57AE. Off Macon Way, Crewe, Cheshire With thanks to Dwight for informing me of this Survivor. Located on the road leading into the Mannin House office complex, which was under the ownership of Network Rail at the time of photographing in March 2025 (but is identified as an 'Electricity Board Depot' on historical maps), is a 25 ft (8 m) 'Highway-X' column, supporting a short outreach side-entry Highway bracket with a P157 lantern, for 140 Watt SO/H and SOI/H, and 90 Watt SOX (low pressure sodium), lamps. All of these products were made by Phosware (CU Phosco), with the installation being likely to date from the 1960s. Sadly, it appears to have become disused, with the column's door having been missing since 2009 (at least).
The column is seen just after sunrise; the ambient light casting a subtle glow on the concrete column.
The column shows no signs of spalling at its connection to the bracket.
The lamp is positioned within the upper half of the deep Perspex bowl; had this been the version with the lamp control gear situated within the lantern, the lamp would be situated at a lower level, owing to the space taken up by the gear components.
Two 'Oddie' keys secure the bowl to the canopy; this is an evolution from the earlier P127, which featured only a single Oddie key (at the front of the lantern), and the bowl hinged backwards, rather than to the side.
The missing door allows the base components to be seen - a black Bakelite fused cut-out allows local isolation of the column, while a rusty ballast takes up the rest of the available space. No capacitor is connected, though the ballast may have incorporated its own means of Power Factor Correction - its casing is rusted, and any identification that it would have carried is long gone. Alternatively, if this is column existed when the Electricity Board had their depot here, the issue of poor Power Factor (and thus, a higher current draw) was probably not of concern.
What appeared to be a 'Midway-X' 20ft (6 m) column with Midway bracket was positioned at the back of the site. The lantern here is a non-original Philips MI 36 / XGS 104.
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