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19|12|04
I've finished all the street lighting adverts in the
March 1953 copy of
Public Lighting. Two new manufacturers
are introduced (
Standard and
Metropolitan Gas Meters),
Automatic Light Controlling Company are still going, and
Holophane introduce two new post top lanterns.
04|12|04
It's ESLA day today.
Firstly more history about the Canterbury firm has been
reproduced here from the booklet
The Bigglestons Of Canterbury. This includes the
first pictures of a 1-way ESLA (which identifies the mystery ESLA in
my collection).
If that's not enough for ESLA fans, there's a picture of a lovely Bi-Multi and
bracket which has just been added to the collection.
And now, the icing on the cake: some
historical pictures of long-lost ESLAs in their
home town of Canterbury.
17|11|04
A Metropolitan Vickers advert from 1953 allows the
identification of five different lanterns.
06|11|04
Peter Rivett has greatly expanded his historical account of
Mackenzie Bros/Mackenzie And Moncur which includes
a description of the columns, brackets and lanterns.
By coincidence, Chris Hill sent me a picture of a
Mackenzie And Moncur bracket which are still extant on
Edinburgh's bridges. So, they both go well together.
05|11|04
I am now an Associate Member of the
Institution Of Lighting Engineers. When joining, I pointed out this website, and
asked if I could include articles from
Public Lighting (the original name of their journal). Their reply was positive: as
long as I credited the source, then that was fine.
So, for some weekend reading, I've uploaded the 1936 article by Thomas Wilke, which details the day-to-day work
of a public lighting engineer in the mid-war period. Thomas Wilke is a very important figure in the early days of the
association: he was part of the group who formed the Institute, worked under Sam B. Langlands in Edinburgh,
was president twice, and his usage of group switched lighting led to war-time blackout trials in Leicester.
03|11|04
Another couple from 1953: new boys Aspec show off their gas time switches whilst
Crompton are also advertising their lamps.
I've now fully restored another ESLA: check out both the
lantern and
bracket.
30|10|04
Crompton's Concept has been a big hit on the mailing list. So, I've added
the article in Public Lighting about it.
29|10|04
BTH and 'newcomer'
Ediswan have adverts from 1953 added to the site.
For fans of 1950s gas lights (are there any?),
Sugg and
Parkinson show off their latest wacky ideas.
Crompton show off their brand new idea: given that lanterns and brackets were
designed separately, often leading to garish or ugly complete units when assembled and installed (leading some to
describe the some streetlights as "Sick serpents with carpet cleaners in their mouths"),
Crompton came up with their Concept. The bracket and lantern
were all one unit. An interesting idea... which completely died on its feet.
And the Z numbers for the Brookvale lanterns have been added. Also,
check out the open sodium lantern, the exposed version of the
Z9480.
A BLEECO Hastings has been added to the collection - although I bought it
for its Lucy bracket with interesting Venner clock-box.
14|10|04
More adverts: this time from The Gas Council,
Parkinson,
Stewarts And Lloyds (a very important column manufacturer than no-one ever mentions) and
BTH.
I've been asked to identify some GEC lanterns recently. One was the rare
Brookvale Lantern: why GEC decided to introduce this
lantern when they already had the Wembley and Oxford lines isn't known. The Brookvale is very rare.
Keeping with the GEC,
my latest item is also from
the same era as the Brookvale.
08|10|04
An advert for Falks has now been uploaded.
The restoration of the ESLA continues with the bracket now being
stripped down completely. (And if you're wondering why it takes so long, I'm currently working on six brackets
at a time).
03|10|04
Night pictures of the
BLEECO Worthing lantern have now been published.
02|10|04
I've borrowed some BLEECO catalogues (thanks Bob!), so I'm concentrating on
getting these on the site so I can return them.
First up is a brochure from 1934 in which some of their lanterns, brackets and
columns are outlined.
And I've documented the first restored BLEECO in my collection: a BLEECO Brighton bracket and
Worthing lantern.
30|09|04
I've finished off the 1945 issue of Public Lighting with adverts from
Girling (who made concrete columns and brackets) and
Sangamo (who made time switches).
I've already started with the 1953 issue and have uploaded eight adverts
from that.
A new ESLA and bracket has joined the collection.
24|09|04
The collection continues to grow with this lovely ESLA bracket. I don't want the remains
of the REVO Prefect that's attached to it, so if anyone's interested then please let me know.
An 1945 advert for the Gunfire Controller has been added to the advertisements.
21|09|04
An attempt to re-create a 1950s-1960s installation in Barnstaple is documented.
Adverts from 1945 including Crompton Parkinson and Sordoviso have been added.
My ESLA/GEC/Lucy Bracket restoration has continued over the summer, along with
the stripping down of my Siemens Crawley lantern.
A BLEECO Worthing bracket has been added to the collection.
13|09|04
I've had a lucky weekend and managed to aquire some interesting bits and pieces: a rather odd ESLA 'Hybrid' swan-neck bracket,
a REVO Wall Bracket,
a Holophane 4125 glass bowl and
an ELECO Silver-Ray HW 922.
07|09|04
A collection of Phosco leaflets from the 1960s is currently being added to the
website. This was prompted by the mailing list - unidentified lanterns are ususally Phoscos
so it made sense to cover this important manufacturer. The first lanterns are all
enclosed sodium lanterns.
Night-time pictures of my REVO Prefect have been uploaded.
The Glossary has been extended and the
Timeline has been started - both will be under construction as I slowly add to them.
Three more adverts from 1945 have been uploaded including Walter Slingby, ATM and Sugg.
30|08|04
Peter Rivet has written in with some information about
Alder And Mackay Limited.
A REVO Prefect and
REVO 'Question Mark' bracket have been added to the
collection pages.
27|08|04
Poles Limited feature the Kuwait lantern
in their rather kitsch advert for Adastra Poles in the
Public Lighting 1956 Conference Special.
Going back to 1945, the adverts for Philips,
BTH and Horstmann have now been scanned. The Philips Lamp Advert
is very, very to-the-point... just buy our lamps!
Peter Rivet has told me about Mackenzie Bros who cast columns
around Edinburgh. By coincidence, I've discovered that many of the ornate cast-iron columns in Westminster were
cast by them as well.
After just receiving a GEC Z9451, I looked around for some documentation
or catalogue of this particular lantern and found it featured in GEC's advert
on the front cover of Public Lighting, March 1953.
17|08|04
Moving on to the Public Lighting, the Kuwait lantern
has been joined by the Coventry, Court, Carpenter and
Crawley. Check out the full range for the
differences, or check out the advert.
I got the company name wrong originally: it's Poles Limited, not
Adastra. This has been changed and an advert from 1945 for the company
is here.
Further vintage 1945s advertisements include the
British Commercial Gas Association (which features a night shot
of Cambridge which I can't place) and
British Electrical Development Association.
13|08|04
The news that several Siemens Carpenter lanterns have been discovered in a cattle market,
and that we might be able to get our hands on some, has spurred me into action to get some information about this
pioneering range of stylish fluorescent lanterns on the website.
The lantern was first developed by Siemens as the Kuwait sometime between 1953 and
1955. The first advert I have for the Kuwait (the largest of the family) has now been uploaded
here.
Obviously they were good business for Poles Limited as well, who
included the same (albeit airbrushed) picture of a Kuwait in their
Adastra advertisement from the same issue of
Public Lighting (September 1955).
11|08|04
Another ESLA installation has been documented - this was
originally featured on my first site. The descriptions have now been updated where necessary. Unlike the
Cheam installation, I believe this one still exists.
Holophane is now back on the website with a war-time
advert from 1945.
08|08|04
Night-time pictures of the stepped REVO and
ESLA 160o added.
07|08|04
Added one of my stepped REVOs and
brackets to my
collection page.
06|08|04
All the lanterns currently documented on this website have now been added to the
identification section - this includes the full ranges by
ELECO and
DAVIS.
The ELECO advert from
Public Lighting Vol#10, No. 36 has now been uploaded.
30|07|04
Another advert from
Public Lighting Vol#10, No. 36 has been added - this time,
it's for Metropolitan-Vickers who made lamps, control gear, lanterns, brackets
and columns.
The identification section has been expanded again to include lanterns from
A&M, Parkinson, Metrovick, ESLA and
REVO.
28|07|04
Four new archival advertisements have been added to the site, all from
Public Lighting Vol#10, No. 36 which dates from 1945. Of interest should
be a very familiar Stanton column.
The identification section has been expanded to include the whole BTH
range. Other lanterns will be added soon.
21|07|04
Added a picture of my newly aquired MA 400W lamp to the glossary. This
bulb will be used in my GEC "Lewisham" or
GEC "Horizal" lanterns.
A 35w SOX mystery lantern has now joined the collection.
Links updated with new sites from Adam and
Colin.
19|07|04
The infamous Ballards lantern is now in my collection. But
what is it?
(No - I don't think it's a REVO.)
18|07|04
Lots today.
I've uploaded the details of the REVO Magnalite range from
mid 1930s - these were REVO's mirrored directional lanterns.
But how could you tell your REVO from your ESLA? Well, I've opened the
identification section where everything is put on one page.
And I've also updated my collection page. With a REVO
Magnalite of course.
15|07|04
I've now added the Cheam Installation of ESLAs
which originally appeared on my old site. I also found some unpublished photos which I've put on-line for
the first time.
Unfortunately this is all teary-eyed nostalgia for me now. Despite leaving my name and phone number with
the council when they got replaced... you've guessed it, they all ended up in a skip.
On the subject of ESLAs, remember Haydn Thies Harrison, the man who
wrote the patent? Well, he turned up in Public Lighting #36 Vol.10 talking about the formation of the
APLE. Not only is the father of ESLA one of the founders of the association,
he was a Lt-Commander to boot. And spot the sly reference to
directional lighting in his column!
12|07|04
I've been on holiday hence the lack of an update for two weeks. But I'm back.
My next issue of Public Lighting
has now been outlined. It includes a feature
on new REVO designs, and they've now been added to the
site.
I've also added a latest addition to my
collection section.
24|06|04
Ever wondered how ESLAs were made? Or what the number etched on their canopies is?
Here's the patent.
The about section has been expanded with some begging.
21|06|04
Loads and loads and loads of stuff. Too much to mention really. Explore. Enjoy.
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