Derby's Street Lighting PFI Contract

Broadway, Darley Abbey - Part Two

The outgoing lighting on this road largely consisted of various 90 Watt SOX lanterns fitted to 25 ft and 8 m tubular steel columns. The relighting brought an end to almost 80 years of 90 Watt SOX (and its predecessor, 140 Watt SO/H) operation along this road - photographs exist of the road as it appeared in the 1930s and 1950s, and the original lighting along here consisted of 140 Watt open fittings installed in the centre of the carriageway, by means of enormous outreach brackets. This scheme appears to have lasted until the 1960s, when the majority of the columns due for removal under the PFI relighting scheme would have been installed. Broadway is a tree-lined road, and so most of the new 10 m tubular steel columns are fitted with outreach brackets, in an attempt to move the lanterns away from the overhanging tree branches. Incidentally, the new lanterns are the SGS 253 (medium) version of the Philips Iridium, and run Cosmo-White lamps.

The following photographs were taken on Sunday, 8th August 2010.

Concerned about being removed, this Thorn Alpha 1 tried to hide amongst the tree branches in order to prevent it from being removed. The "Church Watch" sign seen attached to the replacement column in the foreground relates to the nearby Broadway Baptist Church.

Another Alpha 1 followed, and rather than hide amongst tree branches as the example pictured above did, this one has tried to camouflage itself by applying dirt to the inside of its Opticell.

The following Alpha 1 framed perfectly with adjacent tree branches - it had obviously heard that it was "appearing on Broadway"...ahem!

A GEC Z9454 was next. This was probably the replacement for an Alpha 1 in the 1980s - it was unique on Broadway. The unusual art deco top-entry lantern leading to the Leylands Estate can be seen in the background.

Two Thorn Alpha 8 SON lanterns were fitted to the next two Stewart and Lloyd columns (in place of Alpha 1s) when a pedestrian crossing was installed in the early 2000s.

Evolution of outreach brackets and the things that go on the ends of them:

The second column featured a straight outreach bracket (complete with spigot-mounted photocell from the days of the Alpha 1) that made this another unique installation on Broadway.

Notice the bracket's original sage-green colour visible where the later Derbyshire Green paint finish has peeled away:

The footpath adjacent the crossing and eventually leading to Newton's Walk was also undergoing relighting at this time. A Thorn Beta 5 (with waterlogged bowl) was due for removal here. From the late 1990s until the early 2000s, the bracket was misaligned to such an extent that it was almost pointing in a parallel direction to the wall!

Another Alpha 1 welcomes us back to Broadway. This example featured a reasonably clean Opticell.

Another replacement column was sandwiched between two trees at the next location.

The sign warning of the approaching bend in the road was similarly being replaced under the PFI. The plates had already been transferred to the new post by the time that these photographs were taken, although the outgoing twin 8 Watt fluorescent signlight was still operational at the time. The signlight burned a couple of mercury-starved lamps in the early 2000s; this reduced the output to an eerie lilac hue.

A late 1970s'/early 1980s' tubular steel column, again supporting an Alpha 1, was installed at the start of the bend.

Several remotely-geared Philips MA 90s installed on late 1980s'/early 1990s' columns then provided illumination around the bend.

This part of Broadway was once part of Kedleston Road, prior to the latter's bisection in the late 1970s, in order to facilitate the construction of the A38 trunk road. Kedleston Road itself was realigned and a new bridge was constructed over the A38; this construction is hidden behind the trees in the below image:

The 'new' junction to Kedleston Road is seen below:

A new PFI-style 8 m column with SGS 253 lantern was installed on the corner of Sherwin Street in 2009, replacing another column that was fitted with an MA 90. This itself was to be removed under the PFI. From the angle of the photograph below, the columns almost look identical in height.

Finally, an "arty" photograph concludes this gallery.

Video

RETURN TO PART ONE

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