197C. Tor Avenue / North Avenue, Greenmount, Hazelhurst, Bury, Greater Manchester With thanks to Dwight for informing me of these Survivors. Installed throughout these two roads are a number of 15 ft (5 m) Concrete Utilities' Estate Minor columns, mostly with swan neck brackets and GEC Z9481 lanterns, now running LED retro-fit lamps in place of their earlier 35 Watt SOX (low pressure sodium) lamps.
This column is the first on Tor Avenue from Holcombe Road.
One of the hinges is missing from this Z9481's bowl, although its absence is not making the bowl especially grubby internally (even with it being situated under trees), and allows a V-shaped reflector to be seen within the lantern. This indicates that the lantern has (or had, given that the LED lamps do not need it) the sodium lamp control gear installed within it, making this lantern a Z9491 instead.
Apart from some moss growth, the swan neck bracket is in good condition.
Turning onto the left-hand part of the road at the junction, another installation is to be seen.
This lantern is facing the wrong way around (technically) - the lamp cap should be at the rear of the lantern. A Zodion SS3 photocell, rated at 35 Lux, switches the lantern on and off as required.
The column base is in poor condition, with the internal rebar exposed and a small crack heading vertically up the shaft - probably, the result of impact damage from a vehicle.
This column, using an Arc 4 bracket, is one of only two on the estate to be fitted with a Z9480 (the side-entry version of the Z9481).
This too looks to be a 'geared' example.
Back to Z9481s on swan necks for the next installation, though this Estate Minor has a narrower base than those seen previously - the other type being similar in appearance to the older Avenue 2D design.
The photocell is positioned very closely to the end of the bracket, which is surprising, considering that the NEMA sockets are not factory-fitted, and the holes for them would have been drilled in the lanterns on site.
This Z9480 attached to a short outreach bracket was at the end of the road.
Although the Concrete Utilities' range allows a mixing of brackets and columns, the bracket here is marginally narrower than the top of the column is, leaving a slight step between the two.
This was the sight that greeted me at the end of North Avenue - the Estate Minor has become redundant, following the installation of a new 6 m column with Philips Luma LED lantern alongside, but has not been removed. This allows the rather peculiar sight of a swan neck bracket that has been 'adapted' to accommodate a side-entry lantern (in this case, a Thorn Beta 5) to be appreciated in all of its quirky glory.
With the Beta 5 having become disused, a thin layer of moss has formed on the underside of the bowl. According to Google Street View imagery, the new column was installed by August 2016, making the old column (at least) eight years overdue for removal.
Interestingly, the backboard appears to be cemented into the back of the base compartment. Various screw holes throughout the length of the backboard provide witness marks for long-removed components that once existed within the base area.
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