Off the A12, Bromley-by-Bow, London Borough of Tower Hamlets With thanks to Dwight for informing me of this Survivor. On a short footpath between Franklin Street and Washington Close is a 1950s' 15 ft (5 m) 'Broadcrete' concrete column, made by Tarslag, as a new product after this company took on production of the former Broads column manufacturing. Prior to the construction of the A12, the footpath was known as Coolidge Way, and had houses on both sides (those fronting the footpath would have been demolished to make way for the new road), while a surviving parallel street is Taft Way - I can see a link with these names! Today, the installation lies derelict, with its most recent lantern, an AEI Amber Minor / Thorn Beta 5 being a damaged shell. This would have been a direct replacement for another 35 Watt SOX (or indeed, 45 - 60 Watt SO/H / SOI/H [low pressure sodium] lamp) lantern, as the original ballast remains in the base.

Considering that the grass verge to the left of the column would have been houses when this column was installed, the trees will post-date the demolition, but are now so substantial that they made photographing this installation slightly difficult.

The swan neck design is most unusual; it is far more angular than any of the other contemporary concrete column manufacturers' products were. Notice a small structural crack forming at the top of the column.

The bowl-less, lamp-less lantern also has the indignity of being misaligned on the bracket.

The column (excluding the bracket) is of similar overall shape to equivalent GEC products.

The bracket that supports the lampholder has rotted away, causing the remains to hang by the wires.

Only the lamp cap survives - the rest of the glassware, along with the lamp support, are all long gone. The gear tray / reflector is heavily rusted, and very little remains of the identification sticker.

The column's inspection door is also missing, revealing a cast iron Henley cut-out and an unusual ballast with connection terminals at both ends. There is no capacitor or switching device fitted, and from looking at the backboard, there are no witness marks to suggest that these components were ever installed. A heavily-perished rubber cable heading up the column hangs limply to the side of the ballast.

< Previous | Next >

BACK TO SURVIVORS

CLICK HERE TO MAKE A MONETARY DONATION