can't access the photos :-)

"JOE CORNISH IS HAUNTED. NOT BY ANY BONE chilling apparition or plate-flinging poltergeist but by a time. A vanished age, of strange torments and diabolical dread.

“This is a world of draughty houses and windows that don’t quite close properly and creaky floorboards and clicking pipes,” he tells SFX, smiling over a Zoom connection. “The world I remember from my childhood, before double-glazing and insulation!”

Welcome to the phantom-infested Britain of Lockwood & Co. It’s a little like the 1970s, only even weirder. Adapted from the popular series of books by Jonathan Stroud, this new Netflix offering pits swashbuckling teens against the unquiet dead in a London spilling over with paranormal activity. Even the local A-Z, you strongly suspect, drips with ectoplasm.

ANATOMY OF A GHOST “I love supernatural stories,” says Cornish, who serves as lead writer and director on the eight-part series, “and it’s unusual to find a story where the science of ghosts has been so thoughtfully defined. There’s a broad set of rules for ghosts that most stories adhere to, but there’s not really an almost Darwinesque analysis of different types of ghosts, different species, different behaviours, a taxonomy.

“The idea that they can kill you by touching you completely changes the dynamic of a ghost story, brings it into the action-adventure realm. So you get everything great about a ghost story but these other genre elements really take it into a new place. “On top of that you’ve got terrific worldbuilding. This takes place 50 years into a ghost epidemic, and the world has really changed because of it. Different economics and different social structures have emerged. Because young people are more sensitive to the supernatural, which is a classic trope in ghost stories, it’s extrapolated into this world where young people are employed by massive adult-run agencies to detect and fight ghosts. “So it’s a pretty amazing bit of thinking, based on a very attractive set of genre ideas that have been around for ages but have never really been reinvented in such a clever way.”

It’s a more analogue world, where technological progress stuttered. And that’s a premise that appeals to Cornish, who made his name with the hand-tooled, micro-budget joys of The Adam And Joe Show – a pioneering ’90s celebration of geek culture, knocked together from toys, love and cardboard – before promotion to the big screen as director of Attack The Block in 2011.

“The world changed tack when the problem started, because everything that would be regarded as pseudo-science became real science,” he explains. “So the world stopped at the time of Amstrad word processors! “It became a more industrial world, because iron and salt and water can repel ghosts, so suddenly these almost Victorian industries are revived. Also, in a weird parallel way, old things are suddenly scary. Anything with an ancient history is potentially lethal, because it might be the source of a ghost.

“For me it felt like the early ’80s, when I was a teenager, because that was kind of pre-digital. It was a world that still had analogue media and you could buy records and fanzines. There was a world of printed youth culture that existed in a social way, that wasn’t on telephones and computers. You communicated in a much more person-to-person way back then. So that was pleasing for me as well – the series has this kind of retro-contemporary feel to it that’s half modern and half 50 years ago.” The spectral aesthetic in Lockwood & Co also takes inspiration from the past. “We started by looking at Victorian spirit photography. Because photography is pre-digital, it’s chemical, the ghosts feel very different, like a real physical presence. They feel as if they exist in the world of natural physics – we can’t really get away with hiding them.

“In other movies or TV shows you might glimpse a ghost as a jump scare and then it’s gone. Our ghosts are really present, and our characters fight with them, so we had to come up with a design that you could really train the camera on, and involve in an action sequence, and would be able to leap around and dive and swoop and bolt into a corner.

“They’re all made out of smoke, they’re all made out of something ethereal. There are lots of different types in the series, lots of colours and densities and shapes. We tried to get away from super-digital ghosts and make them feel like they could really exist in a science experiment.”

Lockwood & Co looses its phantoms in some genuinely creepy abodes. What’s the secret of bringing a legitimately goosefleshing haunted house to the screen?

“We worked really hard on lighting, and light levels, making sure stuff was legible enough but that you’re also slightly peering into the shadows. I think sound is hugely important, and also silence. A lot of modern media is frightened of silence and when nothing happens that’s often the most interesting moment. We tried not to do too many jump scares. We do one or two, but we try and create an atmosphere of creeping fear rather than give people heart attacks.”

Stroud’s five-novel Lockwood series launched with The Screaming Staircase in 2013 (the TV version adapts this tale but also goes beyond it, Cornish reveals). Its young ghostbusters are Lucy Carlyle, gifted with psychic powers, and Anthony Lockwood, the dashing and enigmatic founder of the only agency to operate without adult supervision. The show captures the dashing spirit of the books, quippy heroes slicing at wraiths with rapiers, but plays things commendably straight.

“It’s a very sincere endeavour,” acknowledges Cornish. “We believe in the characters and we believe in the world. Stuff like this only works if you really commit to it and decide that it’s real. I don’t love shows where the characters are winking at the camera, or there are meta jokes. I want the world to be completely absorbing and credible.

“One of the most important and compelling things for people who love these books is the relationship between Lockwood and Lucy. It’s a relationship that has an enormous fandom – there’s an amazing amount of fan art out there. It’s a sort of unrequited will-they-won’t they relationship. This is a world where young people shoulder an incredibly grave burden, at a time in their life when they shouldn’t be thinking about death, or mortality, all the things that older people have to think about, and yet here they are, armed with weapons, having to fight things that could kill them.

“But then another brilliant thing about the novels is that if you get too depressed you get more vulnerable, so the ghosts can get you if you feel too bleak. So they have to cheer each other up and make quips and jokes, for safety purposes. We just approached the whole thing as if it was completely real.”

Given the rabid fandom, getting the casting of the leads right was crucial. Bridgerton’s Ruby Stokes ultimately won the role of Lucy. “She’s the centre of the story,” Cornish tells SFX. “She’s vulnerable, damaged, kind of abused and exploited as a child, comes from a broken home, has lost her father, yet has incredible gumption and ambition and a very strong sense of self-preservation. “She has this gift that she really doesn’t want, and she packs her bags, runs away from home and sets out to London with no qualifications, nowhere to stay the night. Her powers are an expression of her emotional sensitivity. In the book it’s like teenage emotions are being made into a supernatural power.

“So we just had to find an incredible young actor who felt like she could do it, and who you believed had that inner emotional life. Before I did this I always wondered how castings worked, whether there was some super complicated methodology. But a person just walks into the room and you go, ‘Do I believe that she’s Lucy?’ Ruby was actually one of the first people we saw, and we all just went, ‘Oh, there she is! There’s Lucy Carlyle!’”

Newcomer Cameron Chapman bagged the title role. “Lockwood was much harder, actually,” shares Cornish. “We saw hundreds and hundreds of actors, and Cameron came in pretty late in the day, at the eleventh hour. And that’s equally hard, because he’s got to be sort of handsome and cool and yet really vulnerable and haunted. He’s got to have swagger and braggadocio but also be a bit of a bullshit artist. He’s like a sort of teen entrepreneur. In the ’80s everybody wanted to be a teen entrepreneur, and he’s that made flesh. But he’s also wounded and secretive and has sort of a death wish.

“Cameron had all that. Weirdly, he looks very like the illustrations on the book covers, and he wears that long coat really well. He does the charisma, he does the vulnerability, he’s a bit of a dick – not in real life, in terms of acting! – and then he can be very romantic and swoony. It’s a heck of a part for a young actor.

Out of the three main actors [Ali Hadji-Heshmati plays George, Lockwood’s second-in-command] he’s the guy who really hadn’t been on camera before, but he does an exceptional job.” But while fan approval is vital, even more key is winning the heart and mind of the man who dreamed up Lucy, Lockwood and their spook-riddled world in the first place.

“Jonathan has been very involved from the start,” says Cornish. “I formed a relationship with him in order to get him to give us the rights to the book, and then we’ve let him read every draft of the scripts. He’s come to visit the set, he’s sat down with the actors. He’s really into it and he’s been extraordinarily supportive, but sensibly he said to us, ‘Look, you go and do your thing. I understand this is a different beast, between the page and the screen.’

“But I hope, and I trust, that he has been surprised by how much we’ve just stuck to what he’s done. Because it’s really, really good. He’s provided pretty incredible material.”

Lockwood & Co is on Netflix from 27 January.