112IA. Court Road, Cranfield, Central Bedfordshire With thanks to Dwight for informing me of these Survivors. Two GEC Z8896 lanterns, designed for running 80 - 125 Watt MBF (mercury vapour) lamps, were still to be found along this road in October 2024; one was installed atop a 15 ft (5 m) Concrete Utilities' 'Avenue 2D' column and Arc 2 side-entry bracket combination, while the other was attached to a wooden pole a little further down the road.

The column-mounted example was situated outside the primary school - I wondered how many generations of children must have passed by it over the years.

As is usually the case, the Z8896's polycarbonate bowl has discoloured from UV degradation.

The column shows impact damage near its base. This has exposed one of the internal steel reinforcement rods.

There is also a small vertical crack at the top of the column. Although this appears to continue the length of the bracket, in reality, the line there is simply where the two pieces of the mould met.

The Arc 2 bracket is unusual in a side-entry configuration; its more common arrangement is top-entry.

The wooden pole only exists to support the Z8896's bracket, and the associated overhead cabling - it does not carry any additional distribution cables.

The close-up reveals something of a bodge / alteration made to the bracket - the outreach looks to be of a slightly wider diameter pipe than can be accommodated in the Z8896, so a short section of narrower pipe has been used to secure the lantern, with the other end slid into the wider pipe, and the two secured using a length of insulation tape - splendid!

Another interesting couple of points to note is that a length of twin-and-earth cable has been used to connect the overhead wiring to the Z8896's fuse / control gear box without any means of fusing it down (it looks to be about 1.5 mm², which has a current-carrying capacity of 16 amps). There is no fusing on the upstream pole either. A second length of T&E passes straight down the pole and into the ground, though I think this is being used as an earth connection via a rod in the ground, rather than supplying other street furniture (which would be very poor wiring practice again).

The fuse / control gear box is an ELECO product, although it is badged "ELEC Ltd St Albans", making it an early design.

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