Thank you Phosco152 and A13James for your kind comments
Last on the list is Colchester. It is very generous that ECC have left my home town to last
. Phase 1 (the LED trial in the town centre and the town centre approach roads) and Phase 2 (all full-night lighting units) are both complete, but I am almost certainly sure that Colchester has yet to see any Phase 3 works. The town is still seeing new LED casual replacements as and when old SOX and SON bulbs expire, but this is a slow process.
Phase 3 of the LED roll-out is yet to reach Colchester, lanterns with expired bulbs are likely to be replaced with a new LED lantern when the street lighting crew visit the column. Pictured above is Highwoods Approach in Colchester last month (January 2019).
Highwoods Approach as photographed last Sunday (21st April 2019). Philips DigiStreet Micro lanterns have been fitted.
Phase 3 of Essex County Council’s LED roll-out (to replace large-wattage part-night lighting) has now hit Colchester in a big way. I first noticed that the roll-out had reached Colchester about six weeks ago (17th March 2019) when Axial Way – a road opened in circa. 2010 – had been converted from the original installation of flat glass SGS203s to Philips DigiStreet Minis.
Axial Way, Colchester, also photographed last weekend (21st April 2019).
Six weeks later, there is now very little in the way of large-wattage discharge lighting left in the town.
Numerous vintage large wattage lanterns from manufacturers such as Eleco, GEC, Philips, Phosco, Siemens and Thorn have been swept away. I believe there are just five Atlas / Thorn Alpha Ones left in the town (we had up to 10 times that many a few weeks ago), and two Thorn Alpha Sixes remain. The few remaining Phosco P156s and P157s have now gone.
The two Thorn Alpha Sixes escape for now as I believe they are under the control of Highways England, but the Alpha Ones are all Essex County Council and will be gone soon.
Via Urbis Romanae, otherwise known as the A134 Colchester Northern Approach Road and opened in 2012, as photographed last weekend (21st April 2019). It is an example of one of the few remaining large roads in Colchester that has not had all of its street lighting fully converted to LED (the lighting either side of this junction is now lit with Philips DigiStreet Mini lanterns).
An older section of the A134 Colchester Northern Approach Road opened in 2003 and was originally lit with Philips MA50s. It is now lit with Philips DigiStreet Mini lanterns, with the occasional Philips Luma Midi casual replacements from an earlier time.
This road is typical of many main roads in Colchester right now. The only large-wattage discharge lighting that remains in Colchester can often only be found in awkward locations, e.g. adjacent to traffic islands where parking the van would force traffic to pass the island on the wrong side of the road.
Westway is also part of the A134 and is also awaiting conversion to LED, making it one of the last sites in Colchester with large-wattage discharge lighting. This photograph was taken last Saturday (20th April 2019).
Colchester North Station’s “hamburger” roundabout, which is also part of the A134, offers a solace of SON in the road that cuts through the middle. This photograph was also taken last Saturday (20th April 2019).
Phase 1 versus Phase 3: Phase 1 of Essex County Council’s LED roll-out (trial sites) used Schreder Amperas in Colchester and Phase 3 is using Philips DigiStreets.
In Colchester, the Philips Luma was used in phase 2 of the roll-out (large-wattage all-night lighting) and the Philips Luma and occasionally the ASD Highway Diamond Elite have been used for casual replacements.
Although lanterns with expired bulbs are likely to be replaced with a new LED lantern, many locations in Colchester still have well-maintained and unbroken installations of SOX street lighting, e.g. in Circular Road South pictured above on Tuesday evening (12th February 2019). Nothing is out of light in this photograph.
Circular Road South as photographed last weekend (21st April 2019). Philips DigiStreet Mini lanterns have been fitted.
In this LED roll-out which is for all large-wattage part-night lighting (Essex County Council phase 3), 8m columns in Colchester have had both Philips DigiStreet Mini (BGP761) and DigiStreet Micro (BGP760) lanterns fitted whereas 10m columns have had Philips DigiStreet Mini lanterns fitted. I would assume the choice as to which lantern is fitted on 8m columns is taken based on location and / or traffic volumes. There are some streets on Phase 3 of the roll-out which have columns at 12m, and these may have the DigiStreet Medium (BGP762) if the DigiStreet Mini is too much of a stretch.
A second example of SOX against a blue dusk sky. These are old-style Philips MA90s (with the streamline shoe) in Mason Road, Colchester photographed in December 2017.
Mason Road, Colchester, as photographed last weekend (21st April 2019). Four MA90 stragglers remain in this view, although only two are in light. This industrial estate has had Philips DigiStreet Micro lanterns fitted.
The same scene at night, also photographed last weekend (21st April 2019).
Many Alpha Ones will also be lost in the LED trial. The Atlas Alpha One was launched in 1955 and the Urbis Ampera was launched 56 years later in 2011, so it's quite a juxtaposition to see lanterns from such different eras sharing the same street.
Colchester's Alpha Ones have certainly aged well and still look as good as they did in their 1970s heyday. I'm unlikely to be around in 56 years time to see if the Urbis Ampera equals the Alpha One's production longevity and long service life.
As there are only five left (to my almost certain knowledge), here is a quick review of Colchester’s last Alpha Ones before they bite the dust...
This Alpha One has a stay of execution thanks to the traffic island in front of it. As of this month, there are just three of Cowdray Avenue’s original concrete columns still in situ. The rest of Cowdray Avenue has been widened / improved / altered for junction access in the last circa. 40 years. This photograph and the next three photographs were taken last weekend (21st April 2019).
Unusually, this lantern’s Telensa Telecell is mounted on the side of the shoe. The Telecell replaced a two-part cell that for some unknown reason, was drilled into the side of the Alpha One instead of the top when the time clocks were removed in the 1980s.
The Alpha One in Cowdray Avenue is the closest one to my home in Colchester town centre, so an evening walk to see it switch on seemed in order last Sunday evening (21st April 2019).
As of this month (April 2019), there are just three SOX lanterns left in Cowdray Avenue – the original Alpha One and two Philips MA90 casual replacements. They are all adjacent to each other. Ironically, the Alpha One is still in light but the MA90s are out of light.
Colchester still has a small population of Thorn Alpha Ones. As Clacton-on-Sea is about to lose its last Alpha One, I hope Colchester’s Alpha Ones remain in service until at least the LED roll-out arrives.
Pictured above are two Alpha Ones in the Parsons Heath area of the town, photographed in January 2018.
One of this pair of Alpha Ones was lost in recent months as a result of a column removal or knockdown. The column is still to be replaced.
The other Alpha One is still in place, but it is on borrowed time. This photograph and the next two photographs were taken on 21st April 2019.
Further up the road and in the background of the above image, a short section of this road (the A137 at Parsons Heath) still remains to be converted to LED.
A photograph of nearby unclassified St. John’s Road in Colchester. These columns were probably erected in the 1960s (else the late 1950s), were sleeved in the 1970s with their original Alpha One lanterns retained (as they were still relatively new back then), had their Alpha Ones replaced with flat glass Philips SGS203s in the 1990s and have now had their SGS203s replaced with Philips DigiStreet Minis in the 2010s.
The third Alpha One still installed in Colchester (as of this week) is also on the A137, but on Harwich Road near its junction with Goring Road. The rest of the road is now lit with Philips DigiStreet Mini lanterns. This photograph and the next photograph were taken on 21st April 2019.
If you are wondering why the opticell looks so white, it is because the reflective plate has been dislodged. It’s a sight that we used to see once in a while in the past, but we won’t be seeing again on British streets.
The fourth Alpha One is on the unclassified Fingringhoe Road on the south east corner of Colchester. The rest of the road is now lit with Philips DigiStreet Mini lanterns. This photograph was taken on 21st April 2019.
The last of the five Alpha Ones still installed in Colchester is inexplicably mounted somewhere near 10 metres mounting height on the B1022 Shrub End Road. This photograph and the next photograph were taken on 21st April 2019.
In the 1980s, most of Shrub End Road was lit with Alpha Ones mounted at 10 metres, but these have given way to knockdowns and casual replacements over the years. The only explanation I have for this is that when the columns were sleeved in the 1970s, the opportunity was taken to increase the mounting height of the lanterns from 8 to 10 metres with a double sleeve, but the Alpha Ones were not changed over to more suitable 135W lanterns.
This road is unusually wide in places and the other remaining concrete columns on the road are also double-sleeved up to 10 metres. The rest of the road is now lit with Philips DigiStreet Mini lanterns.
Having reviewed that Alpha Ones that are still extant in Colchester as of April 2019, here is a review of the few Alpha Sixes that have been lost in recent weeks and the two that are still extant.
The A12 southbound on-slip has three Alpha Sixes. Two of them are the first and fourth lanterns in this photo from 2008.
How the slip road looks in 2012...for the time being at least. One GR150 on a sleeved concrete column has given way to an SGS203 on an octagonal column.
The A12 southbound on-slip has just been converted to Philips DigiStreet Minis with this one 135W SOX MA50 straggler at the end. The straggler may be under the control of Highways England. This photograph was taken in April 2019.
Here's how the Alpha Six on column two looked in 2008.
Fast forward to yesterday and it's still hanging on, albeit having gathered a little more moss in the last four years! The tree is a little taller and the telegraph pole has lost its weather coating.
Sadly the above Alpha Six, on Station Road, Mark’s Tey, has also been changed to a Philips DigiStreet Mini lantern in April 2019.
Thankfully there are two Thorn Alpha Sixes that will avoid the Essex County Council cull as they are under the ownership of Highways England. One is on the Prince of Wales roundabout and the other is on the short section of dual carriageway linking both roundabouts that form each side of junction 25 of the A12. Pictures of the Prince of Wales roundabout
were included in my post from February 2019.The one remaining Thorn Alpha Six on the Prince of Wales roundabout in Mark’s Tey on the outskirts of Colchester pictured here adjacent to an ELECO GR150 and a Thorn Alpha Four, which are both day burning. This photograph and the next three photographs were taken in April 2019.
A photograph of the roundabout’s Alpha Six in isolation.
Although the Alpha Six does not day burn, it does switch on earlier than the other correctly functioning lanterns on the roundabout. Here the Alpha Six is in the back of the above photograph.
A closer view of the Alpha Six on the Prince of Wales roundabout at dusk.
One end of the short section of A120 dual carriageway that links both sides of the A12 together at Junction 25. Photograph taken in 2008. The first lantern on the left (which has turned on its spigot) is an Alpha Six, the lantern on the right at the back of the picture (on the parallel road) is also an Alpha Six and the two brackets with missing lanterns are Alpha Sixes with snapped spines.
The same scene yesterday (22nd March 2012). I thought it would never happen, but the Highways Agency are replacing the sleeved concrete columns, which seem to have stood there for an eternity. Even the double bracket that was missing its Alpha Six for at least four years (it previously lit the A12 northbound on-slip) is now back in light.
The following four photographs were taken in April 2019. It should be noted that the Highways Agency only replaced some of their sleeved concrete columns back in 2012, hence these six sleeved concrete survivors on the bridge parapet in the photograph above and the numerous sleeved concretes on the Prince of Wales roundabout live on to this day!
A close-up image of the second of the two last remaining Alpha Sixes in Colchester. The lantern is still turned on its spigot, hence it is possible to capture this side profile image of the lantern.
The Alpha Six lantern at switch-on.
The Alpha Six and its near neighbours on the dual carriageway above the A12 at Junction 25. In this photograph, the Alpha Six is warming up.
One last photograph from Junction 25 on the A12. The Highways England dual carriageway which can be seen the background of this photograph remains as SOX for the time being, whereas the Essex County Council controlled lighting on the southbound slip road in the foreground of this photograph has been changed to LED.
My travels through Essex routinely take me through around half of the county's other boroughs and districts, and as of April 2019 there is now very little Essex County controlled large-wattage SOX left, including in areas that were left to the end of the LED roll-out, e.g. Chelmsford and Colchester. As Ro Jo Jnr notes above, there are still plenty of stragglers about which will surely be picked off in the next few weeks or months.
In summary, if you want to see good-sized large-wattage SOX in Essex from now on, it’s now best to look in locations managed by Highways England