4U. Shaftesbury Street Area, Rose Hill, Osmaston, Derby Situated on the streets around Derby County Football Club's former stadium, The Baseball Ground, were a number of lighting columns that carried two lanterns, at two very different mounting heights. The columns were either 25 ft (8 m) or 30 ft (9·144 m) in height altogether, with the top lantern being a geared Thorn Alpha 3 for (I assume) 400 Watt SON (high pressure sodium) lamps most recently, and the lower lantern (positioned approximately 15 ft (5 m) from ground level) being a 35 Watt SOX (low pressure sodium) type; typically, a Thorn Beta 5. Formerly, the two lantern positions may have been occupied by mercury vapour (MBF) fittings instead, but changed to sodium as a 1980s' energy-saving initiative. The idea behind this two-lantern setup was that the lower lantern would operate ordinarily, as the streets surrounding the stadium were residential, and would not need to be lit to high brightness levels. The brighter lanterns would be reserved for the times when fans were arriving or leaving evening matches, as these usually-quiet streets would then see considerably greater footfalls. I understand that these were manually operated by a master key switch somewhere central, typically by a police officer, in advance of the high pedestrian deluge. Once the crowds had dispersed, the brighter lights would be extinguished, returning the streets to their usual light levels. With the new Pride Park Stadium opening in 1997, this setup was probably seldom used after then, although the Baseball Ground continued to be used for a limited number of games until 2003, when demolition commenced. Sadly, I wasn't aware of this special lighting system until redevelopment was almost complete, meaning that I never photographed the installations myself. Therefore, I have had to use images taken by others as a visual aid on this page.
One of the dual-lantern columns is seen adjacent one of the stadium's latticework floodlight towers, with the Alpha 3 visible against the stadium backdrop on Colombo Street. This, and the following few images, are copyright Phil Lowe, and are used with his permission.
The Beta 5 is seen in closer detail here. The brick wall behind the column survives to this day.
Two more Alpha 3s and one 35 Watt lantern (possibly, a Simplex Aries) are visible in this view looking down Shaftesbury Crescent from the car park of the adjacent Shaftesbury Sports Centre.
This view looks towards the stadium from Cambridge Street, with two of the floodlight masts towering above everything. Notice the Philips ME 70 in the foreground, on the left. A second one of these is visible on the extreme-right of the picture, although it is difficult to spot, owing to it blending in with the grey panelling of the stand. This, I believe, is the ME 70 that now resides in my Collection.
An earlier (notice that the columns that supported the ME 70s are back running SOX lanterns here) atmospheric night-time shot - the Alpha 3 seen above is competing with the floodlights for supremacy! The SOX-lit surrounding streets must have seemed incredibly dull for pedestrians walking away from such a well-lit area.
The same floodlight tower, taken from Shaftesbury Crescent, after the stadium buildings had been reduced to rubble in 2003, with the Alpha 3 columns being visible around the perimeter. The floodlight towers were the last items to be demolished, and yes; I regret not trying to save one (or several!) of the floodlights before their inevitable demise!
This Google Street View screenshot from 2008 shows the last three surviving columns of this type on Harrington Street, just as the new housing that was constructed on the stadium site was beginning to be occupied. As can be seen, the Alpha 3 is dayburning. The lower lantern here is a Philips MI 50.
As can be seen, the next Alpha 3 along had lost its bowl by the time that complete replacement wasn't far away. A newer Beta 5 is fitted as a replacement for the older 35 Watt lantern here.
The final column featured another MI 50, although it is misaligned on its bracket - it may have been knocked by a demolition or construction vehicle. Something that I am not certain about is the presence of a separate photocell on the top of the column (a familiar Derby trait, of course), which, I assume, was to switch the Alpha 3. This seems unnecessary if the larger lanterns were switched manually. Of course, if the photocell is actually a "Dummy Link" blanking unit, things make more sense, but the picture resolution is too low to confirm this. Another possibility is that the photocell was wired to control the lower lantern, and those lanterns fitted with their own photocells were casual replacements using stock equipment. An additional factor to consider is that these columns (and those on Shaftesbury Crescent) are of a different design to those seen elsewhere on this scheme, and are 25 ft (8 m) in height. Without being able to ask a man who would definitely have known, we can only speculate on the truth for all of these variables - curiously, the Alpha 3s do not seem to have featured on any historical lighting inventories; the only mention of their existence is the following comment added (quite possibly, by Jeremy himself) to one record:
"This is an 8 metre column with SONE lighting at the top, which is key switched for football matches. There is a bracket at 5 metres with 35 Watt SXPL light for roadway".
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