12DA. Redcliffe Gardens / Finborough Road, The Boltons, Earl's Court, Royal London Borough of Kensington & Chelsea With thanks to Alex Monk for informing me of these Survivors. Situated along a short section of Redcliffe Gardens (the A3220, a road managed by Transport for London) are five 1980s' Thorn Alpha 8 lanterns attached to consecutive 10 m tubular steel columns made by British Steel. The Alpha 8s run 150 - 250 Watt SON-T (tubular high pressure sodium) lamps, but probably ran elliptical SON lamps of the same wattage when new.

The impressive height of Colherne Court creates an odd sense of scale with the column.

This particular Alpha 8 is in fantastic condition, with the bowl (not only) still being attached to the lantern using the plastic toggle, but also being very clean internally too.

The next column on the same side of the road, is, by comparison, considerably more scratched throughout the length of its shaft.

The bowl here has been lost at some point during the relatively short period of August 2024 (when Google Street View imagery confirms that the bowl was still in place) and the following October (when these pictures were taken), though a modern Royce Thompson Oasis 1000 photocell is fitted in the Alpha 8's NEMA socket, so the lantern is continuing to be maintained, rather than earmarked for replacement.

The next column along, installed on the opposite side of the road, looked in altogether better condition.

Although this bowl was still intact, its insides were not as clean as on the earlier example.

Another missing bowl was encountered to the Alpha 8 positioned near Redcliffe Square Gardens. Notice that the clip is damaged here - Street View imagery indicates that the bowl was still in place in 2012, but had had to be secured using a length of insulation tape by then. The bowl disappeared after August 2016.

Finborough Road, which runs parallel to Redcliffe Gardens, was still home to some 1990s' Philips SGS 204s at this time.

The lanterns are painted black, making them a little more unusual.

The terraced townhouses behind the columns created a veritable backdrop of windows.

The GRP canopy of this example shows through in its original off-white where the black paint has worn away.

The next two 204s were still fully painted, however.

SELC 841 photocells with colour-co-ordinated sides provide the automatic switching.

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