69CI. Clockfields Drive, Brierley Hill, Dudley, West Midlands With thanks to Dwight for informing me of these Survivors. Installed throughout Clockfields Drive, and on Culverhouse Drive too, are a number of 5 m Stanton 1805 concrete columns (and one Concrete Utilities' "Byway-X" type), with a large number of these still supporting lanterns running an 80 Watt MBF (mercury vapour) lamp, with the Simplex Diadem being the most common, followed by the AC Ford AC 850. Curiously, the columns are all sleeved, suggesting that the Diadems (which, I assume, to be the original lanterns, and the AC 850s serving as casual replacements later) were transferred over when this work occurred - they were probably considered too new to warrant complete replacement at the time. Later replacements have seen post-top sleeves fitted in place of the earlier side-entry types, bringing the overall mounting height to 6 m, and fitted with WRTL Arc lanterns.

The first column is positioned a short distance from Brettell Lane.

Surprisingly, although the polycarbonate bowls have discoloured from the UV rays emitted by the MBF lamps, they have still remained transparent, rather than becoming translucent.

A Simplex-branded ballast was positioned at the top of the backboard in the narrow column base. Along with the main fuse in the DNO (Electricity Company) supply cut-out, there is also a 10 Amp Miniature Circuit Breaker installed in a dedicated enclosure immediately above.

The second column was a little further down the hill, on the opposite side of the road.

The lanterns are switched using one-part NEMA photocells positioned towards the rear of their canopies.

The identification labels moulded into BT chamber lids on housing estates can serve as a useful tool in determining the approximate age of the road, and therefore, the lighting. This lid was manufactured in 1989, which seems a reasonable year for the lighting to have been installed too.

A rather autumnal background surrounds this installation.

The sleeve makes for a more angular bracket than the original concrete bracket would have been.

The bowls feature an assortment of different refractor prism patterns.

The Byway-X column is the only one of its kind on the road, and may have served as an early replacement for a damaged 1805.

The original bowl hinge has been lost, with a twist of wire serving as a rather ill-fitting substitute.

The first lantern to be fitted on Culverhouse Drive was dayburning, and probably had been for a long time.

The lamp was very dim, and coupled with the bowl being full of dead insects (again, due to the hinge having failed), the useful light output must be severely compromised.

The final two 1805 columns on Culverhouse Drive were fitted with AC 850s - the one pictured is the second of the two.

The bowls on these are noticeably more discoloured than those on the Diadems are.

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