Off Chester Road, Buckley, Penyffordd, Flintshire With thanks to Arlen Moulton for informing me of these Survivors. Located on the access road leading into Heidelberg's Padeswood cement works are two Concrete Utilities' 25 ft (8 m) Avenue 3D columns, with Arc 2 top-entry brackets. One of the two columns still supports its original ELECO Goldenray Mk III lantern, which was introduced in 1949 - the same year that the cement works opened. Designed for running a 140 Watt SO/H (later, SOI/H, and later still, 90 Watt SOX (low pressure sodium)) lamp, the Goldenray Mk III was one of the first lanterns to utilise a plastic (Perspex) bowl, which must have seemed the height of modernity in that immediate post-war period. The other column has lost much of its lantern, but even the intact example is unlikely to have worked in many years as 1980s' 8 m Fabrikat tubular steel columns are erected alongside, and support Thorn Alpha 3 lanterns, for 250 - 400 Watt MBF (mercury vapour), SON (high pressure sodium) or MBI (metal halide) lamps.
With thanks to Rachael from Heidelberg for allowing me to visit, and take the following pictures.
The two concrete columns are to be found at either end of the security office.
It's funny to think that the old lighting has probably now (in 2026) spent more of its life disused and abandoned than it did in service, given that the columns and lanterns that replaced them are likely to be around forty years old themselves!
The older installations are very similar in appearance to those seen at Aldermaston in Berkshire, complete with the unusual cylinders above the lanterns, which is believed to be some sort of winch system that allowed the lanterns to be lowered to the ground for maintenance. The cylinders are not exactly the same, however; perhaps they were produced by a third-party company. Given the amount of time that has elapsed since the winch is likely to have operated, I would be very dubious about trying to use it now.
I am surprised that the old columns were not removed when their replacements arrived. Ironically, the concrete columns may outlast their replacements, ultimately - notice the corrosion holes by the 'new' column's door aperture - the steel has rotted heavily throughout the base section, and really, this column should be cut down / replaced on safety grounds.
Up top, however, both installations are about as good as the day that they were installed. I appreciate the fact that the Alpha 3 that replaced the ELECO to light this area is now a relic from a bygone era itself.
A heavily-weathered plaque is visible on the neck part of the cylinder section - sadly, this was too corroded to be read, even when I zoomed in fully with my camera.
The growth of moss on the Alpha 3's canopy suggests that it too may no longer be in operation.
The inspection door on the triangular Avenue column still remains resolutely locked.
Even with the Alpha 3 having its roots in the early 1960s, lantern technology had evolved somewhat since the days of the Goldenray.
There appears to be a threaded plate beneath the cylinder that the lantern screws onto; presumably, if there is a winch mechanism within the cylinder, there is then a cable that passes through the bracket and down the column (along with the actual electricity cable) to allow the lantern to be lowered. I wonder how easy (or otherwise) returning the lantern to its intended position was after completing the maintenance. There must have had to be a sizeable coil of electricity cable stashed in the base to allow the lantern to descend fully.
With tower wagons and MEWPs (Mobile Elevated Work Platforms) being commonplace by the 1980s, the need for lowering lanterns for maintenance reduced - of course, the advent of the hinged lighting column also ensured that the winch mechanisms fell out of favour for all lights other than high masts and other flood lighting applications.
The column situated closer to Chester Road had lost its lantern and cylinder, leaving only the top cone part.
A length of the old cable still hangs out of the centre of the casting.
The base of this column sported a rather severe-looking crack in the concrete. I like that as this part of the car park is slightly higher than the footway is on the other side of the fence, someone in the past thought to leave a recess in front of the column door, to allow access to be gained in the future, rather than having part of the door buried at the higher level, as usually occurs - good work!
This bowlless, gear-in-head, Alpha 3 was to be found near the site entrance. A Zodion SS4 photocell is fitted here.
A third concrete column existed in the car park; however, it had lost its original bracket completely, and floodlights had been installed at the top of the column shaft.
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