The sleeved Stanton concrete column that ended its days also supporting an Iridium had also been removed.

One of the two outgoing columns supporting Thorn Alpha 8 lanterns still remained extant (and also in service) at the time. The service was eventually removed on Friday, 13th May 2011 and the column removed a day later. The Alpha 8 was saved into my collection.

Old...

New...

Meanwhile, the other column that supported an Alpha 8 (and originally, the integrally-geared Philips MA 50 that later became mine) had gone. As it was also used as an isolation point for the Belisha Beacons on the zebra crossing, a miniature feeder pillar had been installed, in order to provide a new supply point to the beacons.

The other column that retained its MA 50 until the end was still on site at the beginning of the day. It was no longer connected to a power supply; leaving its base looking decidedly bare. All that remained was an enclosed RCD unit, for the weatherproof socket attached to the column shaft. The RCD had been fitted by a Mr J Skertchly on Wednesday, 16th March 2005.

The lantern had already been removed from the decommissioned column.

The socket still remained attached, however.

One final photograph of this installation; taken from the car park of the shopping parade opposite.

Or perhaps not! About twenty minutes later, a HIAB turned up and quickly lowered the column down to the horizontal. One of the operators can be seen cutting through the bracket just above the column spigot, using a circular saw. A stack of other removed columns can be seen on the truck.

The next concrete column, still supporting a remotely-geared Philips MA 50, was allowed to survive for a little longer. As with the Alpha 8 column above, this column still carried a live service at the time. This lantern (and its associated control gear) were later saved into my collection.

The condition of the canopy is typical for lanterns of this age.

The replacement column, located opposite, was probably also operational at the time.

The next column was not so fortunate, however. Its MA 50 had been removed, once again, in preparation for the column's (imminent, as things turned out) removal.

A brief discussion between the two operatives on what to do with the sleeve then ensued...sadly, it didn't fit in the back of my car..!

The workmen decided to remove the sleeve from the column, and after several deft 'nudges' from a sledgehammer (its handle can be seen in the right-hand operator's hand), the metalwork came away, revealing the true top section of the column that had not seen the light of day for the best part of twenty years.

The (now considerably shorter) column was then loaded on to the back of the truck, and joined the rest of its fallen comrades.

Meanwhile, the sleeve was cut at (roughly) the elbow, and the two sections were also loaded on to the truck.

For a brief YouTube video of this column during its removal, please click here.

The pole shafts have a wider diameter than conventional 6 m lighting columns have - a short tapering section is therefore placed on the spigot, so as to allow the lanterns to fit.

The offset lamp can clearly be seen when the lantern is viewed from the front.