Off Guild Street, Burton-upon-Trent, East Staffordshire With thanks to Leo Conway for discovering these Survivors. Situated towards the rear of the Middleway Retail Park (named after the Middle Yard that used to exist on the land - one of the many areas that catered for the town's historical brewing industry, with multiple on-site buildings used for cooperage - the manufacture and repair of wooden barrels) are three old columns; two of which are now abandoned for certain, and the third is possibly disused too. The first two comprise 30 ft (10 m) Stanton 18 series concrete columns, with the first sporting a double-arm bracket, with one limb supporting a Thorn Alpha 3 lantern; the other, a GEC Z8526. Both lanterns were designed for running a 250 - 400 Watt MBF (mercury vapour), MBI (metal halide) or SON (high pressure sodium) lamp. The second of these columns is the single-arm version, although the lantern has long-since been removed, and the bracket itself looks to have been reduced in length. The third column is a 25 ft (8 m) tubular steel type, and supports another Alpha 3. As the retail park is relatively modern, being constructed in 1990, these installations could have been left over from previous uses for the site. Historical maps indicate that the northern part of Middle Yard had been divided into separate industrial units by the latter half of the 20th Century, with the approximate locations of the two concrete columns being part of a depot complex (formerly, for the town's tram network, although this closed in 1929, pre-dating the columns by several decades, and latterly, for the local Electricity Company). The tubular steel column is located on a service road at the rear of the retail park, used by vehicles making deliveries to the shops. Previously, this road comprised a series of railway tracks before becoming part of a yard for a large brewery building by 1950.

The double-arm column is on a dead-end footpath that serves only as an escape route for the Mecca Bingo building. Access to its base section is prevented by the proximity of the boundary railings for the adjacent B&M Bargains building.

As both lanterns have their lamp control gear situated in the column base, the gear components are likely to be in quite poor condition, considering the amount of time that has passed since they would have last been used (and thus, last generated any heat to dispel dampness).

The use of different lanterns spoils the symmetry of the installation, though if it does date from when the Electricity Company occupied the land, this might always have been the case - the two lanterns could have been installed here second-hand, and simply happened to be on hand on the shelf in the stores at the time.

Unlike the earlier Atlas types, this Alpha 3 features the revised bowl design, which incorporated moulded refractor prisms beneath the lamp, along with the removal of the two rear clips. The concrete is beginning to crack and break away at the bracket's tip.

The Z8526'S bowl is damaged, revealing an elliptical lamp (possibly, 400 Watt) within. A 1980s' Royce Thompson P5 photocell is fitted to the canopy.

The single-arm column is around the corner, in (what is now) the B&M car park.

The bracket's reduction appears rather crude, with the concrete having been broken away using a hammer and chisel (or similar tools), and the steel pipe having been sawn to match the new length of the concrete.

The base has been stripped of all electrical equipment. The lowest part of the backboard has rotted away through dampness.

The steel column is very rusty.

A small patch of dirt has gathered in the Alpha 3's bowl. An elliptical lamp still survives in this lantern too.

< Previous | Next >


BACK TO SURVIVORS IN EAST STAFFORDSHIRE

BACK TO SURVIVORS IN STAFFORDSHIRE

BACK TO SURVIVORS

BACK TO INDEX

CLICK HERE TO MAKE A MONETARY DONATION

© 2002 - English Street Lights Online