Hoole Island Junction, Hoole Village, Mickle Trafford and District, Chester, Cheshire With thanks to LeoLampposts for discovering these Survivors. Attached to the undersides of the bridges supporting the M53 Motorway are four (two beneath each bridge) GEC Z9543 lanterns, each running a 90 Watt SOX (low pressure sodium) lamp. Although designed as conventional street lighting lanterns, GEC offered these as under-bridge fittings too; no doubt, the box-like nature of the lanterns making conversion to such a use quite a straightforward procedure. Despite one of the lanterns having lost its bowl, all four retain lamps that look as though they should work. This section of the M53 opened in 1982, with the fittings being of likely similar age.
The first two Z9543s are seen on the more southern of the two bridges.
These lanterns feature enlarged rear sections that house the lamp control gear; the basic remotely-geared version being the Z9545 instead.
The lanterns were designed for cut-off operation, with only a plain, shallow bowl being provided as a cover over the lamp.
The second example on this side of the roundabout is the one that is missing its bowl. Google Street View imagery confirms that the loss occurred at some point after June 2019 but before June 2021. It also confirms that the fitting was still operational in March 2025.
The missing bowl allowed the internal GEC identification label to be spotted.
The other two Z9543s are a mirror image of the first.
Aside from being laced with cobwebs, the fittings appear to be in good condition, with the "Disconnect before opening" stickers still being present and legible on the sides of the lanterns.
The supply cables for these lights emerge from the ceiling at each connection point, and pass straight into the regular entry points of the fittings. If ever one of these cables were to fail, the resultant fault-finding operation would be a challenging task.
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