Hi Phosco1, yes I read that! and my question was more about what to expect in terms of when you get there. Things like hard hat safety shoes etc. I assume it's like any other industrial site? Also I want to try and maintain an on going relationship with them if I can. Thought I should only contact on the odd occasion, don't want to be a pest! how long do they usually take to respond to a request before you get the chance for a visit?

You will need PPE including a high vis, although you should report to the visitors reception on arrival.

As for your other questions, it all depends, some councils and contractors are very helpful and prompt replying to requests, others will acknowledge your inquiry and then fail to keep in touch, others will flatly ignore....

Well it took about 3 weeks for the lighting team to get back in touch after my initial email to tell me they would put the lantern aside, since then it’s been about another two weeks. I guess I will have to wait, until then I better save this for another thread as off topic on here!!

Hi I'm Theo, originally from Blackpool; with lots of different concrete columns and lamps, but now living in Cornwall where almost all lamps are Cosmopolis, on unpainted metal columns.
I've been into Street Lighting since I was a boy, so its good to see like minded people.

Hi, I am newly spawned.

I was always interested in street lights (well, any kind of light) as a kid and it's one of a variety of childhood interests I've been living up lately.

A little bit of history...

We moved up to Scotland when I was fairly young, (this is the first half of the 90s) and the area we lived in was almost entirely SON. The house(s) we lived in both had Alpha 8's in front of them (they're still there 20 years later), and I remember not long after we arrived diggers removing concrete columns in the town centre. I'm guessing I arrived just as the town was cleansing itself of SOX!

Despite that I've always loved SOX and would spend time in the evenings whenever we were at friends or family's house looking at the SOX lamps in the street. I also remember when motorway SOX wasn't as rare as hens teeth, in particular I enjoyed being under a load of MA60s, even as a nipper it's hard to forget their iconic look. I think we may also have had a mercury fitted Alpha 3 at our ferry terminal, but that of course is now long gone.

I recently got back into the hobby but unfortunately at the wrong time - I'm a SOX lover but the ONLY SOX around here are two or three near my work that will soon be casually replaced and a handful of worn out MA50s/90s up the road. Next best is Glasgow which has some real nice sights and I hope to soon find an area which still has twin bracketed SOX (180W please) on a wide road.

My other interests include lasers (I have several colours), photography, car things, and video gaming. Oh and I almost forgot, I own a Philips MI 26.

Welcome to UKASTLE sevenman96 and trencheel303  

Thanks Sotonsteve.

Good evening Ukastle, I have known of this site for some years, but have always shied away from joining as I don`t consider myself as a hardened street lighting collector as most of you guys on here!
But I have always had an active interest in the subject, actually doing a project on it as a school leaving presentation, with great assistance from a street lighting engineer, (Steve Larkin), I have known since I was 15, Steve was working for street lighting contractors David Liningtons at the time, and provided me with information and lamps, and a working demo model showing a 35W  SOX, and an 80W MBF lamp running.

About me, My name is Rich, I was born in 1972, so had the pleasure of growing up with MBF, then the change to SOX and now SON, in street lighting, and where I am in Cheshire, we also had hundreds of linear sodium lamps all over my town.
I am not a collector of lanterns, but do have a fair range of street lighting lamps, gear, cells and 2 Sangamo time switches.
About my user name, I know a GEC Nightwatch 50 never existed , but I have, as the front light, on my house, a 1981, restored GEC Z8831, running a 50W MBF lamp, (I actually changed to this from an 18W SOX)!!, I miss the old MBF lamps and although its all LED today, I`m having my little bit of the past on my own house!

Sorry for the long winded intro!
Rich

Welcome to UKASTLE!

Hi my name is Louis, I'm 19 years old and live in Crewkerne Somerset. My hobby is street lights which I collect.  My website will be up and running soon.