Main Street, Middleton by Wirksworth

117c. Main Street, Middleton-by-Wirksworth - On the old section of the road leading to Hopton is an ELECO HW-747 "Goldenray Mk VIII" 35 Watt SOX lantern attached to a top-entry pole bracket. Following the removal of an example in Killamarsh in 2018, this is (perhaps) the only surviving example of an HW-747 on public roads within the whole of Derbyshire; its survival (presumably) being the result of the closed-off nature of this road - the route being diverted many years ago in order to provide greater clearance beneath a low bridge.

The steel AC Ford bracket is somewhat badly rusted, though as the installation would have been around 50 years old at the time of photographing (April 2015), I think that this can be overlooked!

The lantern's refractor panels are missing from its bowl; unlike later bowls that had refractors moulded into the plastic, the refractors on earlier lanterns were often glued in place. Over time, the glue would lose its adhesive properties, causing the refractors to detach and eventually be lost during maintenance visits.

The sticker attached to the fuse box cover informs that this installation operates on a part-night basis; with the lantern extinguishing at midnight (or thereabouts) and not activating again until 5:30 am the following morning, if required.

The early-morning spring sunlight reveals that a small amount of dirt had gathered on the underside of the bowl.

The lantern is nowadays fitted with a Zodion SS9-DLS part-night photocell; however, it would probably have been time switch operated when new.

This example appears to have the lamp control gear housed within the lantern - I wonder if it is still original.

The utility pole ends rather abruptly shortly after the bracket clamp - it may have been taller originally, and supported overhead conductors for either power or telecommunications.

By 2022, this lantern had been replaced with a Phosco P852.