LED streetlights are coming to Portsmouth

[DAVE AMENDALL]

We had a couple of years during the sodium lantern period where the local council decided to switch all street lights off at midnight as a cost saving exercise. It was so dark during the winter months, that the local milkman (yes we still had one then) used to wear a miners pit helmet with the front light fully illuminated to see to deliveries.

That golden era did'nt last long before the local do-gooders decided to raise a  petition to keep them switched on all night. They were successful too. So  now we have leds and they are on all night summer and winter even during hours of daylight in some instances. Reminds me of Milton's Paradise Lost.....Dave

[SteveNickolls]

9 hours ago, DAVE AMENDALL said:

That golden era did'nt last long before the local do-gooders decided to raise a  petition to keep them switched on all night. They were successful too.

I remember that phase, the local councillor if I recall correctly was the chair of the highways and lighting dept or something similar. Then elsewhere in the county there was a tragic incident blamed on the lack of lighting then in the county elections the winning party got in with a mandate to turn the lights back on again... I only hope Portsmouth's led adventures go better than in Notts.

Cheers,
Steve

[DAVE AMENDALL]

We had a couple of years during the sodium lantern period where the local council decided to switch all street lights off at midnight as a cost saving exercise. It was so dark during the winter months, that the local milkman (yes we still had one then) used to wear a miners pit helmet with the front light fully illuminated to see to deliveries.

That golden era did'nt last long before the local do-gooders decided to raise a  petition to keep them switched on all night. They were successful too. So  now we have leds and they are on all night summer and winter even during hours of daylight in some instances. Reminds me of Milton's Paradise Lost.....Dave

[DAVE AMENDALL]

You are well informed Steve. Maybe we should become the new do gooders and get a petition raised to switch em off again...Dave

[Gina]

People are doing that in many places around the country.

[SteveNickolls]

2 hours ago, DAVE AMENDALL said:

You are well informed Steve. Maybe we should become the new do gooders and get a petition raised to switch em off again...Dave

Hi Dave,

I do like your suggestion but it would be a big battle to change the entrenched attitudes of so many people.

Certainly don't want to hijack Jonk's thread but the Notts scheme was particularly well researched at at the time and I wrote to the 'Sky at Night' magazine and they did an article about light pollution and mentioned the Notts street lighting changes favorably. Unfortunately it all then went pear shaped in the roll out. Certainly we had the old bulbs swapped here but not the columns and ours therefore can't be dimmed even if they wanted to dim them. I did take our local ward councillor to task over scaremongering locals to object to the dimming/turning off programme but ultimately the democratic decision went the expected route. My old bones however feel that Notts CC may well be going the way of Northampton in a few years and if there's no money to pay the electricity bills we have no street lights at all, now wouldn't that be interesting?

The whole national issue needs airing to help educate and blow away some of the fallacies and fears of the general public. What we really could do with is some big name or names in the field to champion the cause but so far that hasn't been the case.

Best Regards,
Steve

[mikeDnight]

Love them or loath them, I was observing Mars a few nights ago but had to observe it while standing close to a led street light. Not a problem for the planet's, but then I looked up and saw the milkyway as clear as crystal overhead. Moving the scope a few yards further away from the street light I spent a good half hour sweeping the milkyway, picking out clusters and nebulae with ease, using my 100mm frac. I couldn't have done that if it were sodium light. I didn't use any filters to see the nebulae.

[Jonk]

It may be my imagination, but already the sky appears darker above, to the naked eye.

Too much moon at the moment, but the orange glow is definitely reduced.

This does show up other more distant light more prominently, such as floodlights from the local football pitches and university sports ground.

[PeterW]

Hoping for more better cut off lights, dimming and part night operation... tomsave money and keep the nights dark. Wonder if the Isle of Wight will become darker?

PEtet