Local DW Windsor Victorias

Double-bracketed heritage columns supporting Victoria lanterns could be seen in the pedestrianised areas of Long Eaton and Ilkeston Town Centres. They were installed in the early 1990s and have (as of 2014) started to show their age somewhat.

A number of Victoria lanterns existed on Bath Street in Ilkeston. All are installed atop a 6 m D.W. Windsor Oxford column and are fitted to an ornate twin-arm bracket. Unfortunately, problems with vandalism and control gear failures (the gear is located in the column bases and has a tendency to take a real disliking to the damp conditions expected) led to many of these lights not working in 2013. As a temporary measure until funding for replacement lanterns could be sourced, installations with both lanterns not working had their brackets removed and a Thorn Celest 55 Watt PL lantern attached to the column spigot; simply as a way of returning the installation to lighting. The Celests were, in turn, replaced with Phosco P111 lanterns fitted with an LED light source.

The left-hand globe has disappeared completely, leaving only the conical white reflector and the lantern's base casting. Owing to the design of these lanterns, switching was provided using a Royce Thompson P9 photocell located beneath the central decorative column finial.

The same twin lantern arrangement is used on Cross Street in Long Eaton. As with Ilkeston, this town falls within the Borough of Erewash; hence, the identical appearance of the street furniture - and probably the fast food trailers too!

These installations have generally fared better than their Ilkeston counterparts did, albeit with a slightly more faded paint finish.

Here, the photocell faces away from the camera, but is still located at the same position on the column. Notice that the finials topping these columns are not painted gold, as their Ilkeston counterparts are.

This column marks that start of the pedestrianised area.

Although the lanterns do incorporate a reflector system, the diffuse panels of the lanterns reduce the clarity of the inner workings.

On narrower roads immediately off Cross Street, some wall-mounted single examples exist. The lanterns attach by means of Large Ornate wall brackets, again made by D.W. Windsor. One wonders why the AC Ford box housing the isolator for this installation was not painted the same maroon colour that the rest of the metalwork was.