Lighthouses
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| Location | Farne Islands, Northumberland, England |
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| Coordinates | 55°36′55″N 1°39′21″W / 55.61528°N 1.65583°W / 55.61528; -1.65583 |
| Year first constructed | 1811 |
| Automated | 1910 |
| Height | 13 m (43 ft) |
| Focal height | 27 m (89 ft) |
| Current lens | 1st Order Catadioptric Fixed Lens |
| Intensity | White 1,650 Candela, Red 208 Candela |
| Range | White 10 nmi (19 km); Red 7 nmi (13 km) |
| Characteristic | 2 White and Red Flashes Every 15 Seconds |
| ARLHS number | ENG 060 |
There are two lighthouses operated by Trinity House on the Farne Islands:
- (Inner) Farne Lighthouse
Built in 1811 to the design of Daniel Alexander, it is a circular white tower with lighthouse keepers' cottages to the rear. It was converted to solar powered operation in 1996.
- Longstone Lighthouse
Built in 1826 and originally named Outer Farne Lighthouse. Its history and technical details are provided on the linked page.
Former lighthouses on the islands include:
- Farne Island Lighthouse (built in 1673 but never lit; replacement built in 1778, which was itself replaced with the current Farne Lighthouse in 1811)
- Staple Island Lighthouse (built in 1778 and blown down in 1784; a replacement, built either in the same place or on Brownsman's island, was knocked down by heavy seas in 1800)
- Brownsman Lighthouse (built in 1800, replaced with a new tower in 1811 and closed in 1826)
- A minor light was also established on the north west of Farne between 1811 and 1910.
All the operational lighthouses on the Farnes are now automatic and have no resident keepers, although in former years they did. The lighthouse is now maintained by Trinity House via their local lighthouse attendant, George Shiel, who also provides guided tours inside the lighthouse. Ruins of older lighthouses may be seen, for example on the Brownsman where there are two. Before the lighthouses there were beacons on several of the islands. The prominent white streak on the cliff facing the mainland (see photo) is often thought by visitors to be bird droppings: although many parts of the islands do exhibit this colouring, in this case it is the result of chalk deposits from the many years of spent calcium carbide from the lighthouse being thrown down the cliff; this calcium carbide was used to generate acetylene which was used as fuel for the light before electricity came.
Read more about this topic: Farne Islands
Famous quotes containing the word lighthouses:
“The whole fauna of human fantasies, their marine vegetation, drifts and luxuriates in the dimly lit zones of human activity, as though plaiting thick tresses of darkness. Here, too, appear the lighthouses of the mind, with their outward resemblance to less pure symbols. The gateway to mystery swings open at the touch of human weakness and we have entered the realms of darkness. One false step, one slurred syllable together reveal a man’s thoughts.”
—Louis Aragon (1897–1982)
“the ocean, under the pulsation of lighthouses and noise of bell
buoys,
advances as usual, looking as if it were not that ocean in which
dropped things are bound to sink—
in which if they turn and twist, it is neither with volition nor
consciousness.”
—Marianne Moore (1887–1972)