Off Montague Street, Rea Valley, Bordesley, Highgate, Birmingham, West Midlands With thanks to LeoLampposts for informing me of this Survivor. Located within an abandoned yard belonging to Birmingham Council (historically, a 'Salvage Department' site) is a tapering tubular steel pipe that is approximately 25 ft (8 m) in height, and supports a short outreach top-entry bracket and GEC Z8403 'Clearmain' lantern, for 250 - 400 Watt mercury vapour (both MA/V and MBF types) lamps. The installation is likely to date back to the 1960s, but given the site's abandonment, is unlikely to work any longer; indeed, it probably hasn't operated for many years.
The installation is pictured from the towpath of the adjacent Grand Union Canal. Surprisingly, despite this proximity, the lantern does not appear to have suffered any incidents of vandalism.
A baffle shield is attached to the bracket, and fitted behind the lantern. Its use seems rather pointless, considering that the Z8403 offers a cut-off distribution anyway, and the shield is not deep enough to block out much of the back spill emitted from the bowl.
The accumulated grime on the bowl prevents the type of lamp fitted within the lantern to be identified. If the lantern is still in unaltered, original condition internally, it may still feature a magnetic arc deflector - a necessary component to operate the MA/V lamps horizontally without the arc bowing upwards in the glass arc tube, and causing (eventual) premature failure of the lamp. The later MBF/U lamps eliminated this issue, and superseded MA/V lamps; however, both lamp types require somewhat different optical control for optimum performance.
The glass bowl features a distinctive diffusing pattern around its outer edge.
The installation is seen again, this time through a handy gap in the security fence on Montague Street.
The ineffectiveness of the baffle shield is demonstrated here
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