The name-boards of certain electricity substations provide an unexpected glimpse into a disappeared Bahrain.   Next time you drive past the British Council towards Al Khamis, slow down by the Al Qassari swimming pool.   The substation there is called DHOBI POOL, a reminder that the large open spring-fed pool which used to be there was popular with washer-men and washer-women until the 1960s.  

RACE COURSE SOUTH substation is on Sheikh Isa Avenue between the Bahrain Carlton Hotel and Ideal Shop and testifies to the race course and polo ground which once existed in south Adliya.   This was also used as a landing ground until a plane got stuck in the mud and Muharraq was seen as a better bet, in 1937.    

Near the Omar Khayam Hotel in Ghudabiya you may be able to find the R.A.F. JETTY FLATS substation.  The solidly-built, deep-verandahd block of flats still exists, but the long jetty which provided mooring for flying-boats in the 1940s and 50s has long gone, buried under reclaimed land around Exhibitions Avenue.

 Not all the landmarks whose names have been used have disappeared.   AL AMREEKY substation refers to the American Mission Hospital, still with us after a century of service.   SWAHELI is named after the tiny coast guard station just to the south of the Muharraq bridge beyond the Novotel, where a swing bridge stood from 1941 to 1961.   Its name is of course reflected in Swahili, the language of the (East African) coast, closely related to Arabic. 

Let me know if you come across any other interesting names!

                                                                                                           
Christopher Collier-Wright