Eleco: Engineering and Lighting Equipment Co. Limited, St Albans

A St Albans based company that made streetlighting products until the 1980's. One of its subsidiary companies was Davis Engineering Ltd, who also manufactured streetlighting products.

Eleco 'Lancaster' Lantern for MA/H lamps

I came across this column and lantern in Blackpool a number of years ago. At first I thought that it was a BTH 700-series 'Mercrator' lantern, but the shape wasn't quite right. However, thanks to Simon Cornwell's Website, I was eventually able to identify the lantern as a Eleco 'Lancaster'. The lantern, which still mounted on its concrete CU Avenue 2D Column with Arc-2 type bracket, harks back to a bygone era. I never did seem to have a camera with me each and every time I saw it, but during a conversation with fellow collector John Thompson, I mentioned the lantern to him, as he often drives through the area. In late 2006, John found the lantern to be extant on a visit to the Town, and was able to record these images with his camera. So thanks to John, I can at last show  this ultra rare find on the site. Pictures courtesy of JohnThompson.

 

 

A close up of the Eleco 'Lancaster', which appears to be intact and in good condition. A rescue attempt is in the process of being made to save this lantern for posterity. Picture courtesy of JohnThompson.

 

Eleco HW502/505 35w SOX lantern

Although this Eleco HW502 lantern only uses 35w SOX lamps, the physical size of the lantern would have you believe it was for bigger wattage lamps! Very few Eleco HW502/505's exist today, but if you do come across one they can be identified from similar lanterns such as the HW747 - not just by the deeper bowl, but by the heavier radius of the canopy's front edge and the lesser radius of the canopy's back edge.

 

 

In March 2008 I noticed that this Eleco HW502 lantern was due for removal from a side street in Nottihngham. A phone call to a contact assured its survival and it now resides in the collection. The lantern is in A1 condition.

 

 

Eleco HW509 90w SOX lantern

Eleco HW509 lantern for 90w SOX lamps, Lichfield, Staffordshire 

 

 

Eleco HW745 Lantern 85w SO/H SOI lantern

Several of these Eleco HW745 sodium lanterns survive on stay-bar bracketed columns (make of column unknown) on the A60 at Worksop in Nottinghamshire.  

 

 

The design and construction of these stay bar out-reaches is very simple and straight-forward, but they still make a wonderful site as you approach Worksop from the south on the A60 in late 2006.

 

 

Rear ward view of one of this HW745 reveals its classic lines.

 

 

The bowls have gone a little milky with age, but this close up view shows that these lanterns are still in good order.

 

 

Eleco HW747 Lantern for 60w SO lamps

1. HW747 top-entry lantern with deep-bowl, originally for use with 60w SO/H lamps, but now using a 35w SOX lamp. The lantern looks well mounted on this ornate REVO swanneck bracket. The picture was taken in Nottinghamshire in 2004.

 

 

2. Another HW747, but this one's in Bilston, West Midlands, some 60 miles south of the Nottinghamshire example. The bowl is broken and the general appearance of the lantern suggests that its days are numbered.

 

 

 

3. Several of these HW747 top-entry 35w  SOX lanterns on GEC columns still exist in Burntwood, Staffordshire, this one was photographed on a lovely sunny morning in September 2006.

 

 

Eleco HW846 'Golden Ray MK7' Lantern for 60w SO lamps

This Eleco HW 846 side-entry lantern is pictured in Hoyland, South Yorkshire in February 2006. The HW 846 uses a 35w SOX lamp, but was originally designed to use a 60w SO/H lamp. Until recently, this was one of many HW846 lanterns that could be found in Hoyland; however, by April 2006, virtually all had been replaced with Phosco P567 CFL lanterns on new 8m steel columns. One of these ex-Hoyland HW846 lanterns now resides in the collection.

 

 

Another 'Hoyland' Eleco HW846 35w SOX lantern seen lit one late afternoon during the installation's final few weeks of existence. Photo, February 2006.

 

 

Eleco HW852 'Ware' and HW853 'Baldock' 80w MBF lanterns

1. Eleco HW852 'Ware' 80w MBF lantern with opaque plastic bowl in Kinver, South Staffordshire in 2004. An identical lantern is held in the collection.

 

 

2. Another South Staffordshire Eleco HW852; this one is pictured on its AC Ford wood pole bracket at a crossroads in Bishopswood in March 2006.

 

 

 

3. This Eleco HW853 'Baldock' 80w MBF lantern mounted on a AC Ford wood pole bracket with short out-reach was photographed at Bishopswood, Staffordshire, March 2006. The lantern looks to have acquired a REVO 'Prefect' type clear glass bowl in place of its original tapered prismatic glass bowl, and seems to be a loose fit in the bowl securing ring. The conduit connector between the heavy control box and the bracket appears to have failed, possibly through corrosion, so plastic insulation tape and stainless banding has been used to secure it to the telegraph pole. These older wood pole fittings with cast iron control boxes are now fast disappearing in Staffordshire due to the on-going PFI renewal scheme for the County. However, they have until recent times been left well alone because of the inherent dangers of asbestos present in the control box door seals. Note: what appears to be 'dirt' in the bottom of the glass bowl is in actual fact hundreds of well-cooked insects!

 

 

 4. This Eleco HW853 'Baldock' 80w MBF lantern has the correct type of tapered prismatic glass bowl. The lantern is probably the last intact survivor in Wolverhampton and is pictured in the City in August 2006.

 

 

Eleco HW918 Silver Ray Junior for 80/125w MBF lamps

Eleco HW918 with glass bowl still in nightly use in a private road in Chillwell, Nottingham in September 2006, Since gone

 

 

A little further along the same road is another HW918, but this one is fitted with a plastic 'anti-vandal' bowl. The bowl has been badly discoloured over the years by the UV rays emitted from the MBF lamp inside. Since gone

 

Eleco GR2 135w SOX lantern

Deep bowled Eleco GR2 135w SOX lantern with inverted vee refractor along bottom of bowl. Photo taken in Wolverhampton in October 2005

 

 

Side view of another Eleco GR2 in Wolverhampton in October 2005.

 

 

Eleco/Davies GR100 Lantern for 90/100w SOX lamps

A very weather-beaten Eleco/Davis GR100 MKII 90w SOX (GRP) lantern at Northwood Park, Bushbury in August 2005. This lantern originally replaced a REVO 'Dalek' (140w SO) lantern in the 1980's, but was itself replaced with an Urbis ZX2 lantern shortly after this picture was taken.

 

 

Seen by night, the shape of the GR100 is unmistakable; this Eleco example was pictured in Castlecroft Road, Wolverhampton in 2005.

 

 

The later bowl shape of the Chalmit-Davis GR100 MKIII lantern is seen on this example at Toton, Nottinghamshire, June 2006.

 

 

Eleco GR150 lantern for 135w SOX lamps

The GR150 is a stretched version of the GR100, complete with coffin-shaped bowl. It was originally made to accommodate 150w SOX lamps (hence GR150), but all survivors now use re-rated 135w  SOX lamps. This example is one of many in use in the city of Stoke on Trent.

 

 

Pictured in Sheffield in June 2006 this day-burning GR150 inadvertently demonstrates how effective its illuminated refractor panels are at refracting lamplight.

 

 

Eleco GR150 mounted on a 25ft Stanton and Staveley concrete column in Anston, South Yorkshire in late November 2006.

 

 

The same GR150 135w SOX lantern at Anston illustrating the lantern's unmistakable profile.

 

 

Eleco GR151 135w SOX cut-off lantern

Despite being damaged, this remote-geared Eleco GR151 in Dudley, West Midlands shows the raked side angles of the cut-off bowl to good effect. Although it might not look like it, the GR151 uses the same aluminium canopy as the GR150.

 

 

Eleco GR152 Geared cut-off lantern for 135w SOX lamps

This is a rare Eleco GR152 'geared' cut-off lantern for 135w SOX lamps. The lantern is basically a GR201 cut-off lantern, but with shortened aluminium reflector panels and the back of the bowl blanked out where the gear for the 135w lamp is installed. One of the aluminium reflector panels can be seen loose inside of the bowl of this ageing lantern. The fitting is pictured at Junction 1 of the M5 Motorway at West Bromwich in the West Midlands. My thanks to John Thompson for pointing out this lantern to me.

 

 

Eleco GR200 lantern for 180w SOX lamps

Another lantern from the Eleco Golden Ray family is the GR200, for use with 180w SOX lamps. Again, similar in shape to the GR100 and GR150 lanterns. Once quite commonly found on major roads and dual-carriageways, the GR200 is seeing a rapid decline in numbers, as lighting renewal schemes across the UK take their toll on older low-pressure sodium lighting.

 

 

Eleco GR200 180w SOX lantern seen 'day-burning' on the A460 'Scotlands' traffic roundabout in Wolverhampton, August 2007.

 

 

Eleco GR305/306 lantern for 250w/400w MBF/SON lamps

Covered in seagull droppings, this Eleco GR305/6 'Turtle' lantern is pictured in Barmouth, North Wales in September 2005.

 

 

Also taken in September 2005 is another Eleco GR305/6, but this time some 100-miles to the east in sunny Wolverhampton.

 

 

Mounted on to high mast lighting columns, several sets of these top-entry Eleco 'turtles' are used to illuminate the ring road around Telford town centre in Shropshire. Photo: December 2006.

 

 

Eleco GR501 lantern for 55/60w SOX lamps

An Eleco GR501 remote-geared lantern for 55w SOX lamps is photographed in Long Eaton, Derbyshire in 2005. Since removed

 

 

Eleco GR525 lantern for 35w SOX lamps

Photographed in Wolverhampton on its crumbling concrete bracket in August 2005, is this diminutive 'cottage-roofed' GR525 lantern. The GR525 was available in both geared and gear-less versions, and uses the same bowl as the GR535. This particular example is an oddity in the City of Wolverhampton because the Streetlighting Department rarely favoured Eleco products, other than the Eleco/Davis GR100. Until recently, many of these GR525's could be found in the neighbouring village of Codsall, Staffordshire, however, these have all since been swept away under the recent PFI renewal scheme for Staffordshire. Fortunately, an example from South Staffordshire was rescued for the collection. Now in collection

 

 

Eleco GR535 lantern for 35w SOX lamps

A gearless Eleco GR535 at Sawley, Derbyshire in August 2005; one of the smallest sodium streetlighting lanterns to be found in the UK.

 

 

Eleco GR550/551 Lanterns for 35/40w and 55/60w SOX lamps

GR 551 55w SOX lantern with internal control-gear is seen mounted on a shortened AC Ford wood pole bracket in Wellhampton, Shropshire in July 2005.

 

 

A remote geared GR550 55w SOX lantern is pictured in Hoyland, South Yorkshire with a 35w SOX lamp installed. This lantern was one of many LPS lanterns that were replaced with Phosco P567 CFL lanterns in a renewal scheme for the area in April 2006.

 

 

Eleco 'Way' Post Top lanterns

  Eleco 'Way' HW828 post-top lantern with curved sided bowl. These lanterns were available from Eleco for use with 35/40w SOX, 80/125w MBF, or 60w-200w GLS lamps. This is a LPS 35w SOX variant and is pictured in Staffordshire in May 2006.

 

 

 Eleco 'Way' HW895 post-top lantern for use with 35/40w SOX, 80/125w MBF, or 60w-200w GLS lamps. This is a LPS 35w SOX variant seen in Staffordshire in May 2006. The lantern's 'hat' is made from cast aluminium and is quite sturdy.

 

 

 An Eleco 'Way' HW1179 'Tin-top' lantern for 80w MBF lamps is seen lit one cold evening in early October 2005. The location of the picture is in Bradmore, a district on the South West side of Wolverhampton.

 

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Copyright(c) 2005-2010 Claire Pendrous. All rights reserved.

Please note that all pictures are by Claire Pendrous, or are part of the Claire Pendrous photographic collection unless otherwise stated; none of these images can be copied without obtaining prior permission.