It is unusual for me to not be posting here at this time of year as we enter prime lighthouse bagging season. Of course the coronavirus situation has put paid to any hope of trips and I certainly had an exciting April lined up. However, better not to dwell on these things.
I recently discovered a couple of lighthouse pictures I thought I had lost from a pre-lighthouse tour trip. I shared these with a friend who suggested writing some blog posts on the lighthouses I saw before I started this site in 2012. It seemed like a sensible suggestions, so here is the first of, what I suspect will be, three posts.
Back in 2009, a year before I started travelling around specifically to see lighthouses, I went to New York for a work event and I also spent a few days exploring the city. I was looking through my pictures recently and noticed a picture I had taken on that trip of a single lighthouse. I had absolutely no idea which lighthouse is was, all I knew was that I had taken it from the ferry to Staten Island. I’d gone over to the island with a couple of colleagues (who are also good friends) and had considered trying to find the Staten Island Range Lighthouse while there. Unfortunately the return ferry times didn’t allow enough time to reach it.
Robbins Reef lighthouse
I’ve now had a chance to find out more about the lighthouse I passed on the way there. It is called Robbins Reef lighthouse. I like to call it New York’s answer to Oxcars as it sits in the middle of a river on a stone platform and has a band. The current tower pre-dates Oxcars by 3 years, dating from 1883, although another tower marked the reef from 1839. It marks a sand reef at the eastern end of the Kill Van Kull strait. The increasing use of New York Harbor was the reason for its introduction.
The current tower is known as a Caisson or “spark plug” lighthouse, which is a cast iron offshore light on a concrete platform. This type was introduced as a cheaper alternative to screwpile towers.
Possibly the most famous story associated with this particular lighthouse – and where it gets its nickname “Kate’s Light” – is that of Kate Walker who was married to the keeper at Robbins Reef. It is reported that Kate initially disliked living at the lighthouse and wouldn’t unpack her suitcases, but gradually she settled in and became a very good assistant to her husband. When her husband passed away Kate applied to be the keeper of the light, but there was hesitance in assigning her the role. It was a few years later that she was officially given the job and she then single-handedly managed the lighthouse, fog bell and taking care of her children too – including rowing them to school and back each day! In addition she carried out a great number of rescues. A real inspiration, that’s for sure. There is a very detailed history of the lighthouse here, including some stories of Kate’s time there, here.
It’s a really interesting light and I’m glad I came across the picture and looked into it a bit more. My first – and hopefully not last – American lighthouse! 🙂
I have just returned from a great couple of days discovering a lot about the Association of Lighthouse Keepers (ALK) archives. The archives are at Bidston lighthouse, although some items are in storage elsewhere. The purpose of the weekend was to begin to establish what video footage is held in the archives, what condition it is in, what is worth keeping and what should be digitised.
When I arrived on Friday the videos were in full swing. They had already taken a look at some footage of Royal Sovereign lighthouse and its platform being moved into place. Everyone’s feedback on that one was really positive so hopefully it will be possible to watch that one at some point, especially as it is going to be removed within the coming years. I caught a short section of a VHS showing Lighthouse Keepers at the Needles lighthouse enjoying Christmas dinner, and this was made even better by one of the Keepers being present. So lovely to see.
A few of us were whisked off to another room to have a look at some of the slides. These had all been clearly labelled, the only problem was knowing which way to put them in to make sure they didn’t display sideways or upside down – we got it right on the third attempt. Fortunately the slides we looked at were chosen by someone else who is into the Northern Lighthouse Board lights so it was lovely to see those on the Isle of Man, including quite a few of the harbour lights. We also looked at some from various parts of England and Wales (I think we were at the end of the alphabet as we had South Stack, Whitehaven and some of the old Thames lights). Great to see those.
We then watched Keepers of the Light, which is quite a sad documentary as it was filmed at the time the lighthouses were being automated and the Keepers were leaving them for the last time. I find it such a unique situation, where the whole profession became redundant (aside from the Retained Lighthouse Keepers or Attendants – although that is nowhere near the time commitment the Keepers had). As lighthouse keeping was so closely linked with their off-duty time as well, they lived in the cottages at the lighthouse or in the towers themselves, it must have been such a huge blow for them, and their families too. It’s no wonder ex-Keepers speak so fondly of their days in the lighthouses.
Footage of the Nab Tower with its former lighthouse was shown over the weekend
The screenings and accommodation for the weekend all took place inside Bidston Observatory – an outstanding building with so many rooms, floors and points of interest. On Friday evening we went up onto the roof and had panoramic views of Liverpool and Wirral at night. We also went inside one of the domes on top of the building and you could see how it would have moved and been operated in the past.
Inside one of Bidston Observatory’s domes
On Saturday morning we started off discovering what stage the archiving is currently at. Stephen, who works alongside his wife Mandy on the archives, showed us the software he had developed for this purpose. There are currently over 13,500 items logged on the archive software with more still to go. The software allows you to search the archives in general or by various categories such as lighthouse stations, light vessels, depots and countries. We did a few random searches and looking at Southwold alone we found more than 50 items.
A demonstration of the archive software was given
The archives had started out with one of the founding members of the ALK, a Lighthouse Keeper, logging the items by hand in 6 index books. The transcription from these books was started by another active member of the ALK before it was passed on to Mandy and Stephen.
The archives are a real treasure trove of information, pictures, films, artefacts etc. You immediately look at some of it and think “this should be available for everyone to see”. However, as Stephen explained, these days it’s not as simple to just putting documents, pictures and films online. With the new GDPR rules it is essential that they are careful with information about people and whether or not anyone in the pictures or videos are happy for them to be shared. In addition to this, there are issues around copyright and whether or not the owner of the copyright gives permission for them to be made available publicly. These are complications that many wouldn’t think of and so it’s definitely not as easy as making everything digital and getting it up on the internet.
Another challenge they have faced has been the categorising of items relating to light vessels. There are a range of vessel names and numbers as well as station names. Some names and numbers have been reused as well, making it difficult to establish how different items should be categorised.
The discussion moved on to female lighthouse keepers. Trinity House and the Northern Lighthouse Board never had female keepers, although there are now female Retained Lighthouse Keepers in Scotland. The only female keepers worked in privately owned lighthouses and the name Peggy Braithwaite was mentioned. Of course the next VHS we watched was a television interview with Peggy who was a Keeper at Walney. That was really lovely to see.
Bidston lighthouse
Of course it wasn’t possible to go to Bidston without setting foot in Bidston lighthouse and Stephen had very kindly offered to give us a tour, not only of the lighthouse, but also the archives. As well as boxes in other areas, there was a room near enough dedicated to the archives. There was even a special cupboard containing some of the old visitor books from lighthouses. I have been informed that within the archives there is a visitor book from The Needles which has been signed by Charles Dickens! That is really quite special.
Just some of the ALK archives at Bidston
It’s been a few years since I last had a tour of Bidston lighthouse and it was very nice to return. Stephen is an expert tour guide, so full of knowledge and not just about Bidston either. The lighthouse is beautiful (I had a wonderful view of it from the bathroom in the Observatory), but it is a part of the Bidston “package”. I was speaking to Stephen about Low Head lighthouse in Tasmania and he said that there is so much there: the lighthouse, the foghorn, archives… It’s the fact that it’s everything brought together that makes it so interesting and I would say the same for Bidston.
The lighthouse has a lot of history and this is all so well presented throughout the tour by a combination of visual aids and Stephen’s talk. I wouldn’t want to go into too much detail as I feel it’s worth experiencing these things first hand if you can rather than reading someone else’s account (if you are reading between the lines there you may have guessed that what I was trying to say was “Go to Bidston and do the tour!”) One thing that always fascinates me though – and it did so last time too, but probably moreso this time – is the way they used to use flags on Bidston Hill for signalling when and which boats were coming in to Liverpool Docks. Because of the hill’s location it blocks the view from the Docks to the sea. While very useful to the people at the Docks, they were also helpful to the local families who had fathers, sons, brothers etc. out at sea and the flags enabled the locals to find out when their loved ones were on their way home so they could prepare (as Stephen said “kick the lodger out”). For some reason that piece of history always touches me and one of the others in the group said they felt the same. There really is so much history and I would highly recommend you make Stephen the person to tell you all about it.
One of the many views from the top of Bidston lighthouse
Back over at the Observatory we were in agreement that we wanted more cine film so we put the ex-Keepers to work setting it up. We watched a really interesting documentary about light vessels, with footage from the Essex and East Anglia coasts. It was thought that the film probably hadn’t seen the light of day for many years so it was fantastic to see it in working order still.
Setting up the cine film
Moving back to the other room, we watched a few interesting VHS tapes, including one about Skokholm, which features pictures from around 1915. It’s an island I’ve still to reach so it obviously gave me slightly itchy feet and it may have climbed a little higher up my priority list as a result.
This film was followed by the island lighthouses of Tasmania. I love an island anyway, but some of those look so beautiful on incredibly rugged and awe-inspiring islands. Very much like the far-flung lights around Scotland like the Flannans, Muckle Flugga and Sule Skerry. A veritable feast of lights at the top end of the “particularly challenging to reach” category. One particular island at the time was reached using a boat/off-road vehicle combination that was launched from the main maintenance vessel. It sailed through the water and then bounced its way up the long track to the lighthouse. Looked like good fun to me!
We began watching a film about lighthouses in South West England. It was another interesting one, but the sound went off after a while and so Stephen decided to play us some of his foghorn music, which also featured gull sounds! Once it was pointed out that some of the foghorns sounded like cows I became increasingly amused by it.
A shot of the light vessel cine film mentioned above
One of the things I enjoyed most about the weekend was the gathering of Keepers. A lot of the ALK events I have been to the Keepers have been a minority and so I don’t get to hear them speaking to me or each other so much. They really do have some of the greatest stories and what I find particularly wonderful is that many of them never met while in the lighthouse service. They sometimes served on the same stations, but it is only through the ALK that they have come to know each other and share their memories and experiences with each other as if they are old friends. It is so heartwarming to watch and I took some wonderful pictures of two of them looking at some images on a camera. It seemed like such a special moment and this is the perfect example of two men who never met through work but have bonded through their experiences.
I realised on the final evening that I’d not ventured down into the depths of the Observatory, which I had heard a lot about. The building became even more fascinating then. One of the rooms downstairs contained tables covered in pictures of all of the work the current owners had put into improving the Observatory. Such a hidden gem, it really is.
Bidston Observatory
I should also mention before I finish this post, because I’ve said I will include it, that at about 7.15am on Saturday morning I managed to lock myself out of the Observatory. I’d decided to go out for a short stroll to take a picture or two of the lighthouse and wander around the Observatory. Rather foolishly I’d forgotten to put the front door on the latch so it didn’t take long to discover my error. I was standing out in the rain with no idea if anyone else was awake inside and wondering what to do with myself when another early riser opened the door. He’s possibly never seen anyone look quite so glad to see him as I was, although I had only been standing outside for a few minutes. What a relief that was!
It was a really interesting weekend and there was talk of planning more during the year. I will also take this opportunity to say that the ALK does some really wonderful work (archives and in other areas) and I would highly recommend becoming a member if you have an interest in lighthouses at all. ALK events enable you get to spend time with others who are just as mad about lighthouses as you are, or maybe even slightly more mad! At the heart of it though are is the Keepers: a fantastic bunch of kind, welcoming and humble individuals. 🙂
Back in 2010 I went on my first ever trip organised specifically to see lighthouses. The trip had been organised by a friend and my sister, and took in the lighthouses at Anvil Point and Portland. It also included a visit over to Hurst Point, taking the boat from Keyhaven. I’d not been back to Hurst Point since and so what better time than a Friday in mid-December when everything is closed to the public?!
Thankfully I was armed with my super lighthouse friend John (previously referred to on occasion as my flat pack partner in crime) who, being a volunteer there, knew the right people and where the keys were!
On the way to Keyhaven on Friday morning, we took the coastal route giving us some wonderful views across to the Needles. I often forget that the Isle of Wight isn’t so far away from mainland UK, mainly because I spend most of the time travelling there on a boat in Southampton waters! It was great to be able to see the island from this angle.
Thanks to John’s excellent pre-planning, we were able to hop on board the boat as the Hurst Marine team set off to undertake some ongoing maintenance work out there. It was a nice ride out and with the low winter sun there were plenty of beautifully lit views all around.
The active lighthouse at Hurst Point
In lighthouse terms it doesn’t get much more exciting than approaching four lighthouses. Yes, four! The only one of these I’d seen really close up before was the white tower – the most noticeable of the four and the only one still in operation. The priority this time though was to get at those inside the grounds of Hurst Castle. So in we went.
The old low lights within the grounds of Hurst Castle
I must admit that there was one I was particularly excited about and that is the old lantern from the tower that used to sit on top of the Nab Tower. I think John knew this as, aside from a brief stop at the office for those who volunteer at the Association of Lighthouse Keepers’ Museum at Hurst, it was our first stop. First a bit of background: the Nab Tower is located to the east of the Isle of Wight and was introduced to protect again German submarines. Originally it didn’t feature a lighthouse, but this was added after the Nab Tower itself was no longer required. The decision was made to replace the nearby Nab light vessel with a lighthouse on top of the Nab Tower. The structure now at Hurst Castle is that very lighthouse lantern. It was removed in 2012 during a big renovation and had to be dismantled to get it inside the castle at Hurst before being reconstructed (without instructions).
The old Nab Tower lantern
It’s fantastic to see how much love and attention it has had to get to the point it is at now, which is near enough ready to be open to the public as a child-friendly exhibit. Complete with rotating light and child-size steps, I can tell it’s going to be a very popular addition. It was a real pleasure to see this one.
The rotating lens now inside the Nab lantern
Next we moved on to the Association of Lighthouse Keepers rooms. This was wonderful to see. Just like the Association itself, the rooms are a real celebration of lighthouse keepers in particular. The displays include some wonderful pictures and also what has proven to be a very popular exhibit, a map pointing out where the lighthouses are so visitors can see where their nearest one is. Alongside the Trinity House rooms, there is a lot of lighthouse information there. I even got to wind up the rotating mechanism on an old lens – I would have been a useless lighthouse keeper! The old Egypt Point lantern was on display too, which was brilliant to see. Also the old Holm of Skaw lantern from Shetland. Amazing! A treasure trove of all things lighthouse.
The lens that I (just about) managed to rotate
While we were in the area, I was allowed to venture up onto the roof of the castle, which is normally out of bounds to the public (another benefit of going when the castle is closed). John has informed me that this was a great angle for getting a picture of all three of the Hurst towers. We weren’t able to get along to the prime viewing point as there has been some fairly significant damage to the castle in that area in recent months with the shingle underneath the walls being washed away. Work is very much ongoing to try and reduce any further damage, but nature is a real force to be reckoned with. The roof was definitely a great point for a picture of the three towers.
The view from the roof
Next on the priority list was the old grey low light. The grey tower is open to the public on the odd occasion and I was very pleased to have my own private tour. With the lower half being just a metal framework section it was all external staircases initially. Once inside there were some really interesting features. The round windows with their large handles intrigued me and when looking through the windows to the east there were some nice views of the other two towers.
The replica lamp changer in the grey lighthouse
John showed me the replica lamp changer, a great little contraption. I saw a larger version at the top of the tower where the lamp changer is still in position and the old lens is still in situ too. John showed me exactly where to stand to be able to get a view through the lens of the Needles upside down! A rather unique view on those iconic rocks and the lighthouse.
Spot the upside down Needles!
We got even better views from the balcony, including a fairly close view of the other low light, the stone tower. Another lovely looking building. Again John was on hand to show me the two positions to stand in to see the different colours of the sector lights on the active lighthouse. With the wind picking up, the sea was getting much more choppy and you could see where different currents were meeting and causing quite a stir. Another excellent vantage point.
The old stone lighthouse, viewed from the grey light
On the way back down I took a look at a map showing the various lighthouses that have existed on Hurst Point in the past. Once back on ground level we poked our heads into a store room beneath the old stone tower and could see the curved wall of the tower. In another room there was a little doorway leading to the base of the tower where there was a beautiful curved ceiling. There was, sadly, no access to the rest of the tower from here.
It would have been rude not to have taken a stroll over to the white lighthouse so that was where we went next. It’s a really distinctive tower, with the oversized “ball” on top of the lantern. At least that’s what we called it, for want of a better (or more accurate) term. The tower looked perfect against the bright blue sky, as it had when I had last visited. It must always be sunny at Hurst! The diggers being used to help save the castle walls towards the east could be seen in this area, as could the big waves splashing up over the shingle.
Hurst Point lighthouse
We took a look around the east wing of the castle, which at times feels like being in a maze with so many different doorways and sets of stairs. One area on this side gave some more great views of the old stone tower from a different angle with the shingle spit that links Hurst Point to Keyhaven visible in the distance.
The old stone lighthouse viewed from the east
Hurst is a really fascinating place and I have much more of an appreciation for it now that I have spent more time there and seen how much hard work goes into the improvements and the essential ongoing maintenance. There is so much more to it than I ever imagined.
Me with tour guide John
I am, of course, massively grateful to John for taking the time to show me around, making arrangements to get out there, and for such a fun time. I thoroughly enjoyed the visit and definitely won’t be leaving it another 9 years before going back this time. 🙂
Last weekend I had a phone call from a friend on the North Coast to say that he was at John O’Groats and a foghorn had just been delivered there. It seemed like a rather unusual event and yesterday he called again with more information. We had already planned to head over there today anyway, but this gave me a little more to work with during the visit.
En route we called in at Dunnet Head lighthouse. We arrived just after 10am and I was surprised to see the light still on, but I was glad it was. Although it no longer houses the original lens, I watched the lights rotating for a little longer than I normally would, knowing that at some point in the near future it will be replaced.
Dunnet Head lighthouse at 10am – with the light still on
I also wanted to make the most of being in the lighthouse complex. It’s not open to the public so often and we have been speaking to the current owner on a number of occasions in recent months so we have been able to take a look around the cottages and other buildings too. He is selling the cottages and engine room and had offered me a lovely picture of Bressay lighthouse in Shetland, which I’d recognised and liked when we had first looked around. It’s a beautiful painting. He’d also thrown in a picture of some Norwegian lighthouses too.
The oil painting of Bressay lighthouse
Onwards we went to John O’Groats, but of course we couldn’t go there without a quick visit to Duncansby Head itself. It was cold and windy, as it always is there, but the beautiful views are always worth it.
Duncansby Head lighthouse
This time it was even better as the two towers on Muckle Skerry, the largest of the Pentland Skerries, were visible and anchored just off of the island was the Northern Lighthouse Board’s maintenance vessel Pharos. Stroma lighthouse was also visible from here.
Not the greatest picture by any means, but good enough to make out the Pharos and the two towers on Muckle Skerry – hopefully
John O’Groats beckoned and, as expected, there was the foghorn under the arch next to the ice cream shop (which was closed). I’d expected it to be red like the others I’d seen, but it wasn’t. This was explained a little later on in the day. It looks like it needs a fair amount of work, and this is exactly what it is getting. We met the friend who told me about it in the local cafe and afterwards I stopped off at Seaview Hotel at John O’Groats to speak to the man behind the whole project.
The old Duncansby Head foghorn
So here is the story behind the foghorn since it was removed. Back in the early 2000s (if the man at the hotel remembers correctly), the Northern Lighthouse Board had the old keepers’ accommodation at the lighthouse demolished as well as the foghorn. Everything was destined for landfill, but members of the community clearly spoke nicely to the demolition guys and it was agreed that the foghorn itself would be left and has since been living on the land of one of the local residents. While it was there it was damaged by a digger and a slightly rough job was made of welding the pieces back on. What this meant was that when the work began on it recently to remove the paint and clean it up, these pieces fell off and can now be seen laying inside the horn. They will be welded back on properly in due course.
Looking inside the foghorn
The foghorn has been placed in its current location to enable it to be re-painted without being too exposed if it rains. It was quite amusing to see the interest it generates. While we were there the children were enjoying booming into it with their best foghorn sounds. As we headed back to the car after lunch another family were doing the same – it was the dad who started it in their case too!
The foghorn’s current home
There are now big plans in John O’Groats, led by the John O’Groats Development Trust, to improve an area behind the First and Last House, which marks the beginning of a walk along the coast to Duncansby Head. The foghorn was included in the plans for this area along with a memorial to those who lost their lives in two shipping disasters in the area. The first is the trawler George Robb which was lost with all 12 of its crew in December 1959. Also lost during this incident was a land-based coastguard officer who died on the way to the scene. The second wreck to be remembered is the Cyprus-registered cargo ship, Cemfjord, which sank in the Pentland Firth in January 2015 with the loss of eight lives. The memorial will feature the names of all of those who lost their lives in these tragedies and their names will be displayed facing the direction in which the ships went down. It sounds like it will be a very touching way of remembering these 21 men who came to such a terrible end in the area.
There will be a memorial event for those lost on the George Robb on 6th December this year at Duncansby Head lighthouse, exactly 60 years to the day since the boat went down. I plan to go along to this event (which is at 2pm if anyone who is interested reads this) and will hopefully also meet up with Ian, my lighthouse keeper friend, who served at Duncansby back in the 80s. He and his family were very much a part of the community when they lived there and the man I spoke to this afternoon remembers him well. It will be nice to see Ian back with that community.
Once restored, the foghorn will be accompanied by an interpretive panel, which will explain where the foghorn came from, how it worked and its history. Interestingly, the father of the man I spoke to this afternoon has recordings of the foghorns at Duncansby, Stroma and Pentland Skerries and the idea of running some power to the area has been suggested so that buttons can be installed on the base of the foghorn to allow people to hear what the horns sounded like. It sounds like a wonderful idea to me and I hope it happens. They hope to have the area tidied up and the memorial and foghorn installed by Easter next year.
There is plenty more in the pipeline for John O’Groats too including: the improvement of the coastal path to Duncansby Head in general; the renovation of an old nearby mill to accommodate a hub for the local community to meet and socialise; a children’s play park; and, eventually, a golf course.
It’s all rather exciting and I look forward to seeing it all coming together. It’s fantastic to see a community really embracing and encouraging both their heritage and the number of tourists who visit the area. It’s very refreshing when so many people are keen to complain these days about increased tourism. 🙂
I was informed by a regular, and probably the most eagle-eyed, reader that I had missed a blog post covering a lighthouse I had visited last week. He is indeed correct. I confess, I visited Egypt Point lighthouse without writing about it here. Now there are times when I quickly stop off at a lighthouse and don’t mention it on here, but as a fan of the little lights I do now feel it would be wrong of me not to promote them whenever I get an opportunity.
Egypt Point lighthouse
My first intentional visit to Egypt Point lighthouse was in August last year, which seems crazy as I am from the Isle of Wight and lived in Cowes itself for a couple of years. As I said in that earlier post, I’d passed the lighthouse here numerous times in the days before I became seriously interested in lighthouses, and not paid it any attention.
Egypt Point lighthouse is unique, there isn’t another one like it (as far as I recall). It can be found on the most northerly point of the Isle of Wight at the side of Egypt Esplanade, at the bottom of Egypt Hill. All very Egyptian you may be thinking. Well, it turns out that the “Egypt” in Egypt Point apparently takes it name from the fact that a colony of gypsies lived in the area in the sixteenth century. That’s another thing I’d not questioned before.
The plaque on the base of the tower
The tower is actually quite old, 122 years old to be precise, although you wouldn’t think it. It was built by Trinity House and, in 1969, the original lantern was removed and replaced by a new light powered by electricity. The old lantern can now be found at Hurst Castle as part of the Association of Lighthouse Keepers Museum. The added bonus of going to Hurst Castle to see the lantern is that you can see three lighthouses, plus the old Nab Tower lighthouse.
The light at Egypt Point was switched off for good in 1989 and, in 2007, ownership passed over to the Isle of Wight Council after a couple of local councillors campaigned for it to be kept. Just last month it was reported that Cowes Town Council are being urged by Cowes Heritage to take over maintenance of the tower.
This has to be among the easiest lighthouses to get to with it being right at the side of the road. Only the double yellow lines are there to stop you parking right next to it. Let’s hope it gets the care and attention it needs so people can just carrying on walking straight past it with only the occasional lighthouse bagger stopping to enjoy its existence.
Oh, and while I’m confessing, I did briefly see St Catherine’s lighthouse on the Isle of Wight last week too, but that was so brief I didn’t even get a picture. 🙂
Travelling up the M6 today, we were diverted off of the motorway for a junction due to roadworks, and this diversion just happened to coincide with Heysham, which is somewhere I’ve been meaning to stop off at for some time now. Having previously seen the rather run-down lighthouse on the end of the south pier in Heysham, I just had to stop off to see the Near Naze tower and the nearby base of an old light.
The Near Naze lights (or what remains of them)
Our visit was rather well timed as the tide was out and the sun was still low, so a golden glow lit up the tower. Although the more lighthouse-looking tower was my top priority, I wanted to get closer to the stump (as I call it). The rocks were nice and grippy to begin with, but as soon as I started to walk across the tidal section the rocks became greener and more slippery. I made it there safely, but there wasn’t a lot to see. You can actually see more from further away with the metal posts sticking up from the stone section, which were presumably what the top section of the light was attached to.
The Near Naze stump
The return journey was a little more exciting with the sun in my eyes and I ended up with a wet foot, but it’s all part of the experience. The taller tower is in fairly good condition, although the inside has a lot of rubbish laying around. It’s a nice spot, especially when you keep your back to the industrial buildings.
The Near Naze tower closest to the road
After the visit I did some research into the buildings here as it didn’t make sense for them to be a pair of leading lights. It turns out it’s all quite confusing. A number of sources say that the tower closest to the road is the oldest, built at some point between 1896 and 1904 as part of the construction of the harbour at Heysham. This is reinforced by Ordnance Survey maps from 1892-5 showing no lighthouse at Near Naze and a 1915 map showing a “North Lighthouse”. That all seems ok. Then you have conflicting explanations with some sources saying the light on the south pier in Heysham replacing the 1904 Near Naze light and others stating that the south pier light was also built in 1904. Some say that the tower and south pier lights were range lights, and elsewhere it claims that the other range light has now been demolished. There is even the suggestion that the tower next to the road was not a lighthouse at all as it was marked on an Ordnance Survey map as an anemometer station!
The year 1916 seems to make a regular appearance in write-ups on lights in the area. It looks like the Near Naze tower next to the road was discontinued in that year. Whether it was replaced by the light on the stump (we’ll call it “Stumpy” as that’s what I’ve been referring to it as all day) remains to be seen. Having checked one of my “go to” books, it seems to suggest (although it’s not really very clear) that the stump pre-dates the tower next to the road, but I can see no evidence of that elsewhere. It seems fairly certain that the structure on top of Stumpy was a cast iron skeletal tower at some point in the 20th century. The British Islands Pilot Volume 2, dated 1924, refers to a 70ft fixed white light shown on Near Naze and explains that when the Near Naze is in range with the light on the south pier it will lead vessels safely into the harbour.
The Admiralty List of Lights from 1959 also describes a 67ft white iron framework tower bearing a fixed white light. So that seems fairly clear and both from reliable sources too. As to when the light on Stumpy was turned off I don’t know. I’ve not found anything to indicate when the light was turned off or the skeletal tower removed. I’ve also found no pictures of this tower.
It’s a puzzle, but I feel like I understand a little bit now. I had anticipated this being a fairly straightforward and short post, but clearly it was not to be. If you happen to know any more about these lights then please do leave a comment at the bottom of this post. 🙂
It was a little over seven years ago that I last got a closer view of the Needles lighthouse off of the most westerly point of the Isle of Wight, the island I still consider to be home in many respects. It’s the sort of place you never lose a connection with, which I suppose could be said for any place where you were born and brought up.
The is a picture on the wall at home of the Needles, taken back in 2012, and so it’s a lighthouse that my son, in particular, is quite familiar with. He’d mentioned it a few times since we had arrived on the Isle of Wight earlier this week so we thought we’d take a drive out there to see if the boat trips that take you close to the lighthouse were running.
The picture of the Needles on the wall at home
The chairlift was clearly moving when we arrived so we were hopeful of getting out in a boat. We asked the lady at the kiosk and she said that they were due to start running the trips soon so we quickly bought tickets and rushed off towards the chairlift. On the way down to the beach my little boy asked if we were going to go inside the lighthouse and I had to break it to him that we weren’t. His response was “But I want to go inside” and all I could say back to that was: “So do I”!
We hopped off of the chairlift and looked across at the boat rolling about in the sea with a couple of men on board. The kids were quite content throwing stones into the sea so we thought we would wait there to see if the boat started to move.
The Needles seen in the distance from the beach
Unfortunately that plan was scuppered when the chairlift operators announced that they would shortly be closing the chairlift for technical reasons and that those who had tickets should make their way back up. We reluctantly followed these instructions, but decided we would go for lunch and try again later. It was slightly irritating to hear as we were heading to the cafe that the chairlift had re-opened, but you can’t dwell on these things.
A little while later we checked with the chairlift staff who reported that the boats were indeed due to start running very soon. Back on the chairlifts we went and wandered on over to the little jetty which the boat was moving about quite a bit at the end of. Last time we’d taken the RIB, but fortunately the only option today was the slower boat. I say fortunately as there appeared to be a fair amount of swell once you got out past the lighthouse, and the RIB takes you right around to the other side of the Needles.
Closing in on the Needles
It was quite a pleasant little cruise and a real pleasure to see the lighthouse again. The tower, at 31 metres, has got some height to it, but it appears slightly dwarfed almost by the actual “Needles” between it and the island. I sometimes think the helipads on top of the towers take away from the beauty of the structure, but what they take away in beauty they make up for in the “bring it on” exterior. The metal bars sticking out from around the helipad appear almost as arms spread wide, saying “Throw whatever you can at me. I can withstand anything”. I usually picture lighthouses as females. It’s just something I do, often singing “Isn’t She Lovely” at them, but I would struggle to do so with these rock lights boasting helipads. That’s possibly a little old-fashioned (and also quite strange) of me to think of it like that, but there you go.
Needles lighthouse
The colour on the tower wasn’t as vivid today as it was when I’d seen it before against brilliant blue skies, but it’s nice to have different views each time you visit. We also had to contend with kids this time and while one of them held on to his seat the whole time and only moved when he was helped, the smaller one wanted to run free along the benches or lay on them singing away to herself. A natural at this boat malarkey she is, which is scary and encouraging in equal measure.
Looking back at the lighthouse
Once back on dry land and at the top of the cliff, the little man was repeatedly informing us that he didn’t have a Needles lighthouse toy – there was clearly a Needles lighthouse gap in his toy box! He chose, rather than a toy, a little ornament depicting the Needles lighthouse and the stacks. We also read up a bit in the shop, via an information panel on the wall, on the old lighthouse that was built upon the headland above the Needles in 1785. As is so often the case, this old lighthouse was frequently obscured by sea mist and therefore did not serve its purpose, hence the replacement tower being built at a lower level.
Today was a reminder of the variety of experiences you have when visiting lighthouses is your favourite thing to do. Some days are about the big adventure, hopping (or cautiously stepping in my case) onto and off of boats a number of times. Other days are for the enjoyment of the little ones when you take a step back, hold your hand out towards the lighthouse and say “kids, this is what it’s all about.” 🙂
It’s a long way from the north coast of Scotland to the Isle of Wight and, particularly with two young children, regular breaks are essential. So why not tie these breaks in with visiting lighthouses?! We had to drive from Stirling to Leicester yesterday and, of course, if you take the most direct route you aren’t going to go anywhere near a lighthouse, so a bit of a detour was in order.
We decided to aim for Whitehaven as our first point. I’d visited back in 2012, but there was some sort of event going on in the harbour and there were far too many people around for my liking. I had just travelled around the coast of Scotland and got quite used to not seeing lots of people! As a result, on that occasion I didn’t do it justice.
The three lighthouses in Whitehaven (l-r Old New Quay, West Pier and North Pier)
This time we parked up and immediately headed for the south side of the harbour. We could see all three lighthouses in the harbour as we set off, as well as the watchtower, which is often mistaken for a lighthouse. The first one we came to was the Old New Quay light. It’s quite an amusing name: how can it be old and new, you might ask? Well, I believe it is related to the various stages of development in the harbour. There was the original quay and then the new one was built (the one with this lighthouse) as the New Quay. Then it was extended further with the north and west piers, so it became the Old New Quay!
Whitehaven Old New Quay lighthouse
They’ve done a lot of renovation work on this pier in recent years, with that particular effort completed in 2017. It’s looking good, in fact a lot of the harbour is. The two other lights need some work, but it was reported this week that funding has now been approved for improvements to be made to the towers.
Whitehaven Old New Quay Pier
Continuing on, we walked right out to the end of the west pier and what is probably the most well known of the Whitehaven lighthouses. It does need a bit of work done, but it’s going to look great once it’s finished. It’s quite an ornate tower. It reminds me a little of Smeaton’s tower. It’s nice that you can walk up the steps around the far side of it and see higher up the tower from the upper level of the pier.
Whitehaven West Pier lighthouse
Whitehaven West Pier lighthouse viewed from the upper level
From here Bob and the kids went to the beach to throw stones in the sea while I walked over to the north pier. On the way there I walked past the watchtower, another nice building. I particularly like the sun dial on the side.
Whitehaven watchtower
Crossing over the lock, I then walked along to the north pier lighthouse. This is clearly the pier to use if you want to go fishing it seems, and the gulls knew it too! The tower at the end is a nice castellated affair with its year of “birth” on it. Another point for getting great views across the harbour from.
Whitehaven North Pier lighthouse
I’m glad I have now spent more time in Whitehaven. It’s a lovely harbour to walk around with a lot of points of interest.
Our second, and last, stop of the day today was Plover Scar. I’m not sure what had happened between me and Plover Scar, but I’d not taken any pictures of it back in 2012, although I did see it. It’s amazing when you look back at how little effort you put in during those early days when you really only care about the bigger lights. Clearly my lighthouse outlook has changed since then as Plover Scar had remained on my to do list.
It was always going to be a challenge, What with tide times and the fact that we were taking the kids, but Bob had researched the former and we would just have to deal with the latter as best we could. We spotted the top of the tower on the approach road and then it disappeared while we parked up near Cockerham Sands holiday park. There was a nice little path around the coastline from here. The lighthouse came into view and the tide was far enough out to enable us to reach it. There was, however, a field of cows ahead of us that the footpath takes you through. Neither of us trust cows and we knew we had to get down onto the beach at some point anyway, so we headed down before reaching the cow’s field.
The walk out to the lighthouse wasn’t quick, in part because we had the kids there, but they enjoyed the walk (or should I say “carry” in the case of the little one) out there. The tide was still receding as we walked out, but we were aware that it was due to change soon and the tide charts showed that it changed pretty quickly with the transition from low and high being fairly quick.
Plover Scar lighthouse with the tide out
We finally reached the lighthouse and it was a great feeling to have made it. You can never really appreciate the size of a lighthouse from a distance and it was good to get up close to this one.
Plover Scar lighthouse
The tower was repaired and renovated after it was hit by an empty cargo vessel one night in March 2016. The lantern was removed that year for renovation works to be carried out on it and repair to the tower followed in 2017. It is certainly looking good now. What a pleasure it was to see it close up.
Looking up at Plover Scar lighthouse
Although the walk back from the lighthouse needed to happen within a certain time frame due to the light disappearing and tide turning, it was still a fantastic walk to an excellent lighthouse. 🙂
Inchkeith is one of those places I’d been desperate to reach for a long time. When you look across at it from Leith or even from higher points in Edinburgh it looks so close, but I’d not made it there. That was until the very end of last month! Bob had made contact with Forth Sea Safaris about attempting to go out and they had agreed to take us, weather permitting of course.
We arrived at Burntisland, our departure point, and I was extremely pleased to see the water so calm. The boatman, Stewart, had said that it was looking like it would be better than it had been for a long time. Sometimes you get very very lucky with these trips. Other times not so much. We met up with our island-bagging friend Charlie who had signed up to join us and quickly introduced him to the inner light in the harbour. It’s not changed much since we were last there, still rusty!
Burntisland East Pier Inner lighthouse
Stewart arrived and off we set, waving goodbye to the resident seal in the harbour (and her pup). We sailed nice and close to the lighthouse on the end of the west pier. This one is looking very good and Stewart informed us that this one has had some work done to it fairly recently, including modernisation of the light. It was great to be able to see this one as it’s visible from the harbour, but still just a little too far away to get a good picture of.
Burntisland West Pier lighthouse
After leaving the harbour I mentioned the old lighthouse that used to live in Burntisland harbour and is now on display in Leith Docks to the others. Stewart said he recalled there being something on the end of an old breakwater. After a minute or two he realised that he’d actually walked right past the tower in Leith Docks just a few days before. Imagine walking past a lighthouse and not thinking anything of it!
Now, the main target for the day was Inchkeith, but seeing as we were in the area anyway and I’d not been very close to Oxcars lighthouse we went along to that one first. It was, in fact, the addition of Oxcars to the itinerary that meant such an early start that day as we wanted to catch it at low tide – for landing, of course! There was no doubting the water was calm enough for landing and the RIB had a nice little platform on the front, which was very helpful for getting onto and off of islands. We were stepping off onto seaweed unfortunately, but it wasn’t so bad and within a short time we were there at the bottom of that fascinating tower.
Oxcars lighthouse
It looks so different at low tide. I’d only seen it at high (or higher) tides before and never realised just how much rock was there. We were able to walk out onto the two little jetties and get some pretty good pictures.
Oxcars lighthouse from the jetty
Stewart had told us that the ladder up to the base of the red and white banded section of the tower would be ok to climb up, but not to go any further as the ladder isn’t in a good way. That was fine with us (well me anyway). It was a similar experience to landing at the Barrel of Butter where you know you are somewhere that very few people go. Some people look at islands and think “I’d love to go there”, but they look at a bit of rock with a lighthouse on top and only the hardcore lighthouse and island “baggers” would really try to attempt it. What a wonderful lighthouse though and a real bonus for this trip. Just fantastic.
Looking up at Oxcars
Stewart took us around Oxcars so we could get some pictures of the lighthouse with the new Queensferry Crossing bridge in the background. A very picturesque view.
Oxcars lighthouse with the Forth Rail and Road bridges
Inchkeith beckoned and, as the tide was still dropping, we knew there would be a ladder to climb. When Bob had been to the island previously the ladder was loose at the top, but thankfully Stewart reassured us that it had been fixed. It was quite a long way up and I must have made the ladder on Oxcars look really difficult as Stewart very kindly offered me a rope. I politely refused – I must make it look harder than I actually find it!
The lighthouse was sitting up there looking all majestic as it does. I could tell immediately that this was a special place. For a start Inchkeith has a lot of history and there is evidence of that all around with the range of buildings in various states. One of my favourite tales from its history is the alleged research that was undertaken when a mute woman was put on the island with her two young children. I’m not sure how long they were said to have been there, but the aim was to see what language the children would speak. Again, I don’t know what the outcome was!
Arrival on Inchkeith
We walked up the path and wandered through a gate into a walled area containing what would have been the old keepers’ accommodation. Before we explored that we turned right towards a circular brick wall. It didn’t look like much, but it is the remains of an old experimental tower that was used for testing new light techniques. It was designed by Thomas Smith and built around 1785 and was used to test a new oil-burning reflector light system. The terracotta tiles on the floor are still there and the wall is still standing up to a point, so it is difficult to imagine what it previously looked like, but there is a picture showing it slightly more intact in the book At Scotland’s Edge by Keith Allerdyce.
The remains of the old lighthouse tower on Inchkeith
The nearby cottages are not in a good way, missing doors and windows and just how you would expect rooms to look if they are open to the wind and rain for years on end. I’ve said numerous times before that it’s a shame that a lot of the cottages have gone this way, but I suppose they have served their purpose now and it would be a very difficult place for somebody to live now, although not really that far from civilisation. Presevation of the buildings would be wonderful, of course, but if there is no one to preserve them for… (apart from the occasional lighthouse enthusiast).
Inside one of the old houses on Inchkeith
We crossed an overgrown stretch of foliage and then arrived at the archway the marks the entrance to the active lighthouse. The old air tanks for the foghorn are still there and the area looks very abandoned. Stepping through the arch you are then greeted with the lighthouse, uniquely painted entirely in the Northern Lighthouse Board’s bamboo/buff/etc. paint. The lighthouse is no longer owned or maintained by the Northern Lighthouse Board after it was passed over to Forth Ports in 2013.
Inchkeith lighthouse
There’s no doubting it’s a fantastic tower, a little castle-esque.
The best angle on Inchkeith lighthouse
I suppose, though, you are always aware that it is surrounded by neglect. The old engine rooms across the courtyard are exposed to the elements too and in a sorry state.
Inside one of the old buildings close to the lighthouse
On the plus side, and a big plus side it is, the views of the lighthouse and across the Firth of Forth are simply wonderful from up there. I’ve spent a lot of time on islands off of the west coast of Scotland, but those on the east have a very different feel about them. They aren’t so remote for a start, but still feel away from it all. There’s also a lot more life there, we saw countless snails and even the resident chickens gave us a noisy welcome.
The view from the top of Inchkeith
We decided to wander on over to where the old foghorn used to be. We’d recently seen the foghorn that was originally on the island at the National Museum of Scotland’s large item store in Granton. We had to navigate our way around some old wartime buildings to get there, but we made it to the old, and partially collapsed, lookout point. There were more wonderful views to be had from here.
Looking down to where the foghorn would have been
Due to the tide being too low for us to get back off of the island for a while, we’d had plenty of time to explore and while the others went off for a more off-piste exploration of a different bit I was able to sit down, enjoy the views and soak in the loveliness of being in such a great place. It was sad to see so much neglect of buildings there, but it was also interesting to see how nature was taking control again as it does when there is no one there to stop it. A thoroughly enjoyable day and definitely well worth the wait. 🙂
While in Hull for the Association of Lighthouse Keepers AGM weekend at the end of last month, it was the perfect opportunity to improve upon my previous efforts to visit the lights along the south bank of the Humber Estuary and the River Ouse. I’ll be honest, it wasn’t a day I was excited about, mainly because our first stop was Killingholme and I didn’t enjoy my last visit there.
I did try to approach it with a more positive view that perhaps I had just been tired that day or maybe it was the stress of constantly feeling like I was getting lost at roundabouts that made me enjoy it less. I was willing to give it another try. Almost immediately after arriving in the area I was reminded of the smell and then we encountered the approach road to the lighthouses and the feelings began to return again. Bob had remained positive about it until this point, but he’d not been there before. He was just enjoying all of the industrial scenery around, it seemed. When we reached the end of the road and arrived at the first of the three lighthouses I knew exactly why I didn’t enjoy the place.
Killlingholme North Low lighthouse
The lighthouse next to the road is looking even worse than it did seven years ago and has even more damaged cars surrounding it. I’ve looked into the lighthouses here over the past year and found this website. It is the comments further down the page that tell of happier (and not so happy) times at the lighthouses there. There’s also an interesting explanation as to why the North Low light might be falling into disrepair. It sort of makes me more intrigued by the lights, but I’d read this before I went recently and I couldn’t get past the feeling of the place.
Killingholme High lighthouse
Not hanging around for too long, off we went and the next priority was for Bob to go up a quick hill, not that there was much “up” involved. I waited in the car as I often do on these occasions.
The next stop was Whitgift, where I’d only seen the lighthouse from the road on my last visit. This time we walked right up to it. It’s quite a nice tower and much better maintained than some of the other smaller lights we’d seen. I don’t have a huge amount to say about it to be honest. I’m glad I’ve been closer to it now.
Whitgift lighthouse
Now the next one I do have a bit more to say about and that’s the old River Ouse Apex light. I had seen this one through the fence back in 2012 and I’d also stopped at the nearby Yorkshire Riverways Museum in Goole, which had a nice cafe. On the way there this time though I discovered that the Museum actually closed earlier this year, which was a shame. We decided to still drive along though so Bob could see it, and I’m so glad we did. When we arrived the gate to the area the lighthouse is in was wide open, and who can resist an open gate when there is a lighthouse on the other side? We went in, but didn’t expect to stay long in case someone turned up and shouted at us.
The old River Ouse Apex light
We’d been there a few minutes when a car drove in through the gate, the driver got out and it looked like he was locking the gate behind him. I mean, I love a lighthouse, but I didn’t fancy being locked in a compound with one! We spoke to the man and it turned out he wasn’t locking the gate, he had just closed it and was off to play guitar with a friend in the little building there. Phew, we weren’t in trouble! He said it was fine for us to wander around so we returned to the lighthouse feeling considerably more relaxed and taking a bit more time to check it out. Considering it’s no longer in use and not even in its original location it looks a lot better than some of the other active lights in the area. It’s a really interesting tower and I was so pleased we arrived when we did so we could get a much closer look.
River Ouse Apex lighthouse
The final stop of the day as we continued our journey north was Teesport. This area is not an easy one to find a lighthouse in as it is rather industrial. Thankfully through the research I carried out for my book, it was simple enough to find. There’s no public access to the tower itself, but we could see it through a fence. It’s a fairly understated and functional tower as you would expect in such an area.
Teesport Front Range lighthouse
We spotted the rear light (which is incredibly tall) as we drove along the road on the approach to the lighthouse. It’s a long way back from the front light, hence the need for it to be as tall as it is. We didn’t linger here for too long as we felt that we were probably being watched by a number of security cameras and personnel, so we got some pictures and off we went, noticing the security car hanging around close by as we drove off. Clearly they aren’t used to lighthouse enthusiasts in Teesport!
A good lighthouse day, even if it wasn’t the most inspiring. When you do these things you need to accept that there will be some good days and some not so good days. Although this particular Sunday hadn’t been so enjoyable, the following day was to balance it out perfectly. More on than very soon! 🙂
