Off Hilderstone Road, Fulford, Meir Heath, Stafford With thanks to AgentHalogen_87 for informing me of these Survivors. Installed in the car park for The Windmill Public House are three 25 ft (8 m) Stewarts & Lloyd tubular steel columns, with two of these supporting 1960s' ELECO lanterns; the third may also have done so many years ago, but today, carries a 1980s' Thorn Areaflood floodlight instead. The column that is closest to Hilderstone Road supports an HW-745 'Goldenray Mk VII', which would have run a 140 Watt SO/H / SOI/H lamp (low pressure sodium) originally, before this lamp type was superseded by the 90 Watt SOX lamp instead. The other column supports an SR-304 'Silver Ray' lantern, for 250 - 400 Watt MBF (mercury vapour) lamps.
The base section of the first column is missing (or buried within the grass verge), creating an odd sense of scale. Two LED floodlights attached to the column shaft (with their supply cabling mounted externally) suggest that the HW-745 is abandoned.
The rear portion of the Perspex bowl shows signs of damage. The way that the plastic has disfigured could be the result of internal burning inside the lantern.
An unusual stirrup-shaped support pipe passes beneath the main bracket outreach. The column is in very poor condition, with heavy rusting visible along its length.
If the base section is still attached, it will be well buried in the ground. As the HW-745 was not available with the lamp control gear installed within it (owing to the considerable size and weight of 1960s' components, which would have made the lantern rather bulky), this must have been situated in the base - another reason to suggest strongly that the lantern hasn't worked in a long time. The newer steel wire armoured cable supplying the floodlights snakes its way around the shaft.
Passing the eponymous windmill after which the pub is named (images and a brief history are provided here), the column supporting the SR-304 is seen. This too features a newer floodlight attachment, again suggesting that the original lantern has fallen out of use.
An elliptical lamp (probably 250 Watt) remains visible within the lantern. A circular spot painted on the inside of the bowl would help to diffuse the light cast immediately downwards, reducing the 'hot spot' effect on the carriageway directly below the lantern.
A short cranked outreach bracket links the column and lantern.
Unlike the first column, this example does not feature a fluted shaft. The base is also readily accessible. The same type of column (albeit, with the bracket removed) supports the Areaflood a little further along this part of the car park.
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