174FF. Bryanston Court, off Grange Road, Ulverley Green, Solihull, West Midlands With thanks to Leo Conway for informing me of these Survivors. Located on the roadways / parking areas within the Bryanston Court complex of flats are two 15 ft (5 m) Stanton 9 concrete columns; one of which features no bracket at all, and today supports a 1990s' Thorn Gamma 6 post-top lantern. The other column has a top-entry D-type cranked bracket fitted, which supports a British Thomson-Houston (BTH) Urban Enclosed lantern - an unusual combination, given that this lantern was intended for use on major roads, and was capable of running GLS (incandescent tungsten filament) lamps of up to 500 Watt, and MA/V (medium pressure mercury vapour) lamps of up to 400 Watt. With the BTH name ceasing to exist after 1959 (the AEI parent company name being used instead from 1960 onwards), and most of its products being discontinued at the same time, the approximate age of the two installations becomes clear.
The column supporting the Urban Enclosed has a noticeable lean to it, although the concrete shows no signs of impact damage.
Not quite visible here, owing to the surrounding tree foliage, is a small section of the front of the bracket where the concrete has spalled, revealing the internal steel pipe.
A clear glass bowl (as opposed to one featuring moulded refractor prisms) is fitted. Originally, the lamp would have been surrounded by a refractor dome instead with this setup, but this has been lost through time. The lamp employed now is an LED 'corn' type, and must be horrendously glary after nightfall.
The column's base compartment faces away from the carriageway, although the door remains in place.
The hinged part of the bowl support ring is positioned at the front of the lantern as it appears here, though the lack of any optical control now means that the lantern's orientation is not important.
The bracket damage is more visible when the installation is viewed from below.
The second column is located in a central verge between both buildings near the entrance to the Court.
Much of the lantern's original paintwork has faded, revealing the natural aluminium finish beneath.
The door here faces one of the buildings, rather than being inline with the verge length.
Of course, the Gamma 6 would be a replacement for an older lantern. This may have been another post-top, but equally, it may have supported an E-type bracket (the double version of the D-type), and featured a further two Urban Enclosed lanterns.
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