69CC. Mucklow Hill / Long Lane, Halesowen, Dudley, West Midlands Situated in the centre of the roundabout at the junction of these roads is a 10 m tubular steel column supporting a CU Phosco (Phosware) P222 multi-lamp post-top lantern. This colossal lantern could accommodate between two and four lamps within it, depending on the type employed (typical wattages of 150 - 400 Watt, although the four-lamp version was limited to a maximum of 250 Watt, and the three-lamp version could also accommodate 90 - 135 Watt SOX (low pressure sodium) lamps). Although this method of lighting large areas is effective, in recent years, the high power consumption has rendered multi-lamp lanterns largely obsolete; the P222 being the last such lantern to remain in production, which lasted until the mid-2000s. Also of note on Long Lane itself is an Atlas Gamma Eight post-top in the car park for a now-closed down business.
The roundabout must be particularly well lit, as not only is the P222 provided in the centre; the outer gyratory has columns around it too. These used to support 1970s' Philips MA 50 135 Watt SOX lanterns prior to their replacement with LED products.
Just visible on the canopy is a Telensa Telecell; a replacement for the original NEMA photocell. At 1070 mm (3·5 ft) wide and 680 mm (2 ft 2 inches) high, working on this post-top is quite a large undertaking - even gaining access to it here would require the maintenance vehicle to park on the centre of the roundabout itself; another reason that this type of lantern fell out of favour.
By comparison, the Gamma 8 (also known as the AEI Ashby) is a far more manageable size. A wooden hoarding now obscures the lower portion of its column; however, Google Street View imagery taken when the premises was still open indicates that it is simply a straight length of 76 mm (3 inch) diameter tube, without any provision for accommodating lamp control gear. This suggests that the lantern may have run an incandescent, tungsten filament (GLS) lamp when in use.
Unlike on my own example, the base casting on this lantern is designed to fit the lantern to a standard 76 mm spigot, rather than the unusual triangular spigot of the AEI 'Leader' column, which was designed to be used specifically with the Ashby / Gamma 8 lantern.
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