170GA. Midland Cottages, Station Road, Wigston Fields, South Wigston, Leicestershire Installed at either end of this Victorian terrace is a 1930s' top-entry corner bracket, with both brackets supporting a 1980s' Thorn Beta 5 lantern for 35 Watt SOX (low pressure sodium) lamps. The terrace was constructed by the Midland Railway between 1871 and 1881 to provide accommodation for locomotive drivers; Wigston serving as a major railway junction at the time. The road itself is named after Wigston Magna station, which was located a short distance further south of the terrace until closure in 1968. The combination of the road being private, falling within a Conservation Area, and the lights being wall-mounted, are all likely to be factors behind these installations surviving, although a column-mounted installation within the centre of the terrace is to Leicestershire's current specification. Formerly, a Stanton 7 concrete column existed here, and originally, supported a B-type top-entry bracket, which is visible in the background of this 1969 view of the former Wigston South signal box. No images have (yet) surfaced of what lanterns the brackets supported prior to the Beta 5s being installed.
A sharp, narrow bend from Station Road leads onto Midland Cottages, and the first of the two brackets is seen. Until 1901, Station Road continued over (what is now) the Midland Main Line, with a level crossing provided. After this, the main road was re-routed over the newly-constructed Spion Kop bridge.
While the bracket's fuse / time switch box looks to be an ESLA design, the finial is a Revo product. Sadly, the top spike of this is missing.
The property has had stone-effect cladding applied to its frontage, although as the bracket supports were there first, the cladding has had to be built around these.
The arched windows are a distinctive feature of the Midland Cottages.
The bracket at the other end of the terrace is a mirror image of the first.
This bracket also features a damaged finial. I suppose that this could indicate that the castings were broken deliberately - perhaps, to provide metal during the Second World War.
A label affixed to the fuse box's cover informs residents (and street lighting enthusiasts) that the light has been converted to operate part-night. The photocell fitted, therefore, is probably a Zodion SS9-DLS.
The lamp includes '24' in the handwritten installation date on the cap section; as these pictures were taken in December 2024, there is possibility that this lamp is a relatively new replacement, although as Philips ceased production of SOX lamps in 2019, any new lamps now will be from a stockpile produced prior to this.
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