[Hybrid tellies]

I have owned this old 1960’s bicycle lamp from new.

I was rather impressed with the one my brother owned so I bought this one for myself well before I could ride a push bike. It had heavy use just as a torch, especially during the long dark winter evenings, taking the dogs out for a walk along the coastal path often walking straight into the teeth of a southerly gale with horizontal rain and sea spray.

At other times it would be used for just going out to play or going on errands as our village only had a few street lights which were well spaced apart. This part of the world also suffered power cuts which would often last for hours so this lamp would have sometimes been used to find your way around the cottage.

The other main and very important use was for reading in bed long after bedtime and not being found out.

When I eventually did get to ride a bike it was then pushed into service as my front headlight on my Raleigh Chopper bike and saw heavy use in all weathers and survived quite a few hair raising crashes. Even when it was used just as a torch it was often dropped bashed and kicked but each time you use to pick up the pieces put it back together and it always worked. The only thing that nearly let it down were the plastic parts of the switch which at some time I repaired by welding the parts back together using a soldering iron. I must have stank the house out when I did this.
I had other torches over the years but they all succumbed very quickly to natural wear and tear, faulty switches, battery leakage etc, this being the only torch that has survived. I put this down to its robust construction with its solid metal case but am surprised the glass lens did n’t break or crack.

I used this lamp for as long as possible until the batteries were no longer available then it got put to one side.
A few days ago whilst not feeling to well and being involved in a rather challenging repair that I was doing for a friend I had one of those God inspired moments and realised that there was a simple way of getting it going. So a trip to Maplins for a 2 x C battery holder and a trip to Bath for an MES 2.2V pre focused torch bulb the repair/restoration was soon underway. I soldered one lead from the battery holder to the centre tip of the bulb and the other lead to the on-off switch. I fitted the battery holder into the case using some packing materials to make the fitting snug and of course it worked. Using alcohol cleaner and a small screw driver I carefully cleaned the switch contacts and it is now working as good as new.

An interesting point about polarity arose, of course it will work whatever the polarity, but as the metal case is part of the circuit I remembered being told that positive earthed cars rusted more quickly than negative earthed cars so with this in mind I soldered the positive lead to the bulb and negative lead to the switch. Last night I ran some tests in a darkened room and out in the garden and it compared well with the more modern Krypton, Halogen and LED torches and the softer white illumination from the incandescent bulb is very kind on the eyes.

I could clean and repaint the case and try and clear some of the rust and corrosion from inside the case but I think it would lose some of its authenticity, so I think I will leave well alone and just be happy that this important relic from my childhood now works.