Odd... that column looks like it is mid-hinged. There is a lump halfway up the column shaft that is about the right size and shape for the hinge, and towards the bottom it looks like there is a split in the metal (where you'd put the long rope for a mid-hinged column) and a band of some sort.Yep I make you right, those columns are mid-hinged. I don't know why though because the road is easily accessible by a cherry-picker! Very strange.
Going a bit off topic here but on an industrial estate in Blaydon, I remember seeing a drop down column with a old Areaflood on top, i presume the base-hinge mechanism had failed as it has a length of rope was tied from the column to a tree, it also had rope tied round the base as well as a heck of a lot of gaffa tape. Baring in mind the columns are 8 metre tall and severely rusted they should of been replaced years ago. Sounds like a health & safety nightmare although a lot of these private industrial estates have lighting in a shocking, unsafe state. I remember one such estate in Poulton had a concrete column which snapped at the base and was lying on the pavement next to where it used to stand, complete with bracket and smashed lantern! That was about 20 years ago now though.