84A. Off Gregory Street, Lenton, Nottingham Installed within the expansive yard that belongs to the Mellors & Kirk auction house are several tubular steel columns supporting various lanterns, with the majority being ELECO GR 150 135 Watt SOX types, installed at 8 m in height. A single Thorn Alpha 9 90 Watt SOX example is fitted to one column, whereas another ELECO product, a GR 100 (also for 90 Watt SOX), is affixed to a wall bracket. As the yard has few other lights, there is a possibility that the SOX lighting remains operational, although the condition of the lamp in the GR 100 casts doubt on this suggestion.
The Alpha 9 is on the other side of the fence to a far more modern column that supports both a Philips Luma LED lantern, along with the overhead wiring for Nottingham's Express Transit tram system. Prior to the introduction of the modern tram network along this road, a column supporting another GR 100 was installed here.
The brackets all feature a short outreach, which seems odd, considering the wide area that the lanterns are intended to illuminate.
This is probably a 1980s' Alpha 9, judging by the style and size of the lamp control gear that is visible within the lantern. Earlier 'geared' examples employed larger components, which resulted in deeper bowls being required.
The GR100 is fitted to the left-hand side of the main building, and is visible from the driveway leading down to the site.
The close-up reveals the white, cloudy appearance of the lamp's barium getter. As this should be more of a silver colour, the lamp's outer bulb is likely to be damaged, with the barium having been attacked by air entering the outer bulb. In all likelihood, this lantern may not work after nightfall, and if it does, it may not operate at full brightness.
One of the columns supporting a GR 150 is seen at the entrance.
The lack of any sort of photocell control with these lanterns suggests that they are switched from the building itself.
On the other side of the site, one of the columns also supporting a GR 150 is seen. Notice that the base is positioned behind the steel security fence, making any sort of ground-based maintenance difficult, especially with the Beeston Canal also being on the other side of the fence.
Here, the close-up reveals numerous airgun pellet holes in the bowl - attempts over the years to cause the lamp to be broken, and thus, deactivate the light.
A second installation exists further down the car park.
Being further away from the vantage point, this example's bowl is undamaged.
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