174AA. Off Watling Street, Dordon, Grendon, Warwickshire With thanks to Dwight for informing me of these Survivors. Installed around the 'Zaazu' restaurant are three 25 ft (8 m) tubular steel Abacus columns, all supporting Atlas Alpha 3 lanterns, for 250 - 400 Watt MBF (mercury vapour) lamps. Historical Google Street View imagery shows that there were at least eight identical installations around this site in 2009, but the majority had been removed by 2024, with the remainder likely to be abandoned, particularly with two of these no longer having a lamp fitted. According to a quick bit of research, the restaurant was a Little Chef outlet from 1997 until 1999 (probably not long enough for the distinctive vertical fluorescent lanterns that were synonymous with Little Chef car parks to be installed), and before that, was part of the AJ's Family Restaurant chain. As this company only existed from 1986, the Alpha 3 columns pre-date that restaurant by about twenty years, meaning that something else occupied the site before then.
The first of the remaining columns is at the front of the car park, adjacent Watling Street itself.
These are the "Mk 2" Alpha 3s, with two bowl clips per side (one of which is detached on this example) - the Mk 1 version being the type with the fixed bowl and sliding canopy, as seen here.
The Atlas logo is cast into the rear section. Ordinarily, this text is accompanied by "Alpha Three", suggesting that this example is a newer (or older) version.
The lampholder has detached from its fixing, causing the lamp to lie against (or close to) the bowl, which in turn, has melted one part of the acrylic, and warped another.
This column is one that is situated behind the restaurant.
The close-up reveals that the lamp is missing.
There may have been an additional remaining column behind the building that I missed, as my attention was drawn to this example in the rear corner of the site.
The bowl has suffered heavy vandalism, and the lamp (and corrugated aluminium reflector that should be above it) is missing here too.
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