109D. Premier Foods, Fish Dam Lane, Carlton, Barnsley With thanks to fellow collector Brian Randall for informing me of these Survivors, and to Nicola and John from Premier Foods for granting me permission to visit, and take the following photographs. Situated on the perimeter roads and within the car park of the factory complex, best known for being one of the two production sites of the "Mr Kipling" line of baked goods, are a number of Stanton 1808 concrete columns supporting Revo Horizons, dating from the early 1970s, when the factory was built on the site of the defunct Carlton Colliery, which had closed in 1970. Baking production commenced on the site in 1975. The use of the Horizons is surprising, considering that Revo ceased to exist in 1967 (the same year that the Mr Kipling brand was launched, appropriately), with its successor, Relite, not continuing production of this lantern (as far as I am aware). Perhaps, these lanterns were leftover unused stock made before the transition occurred.
The production facility featured in an episode of Channel 5's "Secrets of the Factories" series, with these installations appearing in many of the outdoor shots of the programme. For UK-based visitors, the episode can be watched on My5 by visiting this page. A warning, though, watching the programme will give you a sudden, unexplained desire to tuck into some sort of baked treat!
We start in the car park itself, where this twin-arm example was spotted. Floodlights strapped to the columns suggest that the original lanterns are no longer in operation.
The Horizons incorporate intricate glass refractor bowls.
The lanterns look relatively clean internally, even if they are now disused.
The majority of columns around the site are of the single-arm variant.
Sadly, with the installations now being approximately fifty years old, the concrete is beginning to spall on some of the bracket ends.
Some of the columns have had separate gear Thorn Alpha 3s fitted, possibly, as early casual replacements - this is on the perimeter road.
This bowl is rather grubby, causing the lantern interior to be obscured.
The spalling to this particular bracket was "exceedingly" advanced (come on; you didn't expect me not to make a quip along those lines, given the location, did you..?).
The internal steel pipe is rusted quite severely.
By comparison, this example is in far better condition.
The Horizon underwent a slight design modification during its production life - the original featuring a more angular canopy compared to the type seen here.
Another Alpha 3 was fitted to this column.
Another Alpha 3 followed; this was fitted to a Thorn QC8 aluminium column.
Another QC8 was situated nearby.
This Alpha 3's bowl was missing, revealing a rather worn 250 Watt SON-T lamp within.
Horizons made up the remainder of the old 'main road' lanterns on the site.
The lamp cap within this lantern appeared to have developed a slight verdigris.
Heading up 'Chocolate Alley' (so-called, because this is where the chocolate deliveries occur!), a further 1808 was spotted.
The concrete here is also eroding from the bracket pipe.
The same lantern, from a different angle.
One final example is seen overlooking the car park once more.
A couple of Stanton 10 concrete columns supporting Relite Solumbra post-tops exist around the factory's office block.
As well as the Solumbra, a rather vintage floodlight running a SON-L (linear high pressure sodium) lamp is attached to this column too.
The second column is located around the other side of the building.
The polycarbonate bowls of these lanterns have discoloured over time.
CLICK HERE TO MAKE A MONETARY DONATION
© 2002 - English Street Lights Online