5d. Broadway, Darley Abbey. For the length of this route linking Kedleston Road with Duffield Road are a number of Thorn Alpha 1s installed on what appear to be 25 ft Stewart and Lloyd columns (equivalent to the metric 8 m column).
The road is believed to have been lit using 90 Watt SOX (or 140 Watt SO/H and SO/I) since at least the 1930s - the original lanterns being open Revo fittings as shown in a photograph taken in the same decade and Revo catalogue number 17. On Friday 7th December 2007, I attempted to take photographs of the same scenes as they appear today.
1950s' Photograph:
(The photograph originates from the excellent 'Picture The Past' (www.picturethepast.org.uk) website and credit details are unknown.)
Present Day:
Again - not a completely different street scene. The drain cover at the front of the picture appears to be the same one, and the tree on the right appears identical. The nameplate for 'The Leylands' housing area is also visible in both photographs. The addition of a pedestrian crossing has meant that two of the Alpha 1s have been replaced with Alpha 8s on the same columns.
Revo Catalogue:
Present Day:
The scene is still recognisable in 2007 thanks mainly to the curvature of the road. Obviously the trees have now grown a bit and there are far more cars parked up! The concrete road surface has also been replaced with a tarmac one. I will take a night photograph of this scene at a later date.
The 25 ft columns survived until August 2010, when the Derby Street Lighting PFI saw Broadway almost completely relit; bringing an end to the many years of 90 Watt SOX / 140 Watt SO/H lighting along this road.
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