Off Mill Lane, Mill Green, Widnes, Halton, Cheshire Still extant on the old route of Mill Lane in May 2026 are three 25 ft (8 m) 'Highway-X' concrete columns and side-entry, single arm 'Highway' brackets, both made by Concrete Utilities, and supporting ELECO GR 100 90 Watt SOX (low pressure sodium) lanterns. The new route appears to have been constructed in the 1990s, possibly in conjunction with the adjacent 1993 A557 Watkinson Way construction on the track bed of the old St Helen's and Runcorn Gap Railway, with the old road area and houses and buildings beyond it (but not the columns) being cleared; presumably, in anticipation of the site being redeveloped. This has not happened to date, however, and the land is now overgrown with trees and bushes, with only the columns indicating how the road once looked. This map shows the previous road alignment, along with the railway lines and the long-gone Farnworth & Bold Station behind the area.
This first image, looking down onto the old road, was taken from the Derby Road roundabout.
Despite the long abandonment, this column is still in good condition - the definite best of the three.
Apart from a bed of slurry on the underside of the bowl, the lantern too is intact and undamaged.
When viewed from the other side, the road is seen to end rather abruptly as its replacement passes above. The old map image above reveals that Mill Lane extended slightly further south, with the bridge over the railway lines being positioned differently to the new bridge that passes over the bypass.
The brackets employed feature only quite a short outreach.
The photocell here is a Fisher-Karpark SS4 type.
The second column is in far poorer condition, with a severe vertical crack being visible in the approximate middle of the shaft.
The close-up of the crack reveals just how wide it has become in some places.
A 1980s' Royce Thompson P5 photocell is fitted here.
Further cracks are visible around the back of the column.
The expedited state of decay to this column means that it is unlikely to remain upright for much longer - if it isn't taken down, I think that nature will do that instead. Thankfully, the column is set back far enough from the current Mill Lane that if / when it does collapse, the pieces should be contained within the fenced-off area.
A small break exists in this GR 100's bowl.
Somewhat ironically, the bracket still looks to be undamaged - ordinarily, it is these that start to fail first, especially around their attachment to the column.
The third column is positioned outside of the Heras fencing.
To prove my earlier statement correct, the bracket here is the part that is looking the worst for wear.
A P5 is fitted here too.
The bowl here exhibits frontal damage, leading to moisture being able to enter, and gather in the lowest portion.
The door remains in place, and is locked using the typical 'drop-latch' mechanism that was common to many CU columns.
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