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Genre: Open Dome Refractor Lantern The open dome refractor lantern appeared in the 1920s, a result of the burgeoning scientific approach to street lighting. By using a refractor dome positioned around the upper parts of a symmetrical point light source, beams of light could be fashioned and positioned to light the road surface. Flux emitted in the lower hemisphere of the light source was uncontrolled, providing a circular pool of light around the lantern. In this way, the distant road surface and the environs around the lantern were evenly illuminated. The lantern changed little during the next seventy years, although the glassware, refractor assembly, bulb holder and lantern canopy became steadily simpler. Although open lanterns were frowned upon by the mid-1950s (as no protection was afforded to the bulb nor the glassware so both got dirty and required regular cleaning), the open dome refractor continued being popular with local councils, being still made in the early 1980s. In cases where no precise focusing mechanism is present, the filament of the bulb should either be located at the base of the refractor, or at the position marked on the refractor glass (usually indicated by ‘LC’ or ‘Lamp Centre’). In the case of high-pressure mercury bulbs, centre the arc tube at the same position. Name: BLEECO Hastings Date: Circa 1920s - 1950s Dimensions: Width: [x]", Height: [y]” Light Distibution: Non-cut-off [look up] Refractor: Holophane Duo-Dome 4607 (80o) Lamp: ??? GLS History: The BLEECO Hastings is a complete mystery. It doesn’t appear in any of the few BLEECO catalogues circulating and even its name lacks any provenance, By the large and bulky standards of cast-iron open refractor lanterns, this lantern was enormous. It appeared to be an enlarged version of the BLEECO Worthing, sharing the same, clean lines. This increase in size was not to support a higher wattage bulb; the hole at the base of the over reflector and the associated dome refractor were only big enough to support up to 200W. The lantern’s enormous size could have been an aesthetic choice; but it’s hard to imagine anyone at BLEECO, or a local authority, designing such a large, bulky lantern for its appearance only. Given these questions e.g. the lantern’s size, small wattage, and absence from early BLEECO catalogues, there is a neat answer, but not all collectors’ agree with it. I believe the BLEECO Hastings was a gear-in-head lantern. This would explain its size (which is just large enough to hold the gear for a low wattage colour corrected high-pressure mercury vapour bulb), the low bulb wattage and lack of literature (we don’t have any BLEECO catalogues from the 1950s or 1960s when the gear became small enough to make this lantern viable). It’s widely believed by collectors that the Hastings was originally a tungsten filament lantern, being converted to high-pressure mercury in the 1960s, but for the reasons given above, I believe it was always a high-pressure mercury lantern, and the gear found in all the remaining examples is original. (Furthermore, the Duo-Dome 4607 refractors were fitted with 80o inner dome refractors, instead of the more common 75o found on lanterns with tungsten filament lamps. Whether this is significant isn’t known.) [Check] Until more documentation surfaces, the history of this lantern will still be open to debate. Popularity: The BLEECO Hastings was never as popular as BLEECO’s other open dome refractor lanterns. I’ve never seen it installed personally (although there’s a photograph of one in Hastings on Jon Salmon’s site) but examples are held by several collectors. Gear: The gear, comprising of an AEI 80W MBF/U choke and power-correction capacitor, was mounted on a triangular piece of hardboard, screwed to three taped lugs in the lantern’s canopy. It isn’t known if this was original or a later conversion. Optical System: The BLEECO Hastings used a Holophane Duo Dome refractor to control the light distribution. This optical system divided the flux from the high-pressure mercury vapour lamp into two halves: light emitted from the lower hemisphere of the bulb was uncontrolled and symmetrically illuminated the area below the lantern; the light emitted from the upper hemisphere of the bulb formed two main beams directed by the prisms in the refractor. Therefore, the area around the base of the lantern was well illuminated for the pedestrian and house owner (e.g. pavement, front gardens and parked cars) and the road surface was illuminated at longer distances from the lantern for the car driver (e.g. bright road surface, dark kerb edges etc.). Some flux was also redirected by the over reflector, forming a much larger symmetric distribution around the lantern. The Holophane Duo-Dome comprised of two interlocking pieces of prismed glassware. The outer dome carried the vertical prisms and controlled the flux in azimuth; the inner dome carried horizontal prisms and therefore controlled the flux in latitude. Whilst two pieces of glass made the refractor large and heavy, and caused extra light loss (due to the flux having to traverse two air-glass-air boundaries), the Duo-Dome was extremely suited for open lanterns as the refractor had entirely smooth outer faces which simplified cleaning and maintenance. Different sized Duo-Dome refractors were required for different wattages of tungsten filament bulb. In the case of the Hastings, the 4607 refractor dome was the most commonly used. Control of the elevation of the main beam required different inner domes, so they were marked with the beam angle measured from the vertical. However, although 75o was the most popular, the BLEECO Hastings was fitted with an 80o inner refractor. The reason for this isn’t clear. The provision for focusing was extremely poor: the continuous focusing system was error prone, compounded that adjustment required removal of the refractor assembly (which was itself the only guide to correct focusing).
BLEECO ??? Hastings


Name: BLEECO ??? Hastings
Date: Circa 1930s - 1950s
Genre: Open refractor lantern, gear-in-head
Lamp: 80W MBF/U

side #1

This BLEECO Hastings was originally obtained from fellow collector Bob Cookson.

front #1

It was originally in fair condition with little cracking of the enamel. It was also fitted with a photocell, and this was removed and the hole filled.

side #2

Documentation for this lantern doesn't appear to exist (and it's only by word-of-mouth that I know it's called a Hastings). It probably originally took a high wattage GLS bulb, given the size and shape of the lantern's body.

The glass is a Holophane Duo-Dome 4607 refractor with 80o 2-way non-axial distribution.

angled #1

The lantern was completely stripped down, rust proofed, primed and repainted.

looking up #1

It probably dates from the 1950s, as it doesn't feature three copper hooks to hold the glass assembly in place.

The lantern has been fitted to Medium Lucy Bracket.

gear

It was discovered in the 1960s that the lantern's body was so huge that it could accomodate gear. Therefore in that decade, Hastings Council cobbled together this gear-in-head modification using hard board and AEI choke and capacitor.

Given its bodged nature, most have survived well, although the hardboard required replacing as the weight of the choke caused it to break in half.

It now runs 80W MBF/U.

It's believed that the bulb holder was originally supported by three springs before the gear-in-head modification was added.

night #1

Night shot of the lantern.

night #2

Night shot of the lantern.

night #3

Night shot of the lantern.

night #4

Night shot of the lantern.