197I. Eton Hill Road, Irwell Bank, Radcliffe, Bury, Greater Manchester With thanks to Dwight for informing me of these Survivors. Two separate Survivor sites exist on this road; both of which are installed on private premises, which may make them less likely to be removed in the near future (fingers crosses). Firstly, a bakery business is home to a 15 ft (5 m) Concrete Utilities' column supporting a Phosware (the lantern division of Concrete Utilities) P142 post-top lantern (known originally as the F4-40/V). The P142 is unusual in that both its canopy and bowl are Perspex, and only the base casting and canopy retaining thumbscrew are aluminium. The lantern would accommodate four 2 ft (600 mm) fluorescent lamps - either, 20 Watt or 40 Watt, depending on the location. It was produced from the mid-1950s until the late 1960s.
The column is surrounded by foliage, preventing its type from being established.
The choice of a Perspex canopy must have made this lantern particularly distinctive after nightfall. A slight crack exists in the bowl but otherwise, the lantern is intact.
Although very similar to other Phosware post-top base castings, the inclusion of "F 40 V" confirms that this is for this type of lantern specifically.
A couple of breaks exist in the canopy, but the lantern is, otherwise, in good condition for its age.
Further along Eton Hill Road, a site that is divided into multiple industrial premises has two 20 ft (6 m) Byway columns, also made by Concrete Utilities, installed along its access road. Both columns support top-entry brackets and GEC Z9481 lanterns - neither of which appears to be in use any longer.
These brackets are particularly long; probably, owing to the wide area that the lanterns were expected to light.
To give an idea at how long this lantern may have been abandoned, a 45 Watt SOI/H (low pressure sodium) lamp is employed - this is shorter than the later 35 Watt SOX lamp, but longer than the 18 Watt SOX-E lamp, allowing the differences to be determined. Production of SOI/H lamps ceased in the 1970s, when the SOX lamp's greater efficiency rendered them obsolete.
A small amount of rainwater had seeped into the bowl - probably, through the top-entry coupling.
The second Z9481 is in even more abandoned condition.
The bowl is missing (and must have been for years, judging by the corrosion on the inside of the aluminium canopy), and the lamp is smashed. The lampholder is also cracked.
Remarkably, the porcelain cable clamp and connector block remain intact, although the lamp support wire has rusted away.
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