Thankfully, there’s also slower progress over the border in Essex, so we also have a few National Highways large-wattage SOX installations that can still be enjoyed to this day.

The best installation that I know of is the circa. 5-mile stretch of Philips MA60s that lights the A13 and A1089 between North Stifford and the Asda supermarket adjacent to Tilbury Docks. After the A1089 junction itself (the Baker Street interchange), the MA60s continue along the A13 towards Stanford-Le-Hope for a further half a mile. There is even another half a mile of additional Philips MA50s between the Asda Roundabout next to Tilbury Docks and the main entrance to the Port of Tilbury. It is highly unusual to see and drive along roads lit with continuous SOX street lighting in the 2020s. It was highly unusual even six years ago when I first posted photographs of the installation on UKASTLE in March 2017!

This installation is still very well-maintained, although there are more lights out than in the photographs from March 2017. The proposed Lower Thames Crossing will significantly re-build the A13 / A1089 Baker Street interchange. If the SOX lighting isn't removed before then, the junction reconstruction will put an end to it.

There are two significant other installations of high-wattage SOX that I know of that are still surviving in Essex. Both are 135W. They are Junction 25 of the A12 and the A120 through the village of Bradwell.

The A12 Stanway Bypass (junction 25 to junction 26) was opened in 1971 and is currently being reconstructed, having reached the end of it serviceable life.

It is certain that Junction 25, which was re-modelled when the bypass opened, will have its remaining SOX lanterns replaced as part of these works. The Prince of Wales Roundabout, which was exclusively-lit with a variety pack of 135W SOX lanterns including a Thorn Alpha Six, was an early casualty of the works in 2023, with the complete replacement of all of its street lighting with new columns and new LED lanterns:



The same view of the Prince of Wales roundabout photographed in May 2023. Unexpectedly, the National Highways re-lighting scheme used lanterns with 3000K LEDs, bucking the trend in this area to use 4000K LED lanterns.


Sadly, this was the penultimate Thorn Alpha Six still deployed in the Colchester area, but it has now been removed from service. We are now down to just one locally-installed Alpha Six.



The same view of the Prince of Wales roundabout photographed in May 2023.




Approximately the same view of the short stretch of dual carriageway which carries the A120 over the A12, photographed in May 2023, and we can see that LED is creeping closer to these SOX lanterns, and the Colchester area's last Alpha Six.

It is also worth noting that the installation really does look like it's on its last legs now, with multiple lanterns out of light.


The Alpha Six is one of the lanterns that is currently out of light.

While the A12 underneath these columns is routinely being closed as part of the carriageway reconstruction works, the opportunity to replace these columns would be too good to miss, and the area's last Thorn Alpha Six will surely be removed from service by the end of 2023.

A little further afield from Colchester, the A120 between Braintree and the A12 underwent a £6 million improvement project in 2017 which saw the replacement of all of the 135W SOX lighting at Mark's Tey as well as the 135W SOX lighting on two of the Coggeshall Bypass's three junctions. Puzzlingly, the SOX lighting at the junction at the western end of the Coggeshall Bypass was retained for a few more years, as was the 135W SOX lighting through the village of Bradwell. Although the junction at the western end of the Coggeshall Bypass succumbed to LED lighting a few years later, the village of Bradwell still had its installation of SOX street lighting the last time I travelled through the village a few months ago.



The same view taken at night in April 2019 after the completion of the A120 improvement works. Where columns were replaced, SON-running post-top Philips Iridiums were used, which fitted well into the existing nocturnal street scene.


A photograph of the short stretch of dual carriageway to the west side of Bradwell village, also taken in April 2019 after the completion of the A120 improvement works. Once again, the solution to expired columns in the middle of the dual carriageway fitted in well with the existing nocturnal street scene.

Although the fourth and final phase of Essex County Council’s replacement by LEDs programme has moved on from Stage 2 (Colchester and Tendring) to Stage 3 (Braintree and Epping Forest), there are a surprisingly large number of streets, particularly in Clacton, that have only partially been changed over to LED, or not been started at all. But anyone concluding that there’s still plenty of time to carry on enjoying - or wishing to come and see - mercury-lit streets for the forseeable future are sadly mistaken. The vast majority of the street lights that are yet to be changed over are SOX.

All of Clacton and the surrounding area’s mercury stock - GEC Z5641s, GEC Z5671s and Thorn Gamma Sixes, have been particularly badly hit.  I can think of only three Z5641s that are still in nightly service to the town – one in Windsor Avenue, one in Mountview Road and one in Carlton Park. There may be others of course. One of the three street lamps that I know to still be in nightly service in the town has seen a successful campaign to preserve it by a local enthusiast.

To serve as a record, here are some of the last photographs I took of the town’s GEC Z5641s. Many of the photographs were taken while Stage Two of the fourth and final phase of Essex County Council’s replacement by LEDs programme was rolling out across the town, so they were there one day and gone the next.


This photograph of Carisbrook Avenue was taken in July 2022. These street lights, photographed just 10 months ago, have now been removed from service. The existing concrete columns were retained.



Although this is a Tendring District Council lantern and was not under immediate threat of removal, it was unable to outlive the Essex County Council’s Z5641s nearby. The 1980s-vintage Royce Thompson thermal cell developed a fault which caused it to stay on all day. This photograph was taken in May 2022.


The street light has now been replaced with a Holophane S-Line LED lantern on the old concrete column. This photograph was taken in June 2022.




The junction as seen at night, with Clarendon Park's new Holophane S-Line in the foreground and Essex County Council GEC Z5641 on Mountview Road in the background. This photograph was taken in July 2022.

This Essex County Council GEC Z5641 has seen a successful campaign to preserve it by local enthusiast Nathan.


The Essex County Council street lighting along Mountview Road switches off at 1am as part of their part-night lighting regime, while the Tendring District Council lantern stays on all night. This photograph was taken a few moments after the one above.


As often mentioned in this topic, Jubilee Avenue in Clacton-on-Sea used to have a complete installation of Z5641s. A photograph of this street in fog from March 2005 is used on my Avatar. The above dusk photograph was taken in November 2017. The street has now been fully re-lit with LED street lights on the old concrete columns.


This night-time photograph of Windsor Avenue in Clacton-on-Sea was taken in May 2022. Sadly, the column closest to the camera has now been removed from service, leaving just one Z5641 lighting this street to this day.


GEC Z5671s – although a decade younger than the Z5641s – are also about to become extinct in Clacton and the surrounding area, but Norwood Avenue is bucking the trend with three in a row and provides a fabulous mercury-lit street scene to this day. This photograph was taken in December 2022, and the installation was still intact when I last visited the road a few weeks ago.


Although Essex County Council’s LED roll-out has moved on to the Braintree and Epping Forest districts, many streets in Clacton-on-Sea and Holland-on-Sea still have incomplete LED installations. This example of an incomplete changeover was taken in Holland-on-Sea in December 2022, and many streets in Holland-on-Sea are still not completed to this day.


Furthermore, many roads have not been started, like this example (Wash Lane) in Clacton-on-Sea. Although this photograph was taken in December 2022, the road and some of the surrounding roads were still untouched when I last visited them a few weeks ago.


Once again, most of Essex County Council’s residential street lighting switches off at 1am as part of their part-night lighting regime. This photograph was taken a few moments after the one above.

With perhaps just three GEC Z5641s in local service as we enter the New Carolean age, it is noteworthy that this lantern first appeared on Britain’s streets in the year of Queen Elizabeth II’s own Coronation in 1953, and they have done a sterling 60+ years of service to Clacton-on-Sea and the surrounding area.  Mike Barford even notes an unfounded theory that the crown-like appearance of the lantern top could have been inspired by Queen Elizabeth II's own Coronation in 1953.




Noting the long service provided to Clacton by the GEC Z5641 from the 1950s to the 2020s, would anyone speculate that the lanterns being installed in the town today will still be around in the 2090s? The above two photographs were taken in Bembridge Close in Clacton-on-Sea in August 2017.

Great photos as ever, and as sad as it is to see the replacements happening, it is also a joy that the old lighting has lasted quite this long. Also impressive to hear how one Z5641 is being retained follow an enthusiast plea. It is very unusual for a council to accommodate such a request.

Is Norfolk going LED? I noticed a lot of Arcs and Airtraces replaced by Phillips Lumistreet. I have found some articles from early 2021 saying that they replacing 15000 streetlights. Looks like they are going the Dorset way
Replacing higher powered street lighting.
https://www.norfolk.gov.uk/news/2021/01 ... on-in-2021
https://maps.app.goo.gl/9ptTZE7fSK3VuUE68?g_st=ic

The SOX installation at Marks Tey still survives as of May 2023 GSV. https://maps.app.goo.gl/9E6CL1pjtcrJumFr8?g_st=ic

I'm amazed the Thorn Alpha 6s near Colchester have survived this long. The lanterns are not very common outside of this area. However, I think Essex County Council are in the process of replacing their Alpha 6s as part of their LED replacements. The Highways England owned Alpha 6s are not affected.

_________________
No LED is better than other light sources (apart from probably lanterns such as Philips LumiStreets)!

Some of these installations still survive as of the latest Street View.

This installation is still there in 2024.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_URmqszvwE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17o4e4L4JjM

It's hard to believe that my photographs from the A13 and A1089 in Grays and Tilbury (above) are nearly seven years old. But I can also confirm that the installation is still in place, and it looks like it has even been re-lamped in the intervening years. This installation is doing a lot better than a few of the other National Highways-maintained high-wattage installations around London!

The A13 and A1089 junction will eventually be incorporated into the new Lower Thames Crossing. I wonder if there are enough spare 135W and 180W SOX lamps in the stores to keep this installation going until construction commences.

Sadly there is just one Alpha Six left - on the bridge over the A12. It may be removed as part of the A12 Junction 25 to Junction 26 carriageway reconstruction, which offers the rare opportunity to fully close the A12 below the bridge and remove the over-50 year old concrete columns that are mounted on the parapets once and for all.

National Highways have nibbled away at the SOX at junction 25 of the A12 in recent years. Both roundabouts at each end of the dual carriageway has been relit with LED lanterns on new columns, and it's just the short section of dual carriageway between the two roundabouts either side of the A12 that remains as SOX.

Interestingly, most of this short section of dual carriageway was re-lit in 2012 - with new SOX lanterns.