Mounting the ESLA and Bracket to the Column

On Thursday, 23rd October 2003, Jeremy came and put the ESLA and bracket on top of the column, much to the interest of my neighbours!

See if you can spot a continuity error between the above picture and the next one... Clue: look at the bucket.

Here, Jeremy is painting the cap with a bitumen paint, in order to help prevent rusting.

The cable was fed into the column with ease - it's surprising how long the column becomes when you do this, however!

Eventually though, the end was in sight. The bucket has limited space at the best of times, so when you start taking up long brackets with irreplaceable lanterns at the end of them, the situation just becomes worse! The cable was kept tight to stop it overlapping in the spigot, and then the bracket was lifted into position.

At this point, I suddenly realised just how small the ESLA looked - I had become used to seeing it close up.

Jeremy secured the old Whitworth bolts of the spigot to the column, after checking first that the bracket was aligned correctly.

The next task was doing the same again for the lantern itself - this took even more precision.

A similar (but more zoomed-out) view. Dad watches on in the bottom-right corner, wondering how he managed to be persuaded into agreeing to the column's installation in the first place!

Jeremy managed to sort out the twisted finial as well - something I hadn't been able to do (and was wary about doing - I didn't want to snap it).

One final check that everything looks right. I'm amazed that I never seem to get seen from the reflection in the mirrors. That's assuming that I have a reflection of course!

Meanwhile, at the 'other' end of the boom, the front of the van lifted off the ground due to the leverage - hence, the reason that the hydraulic jacks have to be lowered before the bucket can be raised.

I tried to stand in such a way that the mirrors would reflect the camera flash, and I managed this with a grand total of one mirror reflecting!

And...it's finished! Jeremy had one last glance, and then brought the bucket down.

The following couple of pictures were taken a couple of days after the bracket had been attached.

At this point, the lantern was not (yet) operational, although it would be a few days later.

The ESLA Project

Preliminary Photographs	Restoration	Choosing and installing the Column	Wiring up and Working	An ESLA for all Seasons	Re-lamping	Five Years On	Ten Years On