20D. A511 Uttoxeter Road, Hatton. Installed along a section of the old A50 road are a number of (possibly) Abacus 10 m tubular steel columns supporting GEC Z9554M 135 Watt SOX lanterns, along with some Fabrikat 10 m columns supporting remotely-geared Thorn Alpha 4 lanterns of the same wattage. Whilst these date from around 1990 and 1985 respectively, and (depressingly), are becoming 'Survivors' in their own right, remnants of the previous lighting scheme are still visible along the road to this day - these are the remains of 1950s' Concrete Utilities Avenue 3DNN columns and Arc 3 brackets that were not removed completely at the time. As well as old column stumps, amazingly, entire sections of column shafts, brackets and doors were found discarded in the hedgerow in January 2018 by one of the local street lighting repairmen in this area. Thanks to photographs taken by him just after the Abacus columns had been installed, but before the concrete columns on this section were removed, it is known that Phosware P157 90 Watt SOX (originally 140 Watt SO/H / SOI/H) lanterns were fitted, complete with Phosware-branded leak transformers in the column bases. A fragment of one of the P157 bowl refractor panels was found in the hedgerow too.
The stump of one of the Avenue 3DNN columns is installed alongside one of the 1985 Fabrikat columns supporting an Alpha 4. Ironically, by 2020, these columns were beginning to show signs of corrosion, necessitating their own replacement at some point. The c.1990 Abacus columns, although slightly rusty internally, are in far better overall visual condition.
The rusted lower portion of the door aperture is visible at the front of the stump, though the cable entry hole is now blocked with soil and weeds.
A more substantial stump was visible in the verge on the opposite side of the road, a little further up. The door aperture earth bolt is still attached here.
The Concrete Utilities logo remains plainly visible. Curiously, the columns on this side of the road were installed with their doors facing away from the roadway.
One of the Arc 3 brackets discovered in January 2018.
Another was partially buried nearby.
The same bracket after being lifted away from the soil.
One of the brackets pictured leaning against the column that replaced it in 1985!
More long-discarded and forgotten column pieces after being (quite literally) unearthed.
The old drop-latch aluminium door from one of the columns.
This broken section of a column shaft was found behind a fence.
This photograph was taken in about 1990, and shows the newly-installed 10 m columns and Z9554M lanterns alongside their soon-to-be-removed 25 ft (8 m) concrete counterparts.
The base of one of the concrete columns, following the transfer of its power supply into the new column. The Fisher Karpark (Zodion) SS54 photocell relay would be a 1980s' alteration - originally, the lanterns were operated by Venner time switches.
An attempt by me to photograph the same scene in July 2020. Today, the road leads towards the new A50 and is lit for its full length, but thirty years earlier, the lighting may have finished just after the bend in the background, without any further lighting until reaching Foston a couple of miles later, where the Survivor seen on the previous page would have been passed. A later find in January 2021 of a discarded Alpha 4 bowl and 135 Watt SOX lamp around this bend suggests that the lighting did continue for longer than was thought originally, however.
Understandably, very few of the columns now retain an 'original' column base - a second-hand GEC leak transformer runs the Alpha 4 atop this column.
This column retains all of its 1985 originality, right down to the Royce Thompson P42 photocell.
The control gear in this 1990 column dates from 1986 (although, it is original to the column), while the Fisher-Karpark SS55 photocell relay was manufactured in 1990. Other discarded SS55 relays (dating from 1989 but hand-dated to January 1990) have been found placed down column bases when replacement of the photocell was necessary.
The same type of gear again, but with a Royce Thompson ER4N electronic relay replacing the original cell. The concrete column stump visible is the same one as pictured above.
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