A55 North Wales Expressway, Goetre Uchaf, Capel-y-graig, Pentir, Penrhos Garnedd, Gwynedd Located south-west of Bangor, and slightly to the east of the Britannia Bridge that leads to the Isle of Anglesey, is a 1980s' 12 m Abacus base-hinged tubular steel column that still (as of May 2026) supports its original twin Thorn Alpha 8 lanterns, for 250 Watt SON (high pressure sodium) lamps. These lanterns have survived when those that were attached to neighbouring columns have been lost to LED replacements as there is a high voltage electricity transmission line immediately above the column, prohibiting access to the lanterns with the column in its raised position (hence, the use of the hinged column). Presumably, the team that undertook the lantern replacement work along this section did not have the appropriate counterbalance to be able to lower the column while the necessary Traffic Management was in place along the dual carriageway, and so the old lanterns were left. Google Street View imagery has determined that the other lanterns had been replaced by June 2021, so for these lanterns to remain extant for so many years subsequently is rather astounding.

I captured this sole picture of the installation while stuck in traffic approaching the bridge - this area is a well-known traffic bottleneck anyway, but the issue was compounded on the day of my visit by a caravan having overturned a little further along the road, reducing the dual carriageway to a single lane in this direction.

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