Off Bent Lane, Whitmore, Chapel Chorlton, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire With thanks to AgentHalogen_87 for informing me of these Survivors. Installed in a car park at the junction of Bent Lane and Newcastle Road are two 15 ft (5 m) Stewarts & Lloyds tubular steel columns that, today, support 1980s' Thorn EMI Alpha 8 lanterns, but as they are much older than this (possibly, dating back to the 1950s), would have supported different lanterns originally. The use of these lanterns, which were designed to run 150 - 250 Watt SON (high pressure sodium) or 250 Watt MBF (mercury vapour) lamps, at mounting heights of approximately eight metres and above, seems rather surprising, although their use here would ensure that the car park had high levels of brightness (if not particularly good uniformity).

Both columns are situated alongside an old barn that is adjacent the car park.

A small amount of greenery has developed on the metalwork of the Alpha 8 lanterns, owing to the proximity of many trees. The presence of the growth suggests that the lanterns may not be operational at night any longer, as the heat generated by the lamps would stop moss from forming if the lantern saw regularly nightly use.

Despite the lanterns being installed lower than is recommended, they do not seem heavily out of proportion.

An elliptical lamp is visible inside this lantern.

An ST7316-type photocell is attached to a plastic electrical enclosure that is then affixed to the wall of the building, and (presumably) serves as an automatic switching point for the lights. As can be seen, the photocell is heavily 'greened' too. Presumably, a cast iron box housing a time switch used to exist here instead.

The column doors are both heavy-duty products, and hinge to the side when access to the base area is required. The hinges suffer from corrosion and metal fatigue over time, and can break eventually (this could be why the lower portion of this door is cable-tied in place). Two large bolts located at either end of the door secure it ordinarily.

The short outreach brackets fitted to both columns are in quite poor overall condition, with that on the second column looking the worst of the two.

Unusually, the plastic bowl clips on both lanterns are still in place and secure - in many cases, these break. One explanation could be that the lanterns may have received fewer repair visits over the years, with their being in private ownership.

As the lanterns carry Thorn EMI branding, they are likely to have been made between (approximately) 1984 and 1987.

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