197M. Manchester Road, Trub, Castleton, Rochdale, Greater Manchester Installed beneath the bridge supporting the M62 Motorway are two abandoned Wardle 'Aureole' lanterns dating from the late 1960s, when this section of the M62 was constructed (it would open in 1971). The Aureole is similar to Thorn's Alpha 1, in that the SOX lamp is encased within a (supposedly) sealed unit, requiring no internal cleaning, but with the Wardle product, a greater variety of wattages could be accommodated, thanks to optical units of varying length being available. These particular examples are for 135 Watt lamps (and the earlier 150 Watt size). The use of Wardle products at this location is not surprising, considering that the company was based in Manchester.

The two Aureoles are positioned within gaps in the ceiling of the bridge structure, with each being fed using a steel conduit network that attaches to the wall behind. The two tubular steel columns that have superseded these lights are located beneath the centre of the bridge in an opposite arrangement.

The lanterns are top-entry, and attach to plates that bolt to the bridge structure above the anti-bird netting.

The Aureole's plastic casing (what Thorn would call the Opticell in an Alpha 1) sports a couple of small breaks to its underside, but the lantern is generally in good overall condition.

Years of accumulated grime have dulled the appearance of the fitting, although with some extensive cleaning, this effect could be reversed.

Although side-entry versions were available, I suspect that top-entry was specified, owing to the fixing bracket design providing a more robust and stable means of securing the lanterns.

The second example is missing its outer bowl completely. While this is a pity, it does allow the lantern's internal construction to be explored.

The Philips SOX lamp looks rather weather-beaten, but is still intact.

I can't imagine that the 135 Watt, top-entry version of the Aureole was particularly common, as such a long lantern would struggle to fit to many of the contemporary outreach brackets.

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