Off the A515 Buxton Road, Hurdlow, Flagg, Derbyshire Dales Situated on a grass verge outside the now-closed Bull I' Th' Thorn public house and restaurant are two 2 m 76 mm tubular steel posts, both of which support Thorn (appropriately) Gamma 6 post-top lanterns. Owing to this particular section of the A515 being very rural, without any dedicated street lighting, these two columns were probably installed by the restaurant to provide low-level lighting to vehicles traversing the entrance and exit roads. From many night-time journeys along this road over the years, I believe that both were operational ordinarily, although I cannot be certain of this in more recent years, even before the restaurant closed down.
One of the two Gamma 6s is of the mid-1990s' design, with a shallow canopy. From memory, I think that this example ran a SON (high pressure sodium) lamp. Out of sight, on the roadway into the car park on the right, there is evidence of a reinstated trench that passes towards this column, which is probably the location for the supply cable. Tracing back the route of this cable to a toilet block, a wall-mounted photocell is to be found, which is likely to have served as the means of switching for these lights.
The base castings (and columns themselves) were treated to a coat of green paint at some point after 2011; this has peeled quite heavily, exposing the casting's original black finish.
A rather unconventional method of supplying the lanterns is employed - rather than having the cable passing up within the column, and thence into the lantern through the base casting, a hole is drilled in the underside of the casting, and the cable passes through that, having been brought up the side of the column and secured using tape and cable ties.
An older version of the Gamma 6 takes up the second position.
The bowl is damaged, allowing the lantern's interior (and the lack of a lamp) to be seen.
This example ran a 35 Watt SOX (low pressure sodium) lamp, as proven by the use of a two-pin bayonet lampholder, and an ignitor stationed alongside.
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