Se-Lux Geo Oval

2004 or thereabouts, a 10 year old me used to go with my mother to a shopping centre called Merry Hill in Dudley, and that year they chose to have some landscaping and renovations done. Included in those works was of course the street lighting, and it was these Se-Lux Geo Ovals they used, running either 150w MH or 70w MH. Even then I really loved their ultra modern appearance, and they never really aged as the years passed.

Last year they decided to begin further alterations, having a new tramway station built on the embankment between a road and the canal. This meant a number of these columns and lanterns were in the way and needed to be removed. Unfortunately my efforts to add one to the collection proved unsuccessful.

That is until a fellow collector showed and sold me this NOS example, an infinitely better example to have than a used one. Its incredibly well made, even to the point where it has a hydraulic strut to keep the canopy open for servicing. But one thing that did take me by surprise was just how heavy the thing is, made more awkward by its very modern and sleek design meaning moving it around is a bit of a pain.

Of course to light it I shoved a MH lamp in it, and as expected it fired up and ran beautifully. With this being added to the collection, its yet another, as well as one of the last childhood lanterns I need to complete the collection.