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Eleco HW898 'Way' 60w SOI Lantern. A stylish 60's post-top lantern with clean functional lines that graced many 60's and 70's residential developments throughout the UK. The example depicted is a remote-geared HW898 lantern for use with low-pressure sodium lamps, but other variants were available too, for use with tungsten and mercury lamps. The sodium version was originally intended for use with 60w SOI lamps, but today’s survivors are likely to be running 35w SOX lamps.

Unlike most other post-top lanterns, the Eleco 'Way' does not rely on a spine fixing running through the centre of the lantern from the base up to the canopy to hold the assembly together. Instead it utilises the integral strength of the thick-walled plastic moulded cone on to which the canopy and base are separately secured. The aluminium spigot base and the cast aluminium canopy are screwed to either end of the cone, this arrangement precludes the cone from being easily changed over in situ should it become damaged, so the whole fitting tends to get changed if it becomes defective.

The HW898 in the collection came from the Broxtowe area of Nottinghamshire, where these lanterns were only ever used in limited numbers, in and around housing estates - GEC being the local council's favoured supplier for post-top lanterns. The lantern is in good condition, but is slightly spoilt by having its aluminium canopy drilled for a retro-fitted two-part detector photocell. The hole will be eventually filled, unless an un-drilled replacement canopy can be sourced. The mobile phone placed alongside the lantern gives a sense of scale.

Access to the lantern's interior is achieved by undoing two stainless steel toggle catches under the canopy's edge, allowing it to lift open. With the canopy lifted, the lamp holder mechanism is easily accessible for maintenance. Note the positioning of the lamp for 'cap-up' burning. The lantern has a totally opaque bowl to diffuse the light, so no refractor ring is used to control light distribution from the lamp. This view also shows the method of fixing the canopy to the cone, and the cone to the base unit. The interior of this lantern is very clean considering it is in acquired condition, so the Eleco method of assembly and the seal between the canopy and cone is obviously very good.

The cast aluminium base and allen-screw for fixing the lantern to the column's spigot mounting.

An in-service HW898 in Lichfield, Staffordshire in the Summer of 2006.

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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.