174J. Old Square, Bordesley, Park Central, Birmingham, West Midlands Installed within the central pedestrian-only part of the square are eight Revo fluted cast iron columns, each supporting a 1950s' 'Festival' C13428 lantern (also made by Revo), which would have run four 80 Watt, five foot (1524 mm) linear fluorescent lamps when new. These examples, however, may utilise a different light source, as the installations are refurbished, and are not original to this location - they were relocated here from Colmore Row as part of a redevelopment scheme for Old Square in the late 1990s, which saw the 1960s' lowering work undone, and the pedestrian area returned to match the level of the surrounding road. Interestingly, the 1960s' scheme saw Old Square also lit with vertical fluorescent lanterns in the form of Atlas Gamma 2s, so the use of the Festivals in the 'new' Old Square is a subtle nod to the previous lighting scheme.

The pedestrian area faces roughly east - west, with the view below being taken from the eastern end. Two of the eight columns are just out of view here (the galvanised steel one in the centre of the picture supports a CCTV camera).

One of these two Festivals is seen below - its proximity to the trees has caused green patches to form on the Perspex cylinder.

The use of Festival lanterns in the centre of Birmingham is highly appropriate, given that the City of Birmingham's Public Lighting Department designed them, and the Festival column, originally, for the 1951 Festival of Britain.

Although grub screws have replaced the lantern's original fixing bolts, I believe that these are genuine Revo versions, rather than replica types produced (to this day) by Candela. (Out of interest, I contacted Candela, with a view to buying a Festival for myself. When the quoted price came in at £28,000 + VAT, I decided to withdraw my interest!)

The final three examples are pictured here, with Kenneth Budd's 1967 Old Square mural providing a focal point.

The rearmost lantern appeared to have worked slightly loose from its spigot, and was leaning.

Fortunately, a winged army of Columba Livia guarded the installation from harm! The Revo - Tipton logo is cast into the base section of the column. The original two-hole Revo door bolts have also been with grub screws.

Amidst the backdrop of modern Birmingham, this AC Ford AC 850 running an 80 Watt MBF (mercury vapour) lamp remained in nightly operation on nearby Weaman Street.

The only modification to have occurred is the replacement of the lantern's standalone photocell with a Telensa Telecell unit, which connects wirelessly to Birmingham's Central Monitoring System.

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