Wednesday 5 January 2011

WHATEVER THE WEATHER- THE LIGHT SHINES THROUGH.

PORTLAND BILL LIGHTHOUSE
For nearly 300 years a lighthouse has stood at Portland Bill on the south coast of England. It guides vessels heading for Portland and Weymouth - it also acts as a waymark for vessels navigating in the English channel.
A red sector light warns mariners of the hazardous Shambles Bank which lies about 3 miles off shore.

The lighthouse was established in 1716 and the height of the tower is 41 metres. In 1996 the whole lighthouse became automated with the light flashing 4 times every 20 seconds. The range of the light is 25 nautical miles.
During fog the horn is activated and this gives a 3.5 second blast every 30 seconds.

For some of my childhood years I lived at Portland and the lighthouse was a constant backdrop to a lot of my early adventures.

13 comments:

becky said...

Nice photo! I do love photographing lighthouses. 2 of my favorites are the Portland Head Light in Portland, Maine, and the Heceta Head on the Oregon Coast. (both USA)
Happy New Year, by the way!

Sile said...

Linaere, essenziale e perfetta. Bravo. Sile

AphotoAday said...

You must have some fine memories of that most impressive lighthouse and keeper's house... Substantial construction -- I guess things do last when you build them out of rock...

In California the coastal light signals and horns have largely been replaced with electronic beeps... Did you know that where there is a lot of fog the lighthouses need to be built not as high so their light beams can be seen under fog banks...

I grew up on the Monterey Peninsula and out on Point Pinos was a fog horn that could blast your socks off... Standing near it and not knowing it was going to blow would always be a great, although, deafening surprise...

Anonymous said...

That's amazing.....though I never visited the place but I guess will be coming sooon :)

Bhags

orso - homine de su marghine.. said...

are now all in ruins and abandoned .. but luckily this is still running very valuable. greetings frà..

SKIZO said...

Wonderful
shot

Yoshi said...

Brilliant B&W photo!!! I would love to be on top of the lighthouse, look around, and photograph!!!
Thanks for sharing.
Yoshi

Leovi said...

Imposing this lighthouse is beautiful in black and white photo.

Anonymous said...

Stronger than time. Years since last seen with me own eyes. May time and life continue to treat this light kind.

Please have a good Thursday.

daily athens

Daliana Pacuraru said...

I like also the title!
Please have a great weekend!
Regards

Unknown said...

i like youe black%white and sepia tones. Your B&W photo are very warm,although usually pictures in B&W are very cold.

Kenneth Larsson said...

Really nice bw photo. I like it a lot! Have a nice day! :-)

Greetings from Sweden!!

ADRIAN said...

What a beautiful shot.......I've seen it dozens of times from the sea. it's a grand light.

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