27BA. Broad Walk, Buxton, High Peak Installed along this walkway that parallels the Pavilion Gardens park are fifteen cast iron columns made by the Manchester firm of R & J Dempster - a company better known for producing far more heavy duty products, such as gas holders and condensers, and which was established in 1884. The lanterns fitted to (most of) these are a large ornate hexagonal post-top design (resembling the Foster & Pullen '735'), although I am uncertain as to whether they are a "genuinely" old product that underwent extensive refurbishment (possibly by SUGG) in about 1986, or whether they were bought new at that time. Archival photographs (1), (2) and (3) show similar lanterns - particularly those in the background of the latter image, but the resolution is too poor to make a clear judgement. Whatever the case, following the 1986 work, each ran a 70 Watt SON-E (elliptical high pressure sodium) lamp until the late 2010s / early 2020s, when they were converted to run Philips "TrueForce" LED retro-fit lamps instead. The columns themselves carry Grade II listing, as does the walkway itself, as it was planned by Sir Joseph Paxton (known for his gardens at Chatsworth, and the Crystal Palace in London).
Two of the columns are seen in this view from the Burlington Road end of Broad Walk.
The lanterns feature transparent polycarbonate glazing panels for the main window sections, and translucent polycarbonate panels on the top section. If these lanterns are old and but refurbished, the glazing would have been glass originally, of course.
The 'frog' section (i.e. the frame below the lantern that attaches to the column) appears modern, and not quite in-keeping with the rest of the lantern.
For some reason, when the columns were painted black, the base section of this one was missed, revealing the earlier light grey finish that the columns appear to be painted in the archival images.
One of the glazing panels was missing from this lantern, allowing the TrueForce lamp to be seen clearly.
Although the heat sink protruding from the prismatic glass refractor dome looks ridiculous, as the LEDs are within the constraints of the refractor, the effect is not terrible; however, elliptical LED lamps would provide an improved daytime appearance.
Most of the columns carry a small Revo Tipton cast iron fuse box - presumably, an early addition from when the Broad Walk lighting was converted from gas to electricity.
This column looks shinier than the rest do, and features a slightly different lantern design - the reason for this is because one of the well-established, and very large, trees in the Pavilion Gardens blew down in a storm, breaking the column into three pieces, and destroying the lantern completely.
The replacement lantern is a Metcraft "Wellington", which is similar, but not quite the same, as the older lantern type was. Rather than using an LED lamp, a built-in LED cluster exists instead.
Owing to the listed status, the damaged column had to be sent away for repair and refurbishment - a weld line is visible around the base (brave). The maker's name is cast into the front flute of the column. The small feeder pillar positioned alongside serves as the isolation point for the column now.
Another Wellington is fitted to the next column along - it's always good to keep a pair of Wellingtons handy, after all! Although this column was not affected by the fallen tree, its hexagonal lantern had been lost previously, and a Phosco P111 was used as the replacement. As this didn't match the profile of the other lanterns, a second Wellington was ordered to enable the installation to match the others (in a fashion) once again.
Over time, the copper should develop a verdigris, which will help it to blend in with the other lanterns.
The lantern was missing completely from the next column along, at the time of photographing.
A black bag had been tied around the empty column spigot in an attempt to prevent water ingress.
The lanterns are group-controlled off a photocell that is located nearby. With this covered, the lit appearance of the TrueForce lamp can be appreciated.
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