12HA. Station Road, Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton With thanks to Dwight for informing me of these two Survivors. Still extant, and in the case of one of the installations, possibly still in use, in 2023, are two fluted cast iron columns, topped with Lucy swan neck brackets and Group 'A' two-way ESLA Bi-Multi lanterns. The columns may have supported gas lanterns originally, before being converted to electricity in the 1930s.

The first column is leaning backwards slightly, and as the swan neck is also leaning separately, the top section seems especially precarious. A miniature feeder pillar positioned behind the column hints that it may be the supply point for the veteran installation these days.

The insecure swan neck allows both the vintage ESLA lantern and its modern LED equivalent to be appreciated side-by-side, however.

Both installations are painted Merton Council's familiar gloss white finish, although this is beginning to flake in places now, exposing rust patches on the metalwork.

A short length of decorative scrollwork exists on the bracket.

This is a rather narrow angle setting for the ESLA, with the two inner rows of mirror facets being interrupted by the neck that houses the lampholder. A Philips 'Genie' compact fluorescent lamp is installed, but of course, would have been an incandescent tungsten filament (GLS) lamp originally.

The wingnuts used in securing the fuse box cover lid are missing and damaged, resulting in a length of insulation tape being wrapped around the box as a makeshift solution.

The mirrors are in relatively good condition for their age, although as they are not optimised for the compact fluorescent lamp, the lantern's optical performance will suffer.

The second of the two installations was located behind a wooden hoarding when visited, owing to the land behind the column undergoing the construction of a building.

The similar-coloured brickwork of the new building provided a slight camouflage for the swan neck bracket.

The lamp is missing from this ESLA, although as it was still intact in 2020 (before work commenced), it may have been damaged during construction.

This installation's swan neck bracket remains attached correctly, and isn't leaning.

Where the white paint has worn away, small amounts of the original "Factory Green" are visible, along with the rust patches.

Peering through an access gate in the hoarding allowed the full installation to be seen. Out of shot to the right of the column is another miniature feeder pillar.

Google Street View imagery produced in 2012 shows the paint looking far fresher at the time, suggesting that the installation had been renovated around then. Eleven years later, and both of the lights would benefit from the same treatment once again.

The Lucy swan neck incorporates a distinctive finial design between the bracket pipe and the lantern.

The close-up here suggests that only the glass bulb part of the previous lamp (which was a standard GLS) broke away, with the lamp cap remaining attached.

Fellow Collector Simon Cornwell has pictures of these lights on his website; click here to view the associated page.

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