All street lighting in Bournemouth is being upgraded to CU Phosco LED lighting this year as part of a nearly £8million investment. Most of the 16500 columns in the borough will have new lanterns retrofitted, but 1000 steel columns will be replaced. There is talk that the new lanterns will be capable of supporting WiFi too. The lighting will apparently result in energy savings of 73%, although that isn't hard given that Bournemouth uses SON lighting in about the most energy inefficient way possible.
So, all those Phosco P235s and P236s, all those Phosco P170s, GEC Turtles, Thorn Alpha 8s, etc, they're all on their way out!It is a great shame to hear that this is happening and the old lanterns cannot soldier on for a little longer. The mix of old lanterns is arguably as unique to the town as the smell of the pine trees, and I hope they never chop all those down in the name of progress.
Although a considerable distance from Essex, I've been lucky enough to visit the town a few times for work over the last few years. I've even had the time to capture a few photographs between shifts, which I think are worth sharing here, as many of them were taken at night
A Phosco P236, photographed in March 2008.
...and close-up (I think this image has been on UKASTLE for a number of years).
An ELECO PT1004 running a SON lamp, one of many such lanterns that once populated Bournemouth's side streets. Photographs taken in October 2013.
...and close-up of course.
A night view of the same lantern.
..and close-up. These are rare nowadays, so the extra photographs are worth it.
Perhaps the rarest and most visually pleasing of Bournemouth's old lanterns is the Thorn Gamma Two vertical fluorescent lantern...
This was one such lantern which was next to my hotel during a stay in October 2013, so there were plenty of chances to get the additional photographs below.
Another image of the same lantern. Of the very few examples I saw, they were only used on refuge islands at junctions and pedestrian crossing points.
...and close-up.
When viewed at night, the lantern looks stunning.
The mercury glow provides a good contrast to the surrounding SON lighting.
Sadly it's clear that the fluorescent tubes are gone, having been replaced with an 80w mercury lamp which maybe running on the same gear.
...and close-up.
And a final nocturnal view of the lantern in action. If this lantern and the few others have now gone, I hope they were saved into collections.
Lastly, photographs of two Phosco P170s taken in February 2014.
I think this lantern is the same lantern Phosco152 photographed here.On the other side of the same roundabout, this Phosco P170 is still running a mercury lamp.
A close-up view of the lantern.
I'm sure I'll be back in Bournemouth again someday soon, but I won't be looking up as much as I used to