While many councils ditched MBF for SOX during the energy crisis of the 1970s, Suffolk in East Anglia was happy to stick to MBF on side roads for a while longer, at least until low-wattage SON became a viable option in the mid to late 1980s.
In many areas, Eleco Silver Ray Juniors were the lantern of choice, before giving way to the GEC Z8831 which became just a popular in later years.
All the photographs in this post were taken in May 2018.
The village of Great Cornard in Suffolk still has a high concentration of Eleco Silver Ray Juniors, particularly on its distributor / spine roads. Newton Road, on the Great Cornard / Sudbury border, is one such road.
Gearless Eleco Silver Ray Juniors and the GEC Z8831 are popular on normal street lighting columns whereas post-tops, mainly from Eleco and Davis, complement the lighting deep in the estates.
A close-up of one of the installations on Newton Road.
Unusually, the photocell (a Telensa Telecell, as used across Suffolk) is often installed on the side of the lantern.
The B1508 Cornard Road, which links Sudbury to Great Cornard, has Eleco Silver Ray Juniors as far as the eye can see, albeit with a couple of casual replacements.
This Eleco Silver Ray Junior on a long pole bracket lights a junction.
Pot Kiln Road is another road of Eleco Silver Ray Juniors, although those with keen eyes may spot a few imposters.
A close-up photograph of the first pole bracket and lantern from the Church Lane end of the road.
The second lantern is a rare Thorn Beta Nine.
The village of Great Cornard has stubbornly stuck to white light over the years, including this road of Thorn Beta Nines! In fact many of Great Cornard's 'distributor'-style roads are lit by Thorn Beta Nines mounted on telegraph pole brackets, meaning the village retains dozens and dozens of them. They seem to be everywhere you turn!
In hindsight, Great Cornard's distributor / spine roads are mostly lit by Thorn Beta Nines and by Eleco Silver Ray Juniors, with the Eleco Silver Ray Juniors having the upper hand. Having said that, Canham's Road is perhaps the best example of a road lit by Thorn Beta Nines. Six are pictured here, with a GEC Z8831 on one of the brackets.
Two close-up views of Thorn Beta Nines with the photocell in the conventional location.
Just like the Eleco Silver Ray Juniors in the village, some lanterns have the photocells mounted on the side.
This Thorn Beta Nine in Canham's Road has a loose cover.
A look under the bonnet shows that the MBF gear has been swapped out for SON gear.
A final view up Canham's Road, Great Cornard, with five Thorn Beta Nines in a row...
..and one last close-up photograph of one of the lanterns.
Clearly these lanterns are on borrowed time, and may disappear quite soon with the onward march of LED, but as far as I know, they can still be enjoyed for now.