Thorn Beta 9 gear in head.

My rarest and biggest find (and subsequent) save in 2017 has to be these very seldom seen lanterns. The geared Beta 9 was part of a range that made up 4 lanterns, options being gearless or geared, with either a pinspot or clear anti-vandal bowl. They were designed to be a cheap alternative to other lanterns made at the time, hence weight is very small, being 1.93kg for the gearless lantern, and 5.84kg for the geared lanterns. Featuring a simple pressed aluminium canopy, these were designed to be interchangeable with gearless or geared base castings.
The lantern saw popularity overseas, however in the UK it was the complete opposite, being consigned to small installations here and there. Telford seemed to be quite keen though, and many a Beta 9 was installed, but all these were predominantly gearless.
The geared Beta 9 was consigned to a small installation of 9 along one small road in Telford. To even see them survive to 2017 is an incredible feat. The times are changing though, as unfortunately concrete column removals in the area are seeing the demise of all the Beta 9's.
The two examples seen here are very lucky to even be saved, as a cock up in spreading the message that I wanted these has seen 6 of those 9 lanterns lost to the skip. The top example has seen a replacement 80w MBF ballast at some point, meaning the gear cover had gone adrift due to the screw shearing. A replacement was made from roofing sheet, and a new screw made up, before being fitted into place. The bottom example needed far more work, as the canopy was bent out of shape, meaning it needed replacing. The bowl was missing also, meaning I had to rob the bowl off my gearless example to complete it. The redeeming factor however is that the gear cover was present, revealing a very rusty but still functional 125w MBF ballast.
Both seen here is just incredible, and a sight I doubt will be replicated anytime soon. I'm so thankful to those who played a part in taking time to save these, despite everyone knowing I wanted the lot. As expected I'm disappointed it wasn't a full house 9/9, but I guess we can't have it all.