Local Thorn Alpha 3s
B5285, Far Sawrey
Photographed 02/04/2015
This first example is rare in this area in that it is the gear in head version, the reasons for this will become apparent shortly but if its any clue it lights the slip way for the Mallard car ferry on Windermere.
In Far Sawrey there is only one street lamp and this is it, but it has gained the column number of 801 due to the column numbering from the Bowness-on-Windermere,on the other side of the lake, being carried over.
This first example is rare in this area in that it is the gear in head version, the reasons for this will become apparent shortly but if its any clue it lights the slip way for the Mallard car ferry on Windermere.
In Far Sawrey there is only one street lamp and this is it, but it has gained the column number of 801 due to the column numbering from the Bowness-on-Windermere,on the other side of the lake, being carried over.
Notice that the door for the column is very high up. The reason for this is to help protect the light from damage in times of extreme rainfall. The lantern is then gear in head as an extra insurance policy. This was all a really good thing during the Cumbrian Flood of October 2009 when the top of the lake was about 1/4 of the way up the door. The Alpha 3 kept working right through though, even if the road and slip way it was lighting had dissapeared under several inches of Lake Windermere.
Flood Update 15/11/2015
On the evening of 15/11/2015 the column and road were flooded again. The high door meant the water stayed out the base compartment so the Alpha 3 remained operational.
Due to the quantity of the rainfall I was not able to access the column, due to flooding further up the road, to get my own photo; so I have borrowed this one from the nearby FBA web-cam. This shot was taken on 15/11/2015 at 20:50:47. The Alpha 3 can be clearly seen, white light directly under the Alpha 3 is a Philips SGS203 which can be seen here.
Due to the quantity of the rainfall I was not able to access the column, due to flooding further up the road, to get my own photo; so I have borrowed this one from the nearby FBA web-cam. This shot was taken on 15/11/2015 at 20:50:47. The Alpha 3 can be clearly seen, white light directly under the Alpha 3 is a Philips SGS203 which can be seen here.
I took the following photos on the 18/11/2015,while the ferry was still closed, after the water had subsided a bit. The debris on the road is reminder of what the lake did thought some of this probably came for the nearby trees.
Also the yellow grit bin in the left image looks like it must be fairly empty as it appears to have started floating and rotated 180 and away from the wall.
The right image gives a better idea of how much further up the water level was especially when it is considered that the water level has dropped and how much higher it is compared to the above images.
Also the yellow grit bin in the left image looks like it must be fairly empty as it appears to have started floating and rotated 180 and away from the wall.
The right image gives a better idea of how much further up the water level was especially when it is considered that the water level has dropped and how much higher it is compared to the above images.
Flooded again 05-06/12/2015
On the above dates storm Desmond hit Cumbria hard causing met-office red weather warnings across the county so yet another FBA web-cam image was needed as yet again I could not get anywhere near owing to flooding elsewhere on the road. The flooding here is a lot worse than the one above. Judging by the bollards under the light there is probably about 3' of water on the road telling me that the water must be well up the column's door. However it is being very resilient and powering on. Notice that there is no white light under the Alpha 3 which tells me that the newer column, supporting the SGS203, has been beaten by the flood water and has failed. However the glimmer of light tells me its neighbouring Urbis Opalo is still on. This Opalo can be seen here.
The Opalo appeared to fail at about 1:30 am on 6/12/2015, the Alpha 3 kept going though. The following day (6th) I tried to obtain my own photos however safety an the facts my wellies weren't tall enough stopped me doing so. So I got another shot from the web-cam. It's nice to see people are finding alternate methods of transport at times like these.
On the night of the 6/12/2015 there was a big dark spot as the Alpha 3 failed to illuminate, presumably water had got in the base during the day and tripped it's breaker switch, (it was still going at dawn, well I say that it was about around 9:00 it went out (it's sensor isn't very sensitive)).
The Opalo appeared to fail at about 1:30 am on 6/12/2015, the Alpha 3 kept going though. The following day (6th) I tried to obtain my own photos however safety an the facts my wellies weren't tall enough stopped me doing so. So I got another shot from the web-cam. It's nice to see people are finding alternate methods of transport at times like these.
On the night of the 6/12/2015 there was a big dark spot as the Alpha 3 failed to illuminate, presumably water had got in the base during the day and tripped it's breaker switch, (it was still going at dawn, well I say that it was about around 9:00 it went out (it's sensor isn't very sensitive)).
Rydal Road/Lake Road (A591), Ambleside
This light is very lucky as all of it's counterparts have been replaced for the L.E.D. Thorn R2L2s, I'm not entirely sure why this Alpha 3 was spared the trip to the skip, but it was, so it lives on, for now at least. It is running a metal halide lamp but originally was residence to a SON-T. This conversion is done when SON-T lamps fail now.