Thorn and the NHS

[Cobster]

I was recently at a hospital. It was interesting to see there was Thron lighting everywhere still. Sunfloods, 2Ds, newly replaced Poppacks and also MK switchgear.

If local health boards were responsible for their finances, administration and branding until standardisation in the late 1990s (when the current NHS style, logo etc. was enforced), then why did they all seem to use Thorn lighting as standard before then?

What was this thing about the NHS and using Thorn?

[Zelandeth]

Think it was quite common for government bodies over here to use a huge amount of Thorn/AEI/Atlas/TEI branded kit.

It was a "one stop shop" for all your gear from one supplier essentially, and the range was flexible enough to cover virtually any configuration. If they didn't and you had the dosh they'd probably make it for you.

Atlas kit was specified in the tender documentation for the contract to build the former Aberdeen City Council HQ building (1968-2012) and I'm sure many others.

The fact that it was bloody good kit, in an era where that actually meant something by way of brand loyalty probably played a big part too.

[RobTDCI]

My secondary school built in 1972 was all lit by Thorn pop packs along with recessed incandescent lighting in the corridors and spot lighting tracks. The driveway was also lit by Thorn Gamma 5s. Other older schools in the area that had electrical refits in the same period were also Thorn, always very high quality installations, some still in use to this day. I also noticed that the local class 507 & 508 electric trains built in the late 1970s were delivered with Thorn warm white 4ft T12s and the lamp holders looked to be Thorn also. Thorn seemed to be the standard throughout the 1970s and early-mid 80s. They must have had some big contracts with large scale users. Things started to change after the mid 80s.

[FrontSideBus]

Read those Thorn Lighting Journals on James' site. They didn't just make lamps and fittings, they were also involved with designing installation schemes and even producing custom solutions which involve for example combining the lighting system with HVAC air handling! A very gold and informative read.

[Slyspark]

What a shame that these days their stuff is the utter pile of bollocks it's become. Their heyday has long since passed sadly.

[Cobster]

I've seen in their 1970s catalogues that the range covered everything. Anything a Lighting Engineer or Architect could desire.
So it seems I've looked at it the wrong way. Not only the NHS used Thorn, but everybody used Thorn. Thorn was King!

My school, the local library and church were Atlas, all our main roads were Thorn and even our sewage works used Thorn.
It just seems that some NHS sites have kept the tradition and kept it going, wheras all around these workhorses have been stripped out.

Good point Slyspark. I enjoy reading the comments whenever Thorn put a post about 'the good old days' on their FaceBook page.

Looking in the catalogue, I see there were 'OF' fittings designed for hospitals and reference to their "special" fittings. I wonder if any are still around today? I'll see if I can find a picture of them.
What did TEI stand for? - I've noticed it used with a lot of the Smart & Brown control gear used on BR trains in the 1980s too.

[Slyspark]

T.E.I. stood for Thorn Electrical Industries. Basically, Thorn, Atlas, Mazda & Ekco. Some of the control gear has part numbers that start AME - Atlas, Mazda, Ekco, as above.

[RobTDCI]

Crompton/Philips Streamlights seemed to be the next most popular choice in this area, one of my primary schools had a mix of Thorn Pop packs and Crompton with the blue/grey ends as it was refitted in two phases. Thorn pop packs in some of the classrooms in 1978 on the old circuits and then another classroom and the corridors in the summer were fitted with Crompaks as part of a full re-wire. The library and town hall also had Crompaks.

[Zelandeth]

Haven't been up there since they started construction really. Saw the planning stuff though!

Marischal is naught but a shell now. They discovered that the place was basically wrecked internally *after* they signed the lease on the site and had sealed the fate of St. Nicholas House. It's one gigantic, inefficient, cheaply constructed modern mess inside that doesn't work half as well as St Nix did.

I firmly believe that the best thing they could have done if they were determined to move out of it, would have been to have St Nix refurbished, re-clad with the mirror glazing that it was originally designed to have before they ran out of money because the place was utterly over-engineered, and lease it out as a mixed development. Retail/business on the lower levels and residential at the top. The views you got from up there ensured that you could basically name your price.

The day we moved into Marischal was basically the day that I realised that it was time to start looking at opportunities elsewhere, trying to work there was going to cost me my sanity!

[Zelandeth]

That's the only bit of the original interior left I believe!

I still can't believe that they went with the polished granite floor in the reception given councils usual fear of anything that might cause compensation claims, it's absolutely *lethal* in the winter! Fallen on my backside in there more than a couple of times.

Outside is nice, I'll give it that much.

Still miss St Nix though. For all it was threadbare and suffered from some neglect issues, it *worked* and somehow just felt comfortable in that "like a comfy old jacket" sort of way.