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[Gaffers]

Funny ypu should mention that, as i have first hand experience from when i was a homeowner in the suburbs of Paris.

1950s house with 0.75mm thick copper sheathed with fabric. No plastic or rubber insulation.  The disco lights in the main house and sparks flying from the fuse box in the basement made me curious so i broke in to a wall to investigate.  It took a lot to sort the whole house out.  Thing is that for months i was running a couple of PCs upstairs without issue but it was the kettle in the kitchen downstairs  on the same linear curcuit (no ring) that did it.  Squeaky bum moment for sure.

[Rods2]

In my house in France, some of the wiring for lights are still the rubber covered in cloth wires run in metal conduit. All of the mains sockets I have replaced with new wiring & sockets. Continental plumbing is generally better than the UK but the converse applies to their Micky Mouse electrical systems, switches & sockets, where the UK system is much better and safer. Older system is Europe still only use two pins as the earth pin for sockets is a more recent afterthought.

Cheap horrible aluminium cable is common in Eastern Europe and adding a socket with an earth pin, why would I want to spend money on that? Aluminium is much more brittle than copper and prone to breaking and its expansion & contraction much higher. Very cold winters, loose connections & multi-kw electric fires, what could possibly go wrong? Apart from that bit more heat than planned. I'm sure TB would approve of such unexpected and unapproved heating plans as they like that sort of thing in middle-earth Britain.