ESLA - 2025 Repaint
Being bothered that the ESLA's twentieth anniversary of being installed in the garden had come and gone without the overall structure receiving a fresh coat of paint, I was keen to make amends to this as quickly as possible. A chance discussion with Balfour Beatty Power Networks in late June 2025 put me in touch with Colyour, a specialist lighting column painting contractor that happened to be carrying out some work in Derby in early July. A swift addendum was included on the day sheet, and as promised, work began in the early afternoon of Thursday, 3rd July.
Although the paintwork had faded in the 22 years that the installation had existed on the front, none of it had flaked severely. The entire setup (column, bracket and lantern) were rubbed down with abrasives to provide a good surface for the new paint to 'key' into. The whole structure was then repainted in gloss black, with the familiar gold highlights following once the black had dried.
The highlighting of the finial spikes, spigot and ladder bars were still to be completed when these pictures were taken.
Although the lantern's raised lettering was also highlighted in gold previously, I decided not to proceed with this feature this time, as no-one except the occasional feathered visitor would see it, and their reading ability is somewhat lacking.
The base detail was highlighted meticulously in gold using very thin brushes. The lower swirls on each portion of the swage decoration were also painted this time - something that neither my parents, nor I, dared attempt back in 2003!
The rear and right-hand decoration were also awaiting their gilded highlighting at this time.
I had forgotten how resplendent the metalwork - especially the lantern - looked with fresh gloss paint applied.
The centre 'flower' feature of the ladder bars would also be highlighted ultimately.
The remaining highlight work was completed on the 7th July...
For the first time, the finial 'ring' surrounding the bracket pipe was also painted.
To my surprise, and despite the earlier comment, the raised lettering on the lantern was painted after all - someone fancied a challenge! Now to stock up on a copy of "Learning English for Birds"!
The installation is pictured once again from ground level - something is missing, but I will re-add that separately.
The base of the bracket spigot, ladder bar tips, and (as stated earlier) the central flower decoration were also gilded.
Completed decoration at base level.
As alluded above, the final task was to re-spray Jeremy's initials and radio call number to the column shaft - with that done, the repainting was complete.
A sincere thank-you to Tomas and Paul at Colyour for their assistance in organising and completing the repainting work to such a high standard; particularly, Paul's patience with the fiddly decorative highlighting!
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