173A. Three Springs Road, Pershore, Worcestershire Situated on a short service road adjoining the main road are two 15 ft (5 m) concrete columns with lanterns running 80 Watt mercury vapour (MBF) lamps - a Stanton 10 supporting an ELECO HW-918, and a GEC column with a top-entry swan neck and Z5580 lantern. The fact that these installations are away from the main road is, perhaps, what has saved them from replacement in the past. By 2021, however, mercury lamp production had been discontinued for six years, meaning that fresh lamp stocks must have been beginning to dwindle, not to mention that LED light sources have rendered all other sources for outdoor lighting somewhat obsolete. Indeed, Google Street View imagery from 2016 reveals that a second column supporting a Z5580 existed at the time; however, this column had been replaced when I visited five years later, with a TRT Aspect LED lantern now providing the illumination on that portion of the road.
The HW-918 is attached to a very short outreach bracket - a common sight when a Group B mercury lantern was employed.
A slightly patterned Perspex bowl provides the lantern's optical control.
Peering into the column base reveals the Philips L5080BX ballast, the Power Factor correction capacitor below it, an early 1980s' Royce Thompson P42 two-part photocell relay, and a Bill cut-out.
The P42 controlling the Z5580 had failed, causing the lantern to dayburn.
This allowed the (rather rare these days) slightly emerald glow of the mercury vapour lamp to be seen. Although the lamp had a stronger green appearance than a new lamp would have, the camera has exaggerated the discolouration here.
The lantern seems rather dainty when combined with the monolithic concrete structure supporting it.
Assuming that the lantern uses a three-pin bayonet lampholder, its correct identity would be a Z5581. The shallow glass asymmetric refractor bowl is GEC part number Z6606.
The refractors on the underside of the bowl form a 'V'-shape, with the point facing directly forwards.
The GEC logo is cast into the column's aluminium access door. Another GEC column was situated a little further along the cul-de-sac; however, this one had been sleeved, and now supported a Philips MI 26 35 Watt SOX lantern, and so is not included here.
Sadly, by the time that I returned in August 2022, all of the mercury lanterns had been replaced with LED equivalents, and the column supporting the swan neck had been replaced completely.
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