The Lamp Room

Been trying to save a particular installation for over 20 years. The whole thing was still in fantastic condition with no corrosion. Today, after many emails, phone calls and logistics, the day finally came to pick up with a hiab truck. The team carefully pulled and saved the entire column, column door with GEC stamped on it, GEC lantern and original glass acorn bowl and refractor ring. All now safely in the collection. Will be restored and stored until I can eventually plant it. Its pretty much the last concrete in the county and the only complete and original installation.

That’s absolutely mint Pete really good save that shame it’s the last surviver

Good that you managed to save such a fine example! Would have been a pity for that to have gone in the crusher.

Good that you managed to save such a fine example! Would have been a pity for that to have gone in the crusher.

Absolutely. There was no way I was going to let that get crushed - its completely original and all GEC. It was also the only one left in the entire county with its original glass acorn bowl and refractor. Remarkable really. I (politely) nagged them to death and it paid off. Been walking past this for over 20 years. Breathed a sigh of relief to get it landed at home I can tell you!

That’s absolutely mint Pete really good save that shame it’s the last surviver

Hi mate, many thanks. Yes it was very sad to see it removed but a source of joy to know its saved and safe. I simply couldn't let it disappear from history - not only do I have sentimental memories of this one from youth, but as you say, its mint apart from a few trivial concrete cracks which I'll repair easily. Thankfully the council saw my point of view and agreed on the merit of saving it - not an easy save due to logistics and three street lighting managers leaving over the years but we got there in the end. The entire thing will look like new when I'm finished with it. Its literally the last interesting thing that was left in that entire county - that county was to some extent a bit of a street lighting museum leaving it far later than most counties to swap everything out, but now the whole county has now gone LED on basic modern columns. The hiab truck I hired to transport this thing the 20 miles down the road was surprisingly good value as well - only £300 for the three hours to move it - I would have happily paid at least that to buy the column and lantern!. I've become a bit of a dab hand at moving concrete columns around now - this is my third lol - each one a different make/design, but I think concretes will be very rare as the vast majority of people simply don't see anything interesting about them and they're largely just thrown away. I'm glad I've saved what I have but I think this will be the last one now.

One thing I do fancy one day is one of the little CU concrete litter bin bollards! Look equally as heavy and inconvenient to move around

Ah yes - zooming in, I see the crack.... Definitely need to get that sorted! There's a column just like that (all be it with the top-entry arm cut back) sporting a Thorn Riga. In the last fed weeks, the top of the column has totally failed, the outtreach arm and lantern both destroyed as they hit the road. I think it had been forgotten, as partly hidden in the trees, on the ramp up one side of the bridge over a canal. I guess they'll be ripping what's left out now. Definitely wanna get that sorted before the concrete spalls....

Excellent save, good to see it is going to be preserved and at least the council let you save it.
How do you go about fixing cracks in these columns? Will you be having to coat it in something to prevent further water ingress into the concrete when it is finished?

One thing I do fancy one day is one of the little CU concrete litter bin bollards! Look equally as heavy and inconvenient to move around

Ah yes they're iconic and nice in design. I also love those old 1970's round concrete litter bins with the thin black band around them that says 'litter'. One day I'll find a pair of those and use them in the garden as planters

Ah yes - zooming in, I see the crack.... Definitely need to get that sorted! There's a column just like that (all be it with the top-entry arm cut back) sporting a Thorn Riga. In the last fed weeks, the top of the column has totally failed, the outtreach arm and lantern both destroyed as they hit the road. I think it had been forgotten, as partly hidden in the trees, on the ramp up one side of the bridge over a canal. I guess they'll be ripping what's left out now. Definitely wanna get that sorted before the concrete spalls....

Its a shame with so many of these concrete's that that sort of thing happened. Its amazing how well this one lasted by comparison really. There isn't any corrosion at all on any of the screws in the lantern either - a small blast with a blow torch and they all unscrewed with ease