A welcoming pool of rapidly stagnating water existed in the lowest portion of the lantern's bowl - the seal surrounding the Zodion SS55 two-part photocell detector may have perished; thus, allowing the water ingress into the lantern.

After this column, the speed limit on the road increased from 30 mph to 40 mph (or decreased from 40 mph to 30 mph, depending on the direction of travel!); the terminal signs were also due for replacement as a part of this scheme. The just-visible signlight units here are Forest City LA428s. Simmonsigns 'LUA' LED signlights would later be fitted to the new posts.

Another column existed just after the signs; its replacement was installed on the opposite side of the road.

The lantern was switched by a somewhat unusual method (by 2011 standards)...

The post on this side of the road (supporting two Pearce Gowshall L68/25 signlights) served as a control point for both the column and the sign on the opposite side of the road. The reason that the post is painted 'Derbyshire Green' from the sign plates downwards (instead of the usual "battleship/aircraft grey") is due to some students once painting the post a rainbow of different colours, which caused distraction to motorists, and so a coat of a far more 'non-descript' paint was then applied!

The 'unusual' switching method mentioned above came in the form of this vintage Venner MS2SP time switch in the signpost base. As this time switch had no way of running during an interruption to the power supply, the signs and column would often activate and deactivate late in the days immediately afterwards, until someone reset the time. In the few years before the road was relit, I would often keep an eye on the installation, in order to ensure that the time and date was correct. Now that the new columns and signs are fitted with individual photocell units, these days are over. (The photograph below was not taken on the same date that most of the others on this page were; hence, the date wheel showing January as the month!)

By Sunday, 17th April 2011, the time switch, cut-out and outgoing cable had been removed from the signpost base. Thankfully, it had been removed to a safe location, and then entered my collection on Monday, 16th May 2011.

A final few photographs from the 17th April, taken just before the old equipment was confined to history.

With the supply being removed in the redundant post's base, the outgoing column here had had its inspection door removed (there being no electrical hazard); revealing the Parmar SM138K222 135 Watt/180 Watt SOX ballast (fitted in April 2006), and BICC GC 228 capacitor (fitted second-hand in March 2003 by a mysterious "JPS" character...)

This new lantern had already received a 'present' from a visiting bird!

Back to the 2nd April, and the following outgoing column saw a return to lanterns being switched by two-part photocells. A new door had been fitted to this column in late November 2004, at the same time as the lantern received a new lamp. The replacement column at this location was installed alongside.

A liberal covering of dirt on the canopies of these lanterns showed their age.

The proximity of overhanging tree branches for the next two installations ensured that the replacement columns were installed on the opposite side of the road to their outgoing counterparts. This first example (with Our Lady of Lourdes Church visible in the background) featured a replacement Pudsey Diamond inspection door.

A second-hand Holophane Syracuse Medium (QSM) lantern had been fitted to the next column; the MA 50 may have been damaged by the adjacent tree branches in blustery weather - notice that some serious pruning has taken place around the installation! As this column doubled up as a bus stop, but its position was not being re-used, a 76 mm diameter straight post was installed, in order to support the bus stop 'flag' and timetable.

The QSM ran a 150 Watt SON-T lamp.

The new column was installed in a much more open position!

An integrally-geared MA 50 followed; this is likely to have been an early replacement for another failed remotely-geared version.

The next column had served as a control and group-switching point for a couple of columns on the footpath leading to Telford Close until this road was relit in 2010. The supply to the footpath was transferred into a separate miniature feeder pillar at this time, in preparation for the Uttoxeter Road relighting scheme.

The angular appearance of the sleeve brackets is demonstrated here.

Looking down the footpath (in the opposite direction to that seen on the Telford Close page), the year-old new installations lead off into the distance. As can be seen, these lanterns are fitted with their own photocells; thus, the group-switching was not required when the power supply was transferred to the feeder pillar, and the supply cable made permanently live.

The mounting height of the new columns is also 10 m. Visible in the background here is one of the many telecommunications masts installed in Mickleover since the early 2000s.

This lantern's canopy looked particularly weathered.

The overall width of the road temporarily narrows at this point, and both sides are tree-lined. As there was no choice but to site the new column here, an outreach bracket was attached, in order to try to bring the lantern out of the tree canopies as much as possible. Incidentally, this hilly section is known as the "Heights of Alma", after a battle in the Crimean War.

Overhanging tree branches are not only a problem when designing street lighting schemes; they can also pose a problem for anyone attempting to photograph the lanterns installed on a scheme!

After this brief encounter with nature, the road opened up again. The new lantern here would be fitted to the column spigot.

This lantern also looked to be suffering with a water ingress problem.

Only the concrete columns were made up to a 10 m mounting height when the 1990s' scheme occurred; all 8 m tubular steel columns were allowed to remain, and were not replaced. Consequently, this column, complete with Thorn Alpha 4 lantern, was a legacy of the days when this portion of Uttoxeter Road was likewise lit.

The difference in height between the old and new columns is evident here.

A curious exception to the above comment was a 10 m tubular steel column that existed directly opposite the Brierfield Way junction. This column was probably installed when Brierfield Way was built in the late 1970s/early 1980s. If this is what occurred, it is interesting to note that even back then, the 8 m/90 Watt combination was no longer considered suitable for lighting this road.

A comparison of the optical systems employed in the new and old lanterns:

BACK TO PART ONE | BACK TO PART 1A (ADDITIONAL PHOTOGRAPHS) | CONTINUE TO PART THREE