170BD. Off Garden Street, St Matthew's, Leicester With thanks to Leo Conway for discovering this Survivor. Attached to a building overlooking a small yard is a British Thomson-Houston (BTH) 'Mazdalux' SL.731 lantern, designed for running an 85 Watt SO/H / SOI/H lamp - the forerunner to the later 55 Watt SOX (low pressure sodium) lamp. Owing to the exact design of this lantern, it appears to be of the original type that was launched in 1948; a revised version would appear in the early 1950s, although BTH disappeared at the end of 1959; the Associated Electrical Industries (AEI) branding being used from January 1960, and this particular version being removed from subsequent catalogues.

The presence of an LED floodlight further down the wall suggests that the Mazdalux lantern is no longer in operation.

This early version of the lantern featured a Perspex bowl that hinged forwards for maintenance, with a securing clip located at the rear of the lantern. The amended version changed to having the clips and hinges mounted on opposing long sides of the lantern instead - both designs being forerunners to the Amber lanterns of the mid-1950s, which remained in production into the AEI days.

Historical mapping indicates that the building to which the Mazdalux is attached was an "electrical components repair factory".

The aforementioned rear bowl clip is visible here.

This view allows the hinges to be seen in greater detail.

A lamp does seem to be installed in the lantern, although the bowl is too grubby to determine whether it is still an SO/H lamp.

The front of the internal reflector system is visible within the bowl.

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