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PostPosted: Tue Nov 11, 2014 10:42 pm 
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Since the inception of the National Health Service on July 5th 1948, one of the more recognisable features of its provision are the numerous hospital sites which exist. Most are still in use, some are in mothballs, whilst others shutdown years ago linger on in a shameful state of dereliction.

Whilst it is not the intention to discuss the history of the health service, it must be remembered that prior to 1948, hospital provision in the 1930s was generally in the hands of voluntary institutions and local government through public health departments. Hospital buildings for the most part were of a variety of designs and age with many of them situated in their own extensive grounds.

Until the commencement of the various PFI programmes which provided (expensive) futuristic buildings and up to date facilities, (whilst demolishing redundant yet architecturally significant buildings at the same time) the majority of NHS buildings were of 19th or 20th century construction. Whilst the design of these buildings has been covered on other sites, one area which has received only passing mention is the provision of external lighting which could be found on these premises.

Many of the larger hospitals were situated in spacious grounds with integral road systems. Any lighting that was provided, was usually restricted to the ubiquitous wall mounted "shovel" floods fitted with a high powered GLS lamp, often individually switched. With the increasing use of motorised vehicles in the 50s and 60s however, it was desirable to provide improved lighting within the hospital grounds.

As these improvement schemes tended to mirror what was happening on the public roads, much of the same sort of equipment was selected too. Therefore concrete columns with sodium lanterns began to appear in much the same time as those on the streets.

The difference however was that these health authority installations tended to live far longer than those in the municipal realm, mainly as a result of budget constraints or where the long term future of the hospital site was uncertain.

A good example of this type of installation was the former Monsall Hospital in Manchester. Closed in the mid 90s, this sprawling site consisted of individual buildings rather than the usual central block system. A network of access roads connected the buildings and as can be expected, a fair street lighting installation was established in the 1960s.

The standard column used was a 5m AEI "leader" column with top entry bracket. The main lantern used here was the  AEI Group B Amber for 45W SO-I although further extensions to the installation used GEC Z9491s on 5m octagonal columns. Along the perimeter of the former bowling green, aluminium columns with top entry Revo C14410/Ts were used. Under the North Manchester Health Authority, casual replacements due to knock downs were always Thorn QLC1s with a geared 90W Alpha 9s on top. Quite a lantern for a 5m column but this seemed to be the standard arrangement for hospitals under their control.

I will be adding some pictures of the Monsall lights in due course, however in the meantime; do any other members who have had contact with the NHS recollect any unusual lighting installations?

Just like the lighting on our streets, these installations are also facing a poor prognosis!

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"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.


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PostPosted: Wed Nov 12, 2014 6:57 pm 
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Thorn was very popular in a lot of hospitals. I've seen plenty of Thorn aluminium columns on hospital property, along with lanterns such as Gamma 6s, Beta 2s and Beta 5s.

One particularly interesting hospital for lighting until just a few years ago was Hillingdon Hospital in west London, where some Atlas Beta 2s (fluorescents) still did nightly service until recent times.

There is an Urbis theme with lighting in Southampton's hospitals. At Southampton General there are a number of ZX1s as well as ZX3s, and at the Royal South Hants they have Sapphire 1s.

At my nearest hospital, when a unit was built in the 1980s they installed GEC Z5676s, and then in the early 2000s they replaced all of the lighting with Iridiums.


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PostPosted: Wed Nov 12, 2014 8:27 pm 
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My nearest hospital is lit with spheres, which would date to the hospital's opening in 1994. Another hospital next door to it has a more interesting selection of lighting, which includes two Beta 2s and what look like Thorn Celests and some boxy LED lanterns, which would have replaced more Beta 2s. Another smaller NHS site nearby has what looks like an early Beta 2/5 installed 90 degrees to the bracket.


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PostPosted: Thu Nov 13, 2014 12:50 am 
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Nice to hear some feedback on this subject. Whilst none of us would wish to be admitted to hospital, at least there are things which will keep us amused.

Another hospital which had interesting lighting was Booth Hall Children's Hospital, in Blackley, Manchester. The buildings were designed on different lines to Monsall, being based around a central admin block and corridors off which were the various wards and departments. In the 1920s, two pavillion styled extensions with balconies were added, which allowed patients access to the fresh air and sunshine. Although to a different design, the hospital still occupied a large site and therefore had quite an elaborate road system to access the wards, stores, ancillary departments etc.

Original lighting consisted of enamel reflectors mounted on buildings, however in the 50s a token nod to the modern age came to Booth Hall in the shape of a 6m concrete Eleco column with a Benjamin "shovel" on top. As with other installations, this column was switched on by a member of the grounds staff at night - no time clock was used. In the 60s, two 5m steel columns were erected on the roadway to the hospital laundry. These had swan neck brackets and Atlas Beta 3s fitted. Both columns were later decommisioned in the early 90s due to corrosion and earth faults. One of the lanterns still had its 45W SO/I lamp.

Things stayed pretty much the same until the late 70s when new lighting was installed. The bulk of the grounds were now lit by 90W geared Alpha 9s mounted on 5m Thorn columns. Interestingly, the old reflectors remained in situ and connected. Close to the main entrances were two twin arm aluminium columns (I think they were 12m high but fitted with Eleco GR150s. As the hospital didn't possess a tower wagon of their own, the assistance of the Greater Manchester Fire Brigade was sought with their "Simon Snorkel" appliance. The GR150s were relamped and cleaned every couple of years or so. The whole of the hospital lighting was via a central timeclock, with the whole lot routinely day burned to check for failures.

In the mid 80s, the one and only concrete column was spalling badly and the decision was taken to replace it. I recall the hospital electrician saying that as they didn't have the means to crane it out of the ground, the column was demolished bit by bit using a chap on a ladder with a lump hammer!

In later years, the SOX lanterns were changed for GEC Z8832 lanterns, including the GR150s, however a few Alpha 9s lingered on on the engineering stores and boiler house.

The whole site has since been demolished following the closure of Booth Hall Hospital and transfer of its services to the new site in central Manchester.

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"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.


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PostPosted: Thu Nov 13, 2014 7:28 pm 
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Re: road lighting within the NHS.

Further to my original post about Monsall Hospital in Manchester, I have now included some scans. These are from photos I took in the early 90s at the hospital whilst everything was still in full swing.

The lighting despite its age and condition, was still functional however, whilst one one occasion whilst I was there, one of the GEC lanterns having lost its bowl and reflector was condemned as unsafe. As the electricians couldn't get hold of a top entry replacement, they managed to adapt a Philips MI36 lantern "Kombipak" by removing the PEC socket in the canopy. The resultant hole was then packed out with bath washers and the canopy was then secured to the 3/4" thread on the bracket with a suitable nut. The unused side entry was blocked with a conduit box lid.

Although the new lantern was not particularly waterproof after the bodging up,  it did manage to last until the site was demolished a couple of years later.

Although Monsall Hospital is no longer in existence, I am however pleased to report that one of the top entry AEI Amber lanterns and its bracket was salvaged during the demolition, along with a glass bowled Revo "Belltop". These now reside in my collection.


Attachments:
File comment: The majority of the lighting at Monsall was of this type. A 5m AEI "Leader" column with top entry bracket. The lantern is also by AEI and is a group B "Amber" for 45W SO-H lamps, although it would have latterly used 35W SOX. The bowl has clouded over with age, however these lanterns survived to the very end. One managed to escape demolition and is now in my collection.
monsall4.jpg
monsall4.jpg [ 76.7 KiB | Viewed 9444 times ]
File comment: Eleco GR150s were to be found in only two locations at Monsall. This one was at the end of a lonely path to "Rose Cottage". I think we can summise what this building was used for! The second GR150 was mounted on a wall bracket on the admin block. Due to the low mounting height here and the length of the lantern, the bracket uplift was modified from 5 to 70 degrees from the horizontal.  I can't imagine the sodium would have stayed in one place in this lantern.
monsall6.jpg
monsall6.jpg [ 145.72 KiB | Viewed 9444 times ]
File comment: As well as AEI Leaders, there were also a number of these hexagonal columns. They may have been examples of the "Adastra" by Poles Ltd. The GEC lanterns tended to be in a rougher state than the AEI products, although they may have been from the same era.
monsall5.jpg
monsall5.jpg [ 97.23 KiB | Viewed 9444 times ]
File comment: A traditional Amber Minor lantern mounted on an Atlas aluminium column. Interestingly, the lantern was supplied "less gear". The ballast was mounted in the column.
monsall3.jpg
monsall3.jpg [ 105.48 KiB | Viewed 9444 times ]
File comment: A small number of REVO mercury lanterns existed close to the abandoned bowling green. The columns are quite unusual but I am unable to confirm the manufacturer. The lanterns had glass bowls and refractors. They used 80W MBF lamps, however one lantern still had an "pearl" MB inside.
monsall2.jpg
monsall2.jpg [ 66.72 KiB | Viewed 9444 times ]
File comment: What could be considered to be the standard column for North Manchester Health Authority. A Thorn 5m aluminium column with short outreach and an Alpha 9 geared 90W SOX lantern with deep bowl.
monsall1.jpg
monsall1.jpg [ 72.27 KiB | Viewed 9444 times ]

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"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.
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PostPosted: Fri Nov 14, 2014 6:23 am 
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Shotley Bridge Hospital was a site built on a hillside with the main blocks to the bottom and then sprawling buildings to the top. The site was originally lit with Revo Daleks running 60W S0/H originally and later 55W SOX. However come the 60's there was the demand for more space and a 5 story tower block was constructed. The original lighting is unknown but the current thorn Alpha8 MKIIIs I doubt date back to the 1960s construction of the tower block. The Alpha8s on the concrete utilities columns are starting  to show they're age now, the canopies are nearly black, two have been replaced by Iridiums on steel columns and two with ex durham county council MRL6s one of which is now broken. It'll be sad when they finally go which is imminent due to the cracking in one of the double bracket columns as these represent some of the last main(ish) road concretes in the North East.  Durham County Council undertake maintenance on behalf of the hospitals.

The top buildings and main blocks were demolished between 2001 and 2006. Now only the extended tower block and a new mental health care unit further down the hillside remain. In 2004 when the tower block extension was constructed the new car parks were fitted with twin bulb Abacus Orions and the mental health unit road and car parks with Gamma6s running SON.

In 2009 a doctors surgery was located to the site, here the lighting uses DW Windsor Monaros which all run ceramic metal halide apart from one which somehow ended up with a SON bulb which is obviously a cock up.


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