215C. Off Southmead Road, Manor Farm, Westbury on Trym, Bristol, Somerset Installed within the grounds of a fire station owned by Avon Fire and Rescue Service is a tapering wooden column supporting an extremely rare Siemens Ediswan 'Cathay' post-top lantern, designed for running two or four 40 Watt, two foot (600 mm) linear fluorescent (MCF/A) lamps. The Siemens Ediswan company was formed in 1956 by parent company AEI (Associated Electrical Industries), combining the efforts of both Siemens Brothers and the Edison Swan Electric Company, with the former having become an AEI company in 1951 (following the acquisition of "enemy" property after the Second World War), and the latter having done the same during the 1920s. The Siemens Ediswan company would be relatively short-lived, with AEI forming British Lighting Industries in collaboration with Thorn Lighting in 1964, and the remainder of AEI's assets being bought by GEC in 1967. Thus, the age of this installation can be dated relatively accurately, even without knowing any date codes that may exist on the lamp control gear.

Prior to seeing the column for myself, I wondered what its material was, as it appeared too light to be concrete, and could have been aluminium, but AEI did not produce a square-based column in this material at this time. Upon discovering that the column was actually wooden, I appreciated the irony of such a column being installed right outside a fire station!

Production of the Cathay did not continue into the Thorn era, with their own Gamma 2 fluorescent post-top lantern being preferred. Even this was discontinued by 1973, though I can't help thinking that the base casting employed in the Cathay bears a strong resemblance to the rear castings of the Alpha 1 and 3 lanterns that would remain in production until the early 1990s. In fact, the whole lantern bears a passing resemblance to the Alpha 1, in terms of its shape.

Only when I viewed the base section of the column did I realise the type of material employed.

The lantern's bowl is comprised of two Perspex sections bonded together. These have begun to split apart at the lower section.

A single grub screw exists on every face of the base casting. I still can't quite believe that this is a rare and old lantern, as it appears modern.

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