It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 1:17 pm

All times are UTC






Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 411 posts ] 


Author Message
PostPosted: Wed Mar 30, 2016 8:42 pm 
Offline
Site Administration
User avatar

Joined: Mon Nov 09, 2009 5:38 pm
Posts: 3402
Images: 27
Location: Salisbury
Without going further off topic, so being brief, the sheer size of the Atlas Alpha 6 and the amount of aluminium used in the casting was almost certainly its downfall.

There are still some in the wild on an industrial estate and some in collections.


Top
 Profile  Personal album 
 
PostPosted: Fri Nov 18, 2016 7:31 pm 
Offline
Site Administration
User avatar

Joined: Mon Nov 09, 2009 5:38 pm
Posts: 3402
Images: 27
Location: Salisbury
From last night's Grand Designs, Stanton 7 column with finned bracket and Philips Mi51, 35W SOX, somewhere in the Wirral.

Image


Top
 Profile  Personal album 
 
PostPosted: Wed Jan 25, 2017 8:33 pm 
Offline
Site Administration
User avatar

Joined: Mon Nov 09, 2009 5:38 pm
Posts: 3402
Images: 27
Location: Salisbury
Spotted on tonight's Location in Stanford Le Hope, Essex, this CU Highway column but with a less common type of sleeve and SGS203.

Just down the road is this very rare and older CU Avenue 4D column with a similar sleeve and SGS203.


Top
 Profile  Personal album 
 
PostPosted: Thu Feb 16, 2017 6:33 pm 
Offline
Member
User avatar

Joined: Mon Aug 25, 2014 10:21 pm
Posts: 316
Images: 0
As a child of the 70s, I watched many of the TV sitcoms of the period, including "Are you being served?, Bless this house, Rising Damp, Dad's Army etc. It is something I can continue to do even today, since the more popular ones are still repeated on freeview channels from time to time.

One series which I have always liked is "On The Buses". I'm sure everyone here will have heard of this programme which at its peak was the most popular sitcom in its day. With Reg Varney as the lazy bus driver Stan Butler and Bob Grant as his lecherous conductor Jack Harper, both aimed to do as little work as possible, putting more efforts into chatting up the local clippies, whilst trying to avoid Blakey, the company inspector. However, I digress...

"On the buses" was interesting in that whilst the majority of filming took place in the Elstree studios, exterior scenes were filmed locally around Borehamwood itself. This continued when the series left the small screen to be turned into two full length feature films. A third one followed soon after.

As we know, any footage of buses tend to include streetlighting and "On The Buses" is no exception. As well as a good social comment about the attitudes and fashions of the period, it is also a good resource for vintage lanterns and columns.

Much information on the series can be found online. I must therefore recommend "onthebusesfanclub.com" for those interested, as well as "reelstreets.com".

Anyway, I have attempted to provide some screenshots from "Mutiny On The Buses" from 1972.

Like the first film of 1971, it was filmed around Borehamwood, Hertfordshire. It is pretty easy to see why so many Eleco products feature heavily in the street scenes. The company was enjoying major success at the time, plus its HQ was just up the road in St Albans. Fresh looking 8m concrete columns possibly only recently installed, abound with GR100s on top. Side streets seem to have HW846s installed whilst on other roads the earlier installations show HW745s again on Eleco columns.

As well as recent installations, the outdoor locations also include a vintage cast iron column with a tungsten lantern. On another scene, the camera pans down a road with what look like AEI Ambers as well as early "open" sodium lanterns on crescent swan necks. During the catchy opening titles, a similar location shows early postwar columns in the background including some which were already undergoing replacement with tubular steel types (probably by S&L).

It is certainly useful to look more closely at these vintage films, with many varieties of long obsolete equipment making frequent (if unscripted) forays into the camera lens.

Nb. Apologies as I've just noticed that a similar thread about "On The Buses" was discussed on Ukastle a few years ago.

Still, nothing like a repeat!


Attachments:
File comment: Opening shot of the film includes an early concrete column looming over Stan's bus. The location was Shenley road, Borehamwood.
bus6.JPG
bus6.JPG [ 75.32 KiB | Viewed 23794 times ]
File comment: Stan's brother-in-law, Arthur doesn't seem to have noticed the new columns going in on Gateshead Road, Borehamwood.
bus5.JPG
bus5.JPG [ 83.09 KiB | Viewed 23793 times ]
File comment: Squeezed onto Arthur's elderly motorcycle combination, Olive and Stan's Mum enjoy the changing scenery - but does this include the streetlighting?
bus4.JPG
bus4.JPG [ 76.78 KiB | Viewed 23793 times ]
File comment: Jack the conductor, decides on the final destination of his company's waybill - the local bookies. In the background, an Eleco HW846 keeps an eye on the proceedings.
bus3.JPG
bus3.JPG [ 52.03 KiB | Viewed 23793 times ]
File comment: Veteran cast iron column with a GLS lantern on Rectory Lane, Shenley, keeps a respectful distance from Arthur's disastrous bus driving lesson.
bus2.JPG
bus2.JPG [ 112.56 KiB | Viewed 23793 times ]
File comment: Crescent topped concrete columns with top entry sodium lanterns, share the lens with Stan's Bristol double decker on Bullhead Road, Borehamwood. This road also had some original "open" sodium lanterns still in service (which back in the 70s was nothing unusual).
bus1.JPG
bus1.JPG [ 69.14 KiB | Viewed 23794 times ]

_________________
"I can't think what you want to go to London for, you won't find any better lampposts there..."
L.S. Lowry. 1887-1976.


Last edited by GreatNorburyStDepot on Thu Feb 16, 2017 8:07 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Thu Feb 16, 2017 7:42 pm 
Offline
Random avatar

Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2016 11:00 pm
Posts: 15
Images: 1
The 'On The Buses' film crew did venture a little further afield from time to time.  In 'The Cistern' episode first broadcast in January 1970, a few exterior shots were filmed in Station Road, Hendon (London NW4).  The Borough of Hendon (pre-1964) renewed most of its street lighting during the 1950s with Revo luminaires on Revo concrete columns predominating and Stewarts & Lloyds tubular steel columns (very often with Revo luminaires also) very widely installed (but Elecos and others used also).

This still was filmed in 1969:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/rstelex/32814942131/in/datetaken/


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Thu Feb 16, 2017 9:01 pm 
Offline
Member
User avatar

Joined: Mon Aug 25, 2014 10:21 pm
Posts: 316
Images: 0
Re: On The Buses.

I have been having a little look at some of the outdoor locations on GSV.

The scene where Stan attempts to show Arthur the finer points of bus clutch control, was filmed (according to "reelstreets.com") on Rectory Lane, off Pound Lane in Shenley, which is situated outside Borehamwood.

The current view shows the area has been built up somewhat since the film, however whilst the old cast iron column has long gone, interestingly its 1970/80s replacement is still going strong. Rectory Lane has further lighting of the same type further down, although I suspect these are all mercury burners. One of the lanterns currently has its bowl hanging down.

The lanterns look to be Eleco Ware Mk3 / HW852.


Attachments:
bus2.JPG
bus2.JPG [ 112.56 KiB | Viewed 23776 times ]
rectory3.jpg
rectory3.jpg [ 112.35 KiB | Viewed 23776 times ]
rectory1.jpg
rectory1.jpg [ 142.65 KiB | Viewed 23778 times ]
rectory2.jpg
rectory2.jpg [ 136.46 KiB | Viewed 23778 times ]

_________________
"I can't think what you want to go to London for, you won't find any better lampposts there..."
L.S. Lowry. 1887-1976.
Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Tue Aug 08, 2017 5:15 am 
Offline
Random avatar

Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2015 4:56 pm
Posts: 16
Images: 220
Revo Scopas in old Dr Who episode

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=710683602465599&set=pcb.1963196300591551&type=3&theater


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Thu Sep 14, 2017 5:30 pm 
Offline
Site Administration
User avatar

Joined: Mon Nov 09, 2009 5:38 pm
Posts: 3402
Images: 27
Location: Salisbury
Croydon used to be full of old relics but sadly all now replaced, perhaps except for one. From last night's Location Location (and via 4OD, background right):

Image

An earlier shot showed the base to be a CU Estate Minor, the lantern looks to be possibly a Revo Prefect, and bracket may be a finned type. Unfortunately no clearer shot.

The column is the grounds of private flats, and may therefore not be council maintained.


Top
 Profile  Personal album 
 
PostPosted: Tue Nov 07, 2017 9:16 pm 
Offline
Site Administration
User avatar

Joined: Mon Nov 09, 2009 5:38 pm
Posts: 3402
Images: 27
Location: Salisbury
Our very own Mike Barford was featured on BBC1's The One Show this eve. The actual footage of his collection was filmed many months ago.

Have a look at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b ... -07112017# and then scroll to about the 15:40 mark for the start of the piece.

Mike has mentioned to some of us that:

Quote:
Originally, I was to take a few of my lanterns to a museum in Yorkshire, where they have an indoor street scene; the idea being that the street would be “lit” with different lamp technologies, and I’d then talk about each one individually. In the end, however, the plan changed, and I was asked whether I would mind the filming taking place at home instead. Somewhat apprehensively, I agreed, and several hours’ worth of footage was filmed back in June – there was only a single camera used, and so every interview had to be conducted twice, in order for both my, and Adebanji’s (the presenter), faces to be seen during the interview.

The majority of the piece concentrates on the replacement work, and I just provide a bit of background history. Owing to the editing, the implication is that the low pressure sodium lamp itself won the award in 1955, when in reality, it was the Alpha 1 lantern that I’m talking about that was the winner.


Top
 Profile  Personal album 
 
PostPosted: Wed Nov 08, 2017 7:40 am 
Offline
Member
User avatar

Joined: Sun Nov 09, 2014 10:20 am
Posts: 173
Images: 22
I saw that too, interesting to see another collector on TV!

Also I noticed at 19:35 the councillor saying that the LEDs last 10 years and the sodium lanterns last 3 years, although he makes it sound like the entire SOX lantern only lasts 3 years, when its only the lamp that needs replacing.


Top
 Profile  Personal album 
 

Display posts from previous:  Sort by  


Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 411 posts ] 

All times are UTC



You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Jump to:  

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 32 guests



Search for:

cron