Unfortunately I might miss them due to other commitments so was hoping somebody with links to Amey would be on hand to get a word in. I will be keeping a close eye over this month as Alpha 1s + 3s are due down as well!

One option if you see any of the guys beforehand is to have a picture of the lanterns (or a really good drawing) and hand it over to them to see if they'll leave the lanterns on the HIAB for the next time you spot them.

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Well the PFI has hit hard this month wiping out 20+ Alpha 1s in two different areas (only three good opticells though)! Three ELECO 305s (one still to come down), the "LAST" main road concretes that I can recall have all been pulled and a good dent in the shoe'd MA50s. Fortunately the shoe'd MA60s live on ambient, a few running reddish lamps and a few running 135W SOX. Still the Ring road holds strong with the ELECO 305s Alpha 3s GEC turtle and the High-masts. All the 'gems' are going

During my visit to Claire's last weekend, I had the pleasure of meeting fellow collector John Thompson for the very first time. I understand he was the saviour (I'm sure with encouragement and assistance!) of seven Siemens Ediswan Court lanterns which once stood next door to this private road - in Shrewsbury’s Harlescott Cattle Market.

Apart from on Claire's web site, there seem to be very few photographs of the livestock market showing the lanterns before their removal. Simon Cornwell's site does have a photograph of one of the Siemens Ediswan Courts after removal, which shows the enormous size of these lanterns. This prompted me to dig out the old photographs from the time I visited Shrewsbury's old Tesco store in Arlington Way (which closed when the new Tesco Extra opened on the cattle market site), a journey where I stumbled upon the Courts rather by accident...


A photograph of part of Shrewsbury’s Harlescott Cattle Market, taken 12 years ago in August 2000, with two of the Siemens Ediswan Courts in situ. It's interesting to see that the bowls do look cleaner in this photograph compared to the photographs taken in 2011 (as re-quoted above).

I was delighted to see that, along with John's save of the Siemens Ediswan Courts, Claire had also saved one of the blue Falks Beaufort lanterns at the site entrance, also pictured above.


A close-up of one of the Siemens Ediswan Court lanterns twelve years ago. Actually, this one could've done with a clean!

Twelve years ago, the lanterns would've already been over 40 years old, as the cattle market opened in 1958. Even in 2000, seeing any member of the Siemens 'Kuwait Unitary System' (see Simon Cornwell's web site) was already a rarity - as was seeing any main road fluorescent lanterns - hence the reason I stopped to take photographs.

The last time I had seen such lanterns was in the 1980s in Great Yarmouth, which used the Siemens Kuwait and the Siemens Coventry extensively, as well as using Siemens Carpenter lanterns running SLI/H lanterns on the A12 approach road through Gorleston.


Another photograph taken in Harlescott Cattle Market in 2000, showing four more of the Siemens Ediswan Court lanterns.


And a final close-up of one of the Siemens Ediswan Court lanterns.

Despite their rarity, even in 2000, it was brilliant to return to Shrewsbury some 11 years later and see two more Siemens Ediswan Court lanterns, still soldiering on at a time when big fluorescents had not only become rare, but were now as rare as hen's teeth!

Absolutely superb images David of an almost lost installation, thankfully all of the lanterns still exist in 2012, although seven of them are off site. The lanterns that are still extant are on the abattoir complex, which was adjoined to the old cattle market site. Btw, there is another Court that exists at the back of the site on the back entrance to the abattoir; I think that you might be aware of this?

Re the Falks lanterns, there were originally three on the gate in your photo, however, one was crushed flat and beyond hope; likely courtesy of local yobs. Of the other two, I have one and John Thompson has the other complete with mounting brackets.

Thank you Claire. I'm afraid I've never seen the third Siemens Ediswan Court lantern - it must be buried deep in the site as it wasn't visible from the first two Courts.

And looking at Simon Cornwell's web site again, it appears that the Linear Low Pressure Sodium version of this Siemens family of lanterns didn't take the Carpenter name, and instead was called the Osprey. As the 200W SLI/H tube is the same size as a 3ft T12 fluorescent tube, I would imagine the Osprey would therefore be a similar size to (or even the same size as) the Siemens Ediswan Carpenter (on Simon Cornwell's web site), which runs 3ft T12 fluorescent tubes.

The only puzzle for me is, having seen what I now believe was a day-burning Siemens Osprey on the A12 near the James Paget hospital in the mid-1980s, I do not recall the lantern being mounted at the designed mounting height for 200W SLI/H of 12 metres, and possibly not even as high as 10 metres (the A12 outside the James Paget hospital is currently lit from 10 metres), so I wonder if the Osprey also took 140W SLI/H tubes.

140W and 200W SLI lamps are the same length, so yes it could be possible.

Now there's a project! Someone's got to set up a Siemens lantern with SLI/H tubes. Wattage optional. I've thrown down the gauntlet....  

I presume by 'someone' you're suggesting a person from the privileged few who actually owns one of these lanterns!

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There's only one remaining GEC Z8526 in Northampton, apparently.
https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=clifto ... 10.08&z=18
Out of loads which ran 250w MBFU, this is the last one. It is said to have been converted to 90w SOX but now no longer lights.

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