The old sodium lamp on the left is being replaced by the more efficient LED one on the right.
I was wondering which one would come on last night - it was the new one.
I totally get why they are being replaced and I agree with the thinking behind it. But the change also makes me a little sad. No more coming in to land on a plane and seeing the towns and roads lit up below in orange light.
No more playing out with your friends and knowing it was getting late because the lamps came on one by one firstly red, then changing to orange once warmed up - admittedly we are talking 40 years ago for me but it must be true for todays youngsters. But not tomorrows.
It's a bit like when France did away with the yellow headlamps - another bit of history gone forever.
Is it really though? I'm sure I have memories of one or two old incandescent street lamps from my early childhood - they were few and far between then but white light must have been prevalent for many years before sodium lamps came on the scene.
Go back a further still and you find that people were employed to wander around lighting gas lamps:
There are still some in use in Europe today - but I think that's more to keep nostalgic people like me happy - maybe somewhere will do the same with sodium.
Meanwhile British Gas are buying electric vans - now that can't be right, can it?
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