In Cambridge, I am pleased to report that the Richardson Candles still survive. However, there is a catch. They have been retained and professionally refurbished by JW UK Ltd, but according to JW UK Ltd's website, they now run either CosmoPolis or LED, so they are no longer "original" and running fluorescent.
Nevertheless, it is pleasing that they still exist and that they have been refurbished. Their daytime appearance is excellent, and I also saw a Revo Festival which had the same treatment. See pictures below of both types.
On New Year's Day 2018, I had the pleasure of visiting one of my friends and his girlfriend who have just bought a property near the centre of Cambridge. We dined out in the City in the evening, but before we ate, we had the opportunity to pass by the refurbished Richardson Candles and the occasional Revo Festival imposter at dusk.
My pictures from 2011 showing the Candles pre-refurbishment can be found
here.A CosmoPolis-refurbished Richardson Candle at switch-on. The green hue is familar to ceramic metal halide light sources at switch-on, and almost reminiscent of high pressure mercury light sources.
The Candles are warm white when the lamps reach full power, but as the lamp is in the top of the lantern, the distrubution of the light is not as even as back in the days of the fluorescent tubes.
The junction of Trumpington Street and Silver Street at dusk. It's fabulous to see all the Candles in light.
Silver Street has a mix of CosmoPolis-refurbished Candles (in the background of this image) and LED-refurbished Candles (in the foreground).
The LED-refurbished Richardson Candles have a more even distribution of light along their length compared to their CosmoPolis neighbours.
Dimming the above image down indicates that there are 3 sets of LED arrays inside the Candle, as opposed to the widely-available LED light tubes designed to be retrofitted into fluorescent light fittings.
Another street scene from Trumpington Street that can be enjoyed for the very short duration it remains.
The same scene (almost) in January 2018.
A closer view of the Candles from the same viewpoint.
Looking north up Trumpington Street from its junction with Silver Street. Seven Candles are in light, although I recall one of the wall-mounted lanterns on the left is actually a Revo Festival casual replacement.
The view south along Trumpington Street at dusk is reminiscent of a bygone age, and within a few weeks or months, this street scene will be no more. There are two more Candles in this street scene, but both of them failed to light.
With their conversion to CosmoPolis, all eight Candles are now in light.
One of the refurbished Candles in Trumpington Street.
The proposed replacements for the Richardson Candles are already installed opposite King's College in King's Parade, but the Candles they are replacing are still in situ and still switched to the supply, although that does not guarantee they work at night. The new, more directional 'needle' lanterns run metal halide lamps and do vastly improve the level of illuminance along King's Parade.
At night, both lanterns light. Where supplementary lighting exists, e.g. above on King's Parade, or in Silver Street further up this post, the Candles have been refurbished with LEDs. Where there is no supplementary lighting, the Candles have been refurbished with CosmoPolis ceramic metal halide.
An example on King's Parade of the old wall-mounted Candles (now converted to LED) providing decorative lighting with newer lighting substantially boosting light levels.
The view south along Trumpington Street from King's Parade. This may be the best position to photograph the refurbished Candles if you are visiting Cambridge - it is possible to capture nine Candles in the same photograph.
The Richardson Candles are classed as a Group A lighting installation, and would be inappropriate for some of Cambridge city centre's narrower roads and footpaths. Thankfully, there are a few ancient Group B installations to fill in the gaps.
Sadly the old installation is no more. Here is its rubber-necked replacement.
In conclusion, it is fantastic that the Richardson Candles were listed, which has prevented their removal from the street scene. On some roads, e.g. Trumpington Street, they are still the main light source, whereas in other locations, e.g. Silver Street and King's Parade, their light output is supplemented by more modern lighting installations. For any street lighting enthusiast living near or in Cambridgeshire, a trip to Cambridge is still very worthwhile, at any time of day.