57AI. Tommy's Lane, Crewe, Cheshire With thanks to Leo Conway for discovering these Survivors. Attached to the imposing structure of the Crewe Arms Hotel is a GEC Z9464 lantern, for 140 Watt SO/H / SOI/H, and 90 Watt SOX (low pressure sodium) lamps. The lantern is likely to have become disused in the modern era, as floodlights are used to illuminate the car park, but it has, presumably, been left in place in this state as it isn't causing any harm at present, and its complete removal would be a potentially tricky process.
The wall to the right of the lantern appears to be a newer extension to the hotel; the lantern may have become disused when this was constructed.
This is probably a 1960s' Z9464, as although it features the same type of Perspex bowl that my own 1956 example does, the earlier deep canopy has been replaced with the standard shallower canopy employed on the Z9454, owing to an overall reduction in the size of the lamp control gear components employed within the lantern.
The bowl has suffered damage towards its back end and underside. Unlike later incarnations of this bowl design, the earlier types do not feature any refractors beneath the lamp.
The main hotel building, carrying a construction date of 1880 on its frontage overlooking the railway station, is visible in the background.
A lamp does seem to remain within the lantern, although the now-translucent bowl makes seeing it difficult.
Along with the aluminium bowl support ring (which was removed in later versions of this lantern), another clue to its likely age is the use of asbestos-sheathed wiring to the lampholder.
A little further down Tommy's Lane is this disused 5 m Abacus base-hinged tubular steel column. Even in 2011 (the earliest year available on Google Street View imagery for this road), the lantern was missing.
Some wires still hang out of the empty swan neck bracket.
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