71. Walton Rd, Drakelow. On the road leading to the power station are a number of gear-in-head GEC Z9481s, mounted on Revo pole brackets. The lanterns are controlled using pole-mounted NEMA sockets these days, but may have been on time switch control originally - certainly, the tungsten fittings before them would have been. Many of the installations were in quite poor condition when I first encountered them; however, most have undergone extensive restoration more recently.
The first two pictures show an un-refurbished example; the third one shows a Z9481 that was undergoing restoration at the time (October 2005) - and very good it looks too!
The example that was undergoing restoration is seen in all-over grey primer, prior to its repainting in Brunswick Green paint.
I revisited this site on Saturday, 2nd September 2006 and the un-restored lantern at the top of this page had now been restored.
One thing which saddened me, however, was that several of the other lanterns had been vandalised. Bowls and lamps were damaged or missing completely - one lantern had temporarily been fitted with a Beta 5's bowl.
Fortunately, replacement bowls were sourced, and so the lanterns were able to remain installed. The following photographs were taken in June 2010. I took the opportunity to photograph some of the other restored lanterns that were installed during the refurbishment programme.
One of the few actual lighting columns installed on this stretch supports a GEC Z9480, the side-entry version of a Z9481. Notice that the lamp points away from the carriageway in this version of the lantern.
The green paint applied to these brackets and lanterns almost acts as camouflage against the backdrop of the trees.
Also within the tree-lined section is a GEC Z9533, complete with a "Perspex" bowl, which has turned white with age.
A few Z9481s remained in their 'un-restored' condition at the time; the following photographs show one such installation:
The following pictures were taken in May 2020; although a few of the wooden poles had been removed by then, and new 8 m tubular steel columns erected as part of a new housing development, a number of the old lights remained extant. We start at the Z9480.
The Z9533 hadn't changed very much in the intervening decade.
Interestingly, the lantern is installed 'backwards' (the bowl clip should face towards the pole); however, as the bowl fits into an aluminium support ring, it can be positioned either way around.
The front section of this Z9481's bowl seemed to have been damaged.
With this example being situated under trees, the canopy had become rather grubby with lichen growth.
The next few lanterns were in similar condtion.
The un-restored example pictured above remained in this condition. This too had suffered bowl damage since my last visit.
Another of the un-restored examples was now missing its bowl, lamp and gear cover / reflector.
The missing parts allowed the internal components to be seen.
The gear comprises a leak transformer and capacitor positioned centrally within the inside of the canopy.
This close-up of the Z1701 leak transformer informs us that it is suitable for 45 - 60 Watt SO/H and SOI/H lamps. The lack of any reference to SOX lamps dates the leak transformer to no later than 1964.
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