Manufacture of concrete columns is a complicated process...Having been unfamiliar with how concrete columns were actually made, Claire's insight makes interesting reading. Whilst it is a complicated process to start up again today, the industry was obviously very well designed for mass production, hence the huge (albeit shrinking) quantity of columns surviving today.
Since concrete columns are now out of fashion for a number of reasons, all the skill, plant and capability that has been in place since the 30s, has since become as extinct as the columns themselves.
It could be argued that our open air museums have managed to omit concrete columns and their accompanying risks, by selecting the time period they seek to recreate. Crich is in a difficult position, due to the long, evolutionary process their tramcar fleet illustrates. They have had to adopt a compromise streetscene in which all the vehicles will feel at home.
Whilst many streets were indeed lit by former gas columns (or traction poles, as demonstrated at Sandtoft), the fact remains that postwar concrete columns were as much a part of the local streetscene as they were, yet they seem to be poorly represented in this area.