Westerhever Sand Lighthouse B1652, Germany

Westerhever Sand  Lighthouse B1652, Germany

Latitude 54°22.5’N
Longitude 8°38.5’ W
Established 26^th May 1978
Height of tower 40 meters
Elevation 41 meters
Character Oc (3) WRG 15s
Range W 21 M; R 17 M; G 16 M

 One slightly grey day in June 2004, during our holiday in North-Germany, we went to see the beautiful Westerheversand Lighthouse.

To get to the lighthouse you need to walk across the marsh and on the day we got there, the march was populated by a huge flock of sheep. So we walked a few kilometers through this flock, making sure we avoided the traces they leave behind - not an easy task.

Because the local land owners were not prepared to sell any land suitable for a lighthouse, the station had to be built outside the tidal walls.

The light station was erected on a man made hill, which becomes an island several times a year, when the tide is particularly high.

The cast iron lighthouse and the two keepers cottages were built on a concrete raft, which is supported by 127 whole tree trunks, driven 8 metres into the soft marsh land.

The tower was built from 608 cast plates, which are bolted together. The total weight is approx. 150 tons

Today a high pressure Xenon lamp is used for both the main light and the reserve.  In good weather conditions the light can be seen on the island of Helgoland. 

The lighthouse was automated in 1978 and the last keepers were withdrawn. Since then the cottages are now used for bird watchers and conservationists and there is a little shop.

Recently the lighthouse also gained another attraction: It was licensed as a register office, so you can now get married our here at this beautiful spot.

This lighthouse has been used endlessly on all manner of advertising pictures and greeting cards. It appears to be the German's favourite lighthouse. Below just a few examples.

 

This little model is about 2.5" or 7cm tall. We found it in a little shop in Büsum.

 

This beer bottle label was a kind gift from Klaus Kern who edits Leuchtfeuer, a great German lighthouse magazine

 A copy of a greeting card a friend sent to us from the USA

 

The beer mat show the lighthouse from the air. 

The milk carton top on the right is from the set we are displaying in the Non Lighthouse Blogg

 

 

Of course there are many post cards with this beautiful lighthouse.  On the right is just one called "Four Seasons at the lighthouse"

  

And finally - 7th July 2005 - there is a stamp with this much loved lighthouse! Above a post card with the stamp and below a sheet of 10 stamps.

 

A First Day Souvenir Sheet was also issued for both stamps issued. It shows the stamp issued fro Westerhaver Sand as well as the one of Brunsbüttel Mole Lighthouse. And one of several cancellations issued for this stamp release.

 

Trevose Head NW End A5638 - North Cornwall UK

Lat./Long:	50°32.9''N;5°02.1'W
Character:	Fl W 7.5s
Height of tower:	27 m
Elevation:	62 m
Visible:	27 M
First lit:	1847

There have been discussions about a lighthouse here as early as 1809. Trinity House considered it in 1813 and 1832. But is was to be December 1847, before an oil light was installed here. Originally there were two lights here (a high light and a low light), but in 1882 the low light was discontinued and the high light changed to an occulting light.

On the Trinity House website for this lighthouse you can read all about the lens. It says: "During the 1912/13 modernisation, the first order (920mm) catadioptric lens with the three symmetrical panels was put into service, and it was into this lens in around 1920 that the Hood vapour burner was installed. Newly developed the Hood high power vaporized oil burner, with autoform mantel was a great improvement. The autoform mantle formed itself into a spherical shape when burnt off. The light produced was a 198,000 candle power red flash of 0.3 second duration every 5 seconds with a nominal range of 25 miles; the 3.6 tonnes lens was driven by a clockwork motor driven by weights."

The light was automated in 1995 and the keepers withdrawn.

Not until 1911 was a fog horn installed at this station. This is surprising, if you consider the sea mist and fog which is common along this coast line.

The keeper's cottages are now popular holiday destinations (let by Rural Retreats). But you need to be prepared to cope with the noise of the fog signal.

Fog horn 

 Entrance to the station

When we visited the lighthouse in April 2007, we heard this noise and spoke to some of the people staying there, who had been listening to it for a couple of days. This must give you a very good impression of the life of a keeper's family.
The cliffs and sea just below the lighthouse leave little to the imagination. The spray from the sea can and does come up about 150 feet!

The first order (920mm) catadioptric lens

Teingmouth Lighthouses, South Coast, UK

Teignmouth Lighthouse "The Den" A0262

above

Latitude 50 deg 32.5 min N

Longitude 3 deg 29.7 min W

Height of tower 6 meters

Elevation 10 meters

Character F R

Range 6 M

Powderham Terrace A0262.1
on the right

Latitude 50 deg 35.5 min N

Longitude 3 deg 29.7 min W

Height of tower 6 meters

Elevation 10 meters

Character F R

Range 3 M 

We saw these lights on 22nd March 2003 on a visit organised for the inaugural meeting of the South Western Region of the Association of Lighthouse Keepers. Because of the treacherous nature of the entrance to the harbour of Teignmouth the Teignmouth Harbour Commissioners decided on a lighthouse here as early as the early 1840s. The tower, built of local limestone was first lit in 1845. 

This lighthouse has never had a keeper and has often been mistaken for a "toy lighthouse". Far from being a toy this tower is an important leading light, which together with the light on Powderham Terrace guides shipping into the harbour even now. 

The rear light is much simpler in construction. It is mounted on a tall pole in front of the Lynton House Hotel. The local Harbour Master maintains the lights. 

Tater-du Lighthouse A0032 England

Tater-du Lighthouse A0032

Lat./Long:	50º03.5'N, 5º34.6'E
Character:	Fl (3) W 15
Height of tower:	15 m
Elevation:	41 m
Visible:	23 M
Additional light	F R on same structure
Fog Signal:	Horn (2) 30s
First lit:	1965

Tater Du Lighthouse was built by Trinity House in 1965 as an automatic installation. It marks a headland on the south Cornwall coast to the west of Penzance. A red sector light warns shipping of the Runnelstone Rocks.

The lighthouse, which is built of white concrete blocks, was modernised in 1996/7.

   It is difficult to reach Tater-du, if you are not fit to walk along the coastal path.

 There is no road access.

Looking at the history of shipwrecks along this coast, this lighthouse should have been built much before 1965. The final motivation for finally building a light here, was the wreck of the Spanish coaster Juan Ferrer. She ran ashore with the loss of 11 lives in October 1963.

The lighthouse that was subsequently built by Trinity House was automated and un-manned from the beginning.

The pictures were taken from a boat on a day trip to the Scilly Isles.

morning picture (on the way to the Scilly Isles)

evening picture (on the way back from the Scilly Isles)

Strumble Head Lighthouse A5274 Wales UK

Strumble Head Lighthouse A5274

Lat./Long:	52º01.8'N, 5º04.3'E
Character:	Fl (4) W 15s
Height of tower:	17 m
Elevation:	45 m
Visible:	26 M
First lit:	1908

The light is shown 24 hrs a day. It was automated in 1980 and is now monitored from the Operations Control Centre at Harwich.

 

The lighthouse was built on Ynysmeicl (St. Michael's Island), an islet to the west of Fishguard, separated from the mainland by a very narrow gap.

On the right you can see the steps and the bridge over this gap. In stormy weather the water appears to boil.

 

Originally a revolving lens system weighing 4½ tons was supported in a bath of mercury to reduce friction. A massive clockwork mechanism rotated it, driven by a quarter-ton weight which, suspended on a cable, dropped gradually down a cylinder running from top to bottom through the tower and had to be re-wound every 12 hours. In 1965 this was replaced and the station was fully electrified.

Despite the footbridge to the mainland across the narrow sound, Ynsymeicl's isolation and steep slopes set building problems typical of more remote rock towers. Building material and regular supplies were swung across by jackstay cable, between the winches near the cliff-top on the mainland and beside the lighthouse. The handrail of the footbridge and the steps to it also had a special purpose, as the pipeline to carry oil into the tower basement.

We have visited this lovely place twice and the last time (September 2005) we saw a - for us - rare thing. The reserve light was in operation. If you look closely you can see its flash on the picture on the left and on the picture below. 

 

Start Point Lighthouse, England A0228

Start Point Lighthouse, England A0228

                                                   Issued 8^th February 2005

     Lat./Long:                            50°13.3’N; 3°38.5’W 

     Location:                             Salcombe Harbour, Start Bay   

     Character:                            Fl (3) W 10s

     Height of tower:                  28 m

     Elevation:                            62 m

     Visible:                                25 M

     Vis.:                                     184° - 068° (244°)

                                                  210° - 255° (45°) over Skerries Bank

     Present optic:                      3rd Order Catadioptric Lens

     Fog signal:                           Horn 60 s

     Other lights:                         FR same structure, Elevation: 55 m, Visible: 12 M

     Other buildings:                   keeper’s cottage

     First lit:                                1836

     Automated:                          1993

     James Walker designed Start Point Lighthouse in 1836.  Despite the innovative lens designed by Alan Stevenson, the light was inadequate in foggy conditions and a fog bell was installed in the 1860s.

The machinery was housed in a small building on the cliff face and operated by a weight, which fell in a tube running down the sheer cliff. A siren replaced the bell after only fifteen years. In 1871, the intermediate floors of the tower of 1836 were removed and extra accommodation provided in common with all Trinity House Stations

In recent years the ground under the fog signal house has become insecure finally resulting in the collapse of the building in December 1989. Since then the site has been leveled, a new retaining wall built and a freestanding fog signal stack put in place.

                                                      

 Photo © Ian Butcher

                                              

Saint Anthony Head, A0062 Devon, UK

Saint Anthony Head, A0062

Lat./Long:             50º08.4'N, 5º00.9'W

Character:             Oc WR 15s

Height of tower:   19 m

Elevation:             22 m

Visible:                 W 22 M, W20 M, R 20 M

Fog Signal:           Nautophone Sounding A 3 Second   

                              Blast Every 30 Secs 

First lit:                 1835

 

This lighthouse marks the eastern entrance to Carrick Roads, the harbour of Falmouth in Cornwall, guiding shipping past Manacles rock.

The First Order Lens of the lighthouse and the old fog signals.

On the Trinity House web-page for this lighthouse it states:

"Even in the seventeenth century rudimentary navigational aids were employed. The Killigrew family flew a large red flag from an elm tree denoting wind direction, however this was eventually taken down in 1779 to avoid its being used by invading fleets."

We saw the lighthouse on our trip to Cornwall in April 2007.

  

The coast to the North, along the Carrick Roads. The little white building is the Lighthouse Fuel Store.

You can rent the keeper's cottage for a holiday. It is called Sally Port Cottage and you can see it on the website of Rural Retreats, the letting agent.

 

But you will have to remember, this is a working lighthouse and there might be some noise.

 

Still you will be very private and secluded.

The rocks below the lighthouse are a popular place for cormorants.