The Lighthouse of Southwold, Suffolk

I got side tracked, this post was meant for something else, but I found another lighthouse, although not a Stevenson Lighthouse, as this one is in the beautiful seaside town of Southwold, on the Suffolk coast, but still a good one for my Lighthouse Category.

We were visiting in February 2016, it was a little cold and overcast, but the sea air was wonderful, blowing away all the cobwebs and making you feel alive.  I have changed all the photos to b&w, as the sky was so heavy, you could hardly make out the lighthouse.

A little history of the lighthouse….Southwold Lighthouse was built by Trinity House in 1887 as a coastal mark for passing shipping and as a guide for vessels sailing into Southwold Harbour.  Design and planning for the construction of Lighthouse began in 1887 under the supervision of Sir James Douglass, Engineer in Chief to Trinity House. The light is still operational and light is visible for 24 sea miles.  

February 2016

Lighthouse, The Island of Murano, Venice, Italy

I have posted this lighthouse before, in a post about the Islands of Murano, which we visited in 2016 on a trip to Venice, but I want to add it to my ‘Lighthouse Collection’   Built in 1912, the lighthouse has a distinct lean in the seaward direction, you can see this clearly, but I didn’t take a photo, in fact I only took this one….oh dear, we will have to return to take some more photos 🙂

Lighthouse in San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice, Italy

I am sorting through photos, as I do every year, just as well, because I found a lighthouse for my collection.  When we visited Venice, Italy, last year 2016, I took hundreds of photos, but somehow I missed posting about this lighthouse.  I have since found out that there are two towers, one at each end of the breakwater off the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore.  I only managed to get one and there’s not really any information about them, or not that I can find.  They do look very attractive in the Lagoon and are now in my ‘Lighthouse Category’ …but I have a feeling I have another one that I took on one of the islands…. must keep looking.

 

Carraig Mhòr Lighthouse, Nr Port Askaig, Isle of Islay, Scotland

When you sail into Port Askaig on the Isle of Islay, you pass Carraig Mhòr Lighthouse in the Sound of Islay, I was hoping it would be a Stevenson Lighthouse to add to my collection, but it’s not.  The light was established in 1928 and that’s all I can find out about it at the moment, but its one for the ‘Lighthouse Collection’  and as always, they are all set in spectacular scenery.

From our visit in May 2016

Rinns of Islay Lighthouse 1825, Orsay, Inner Hebrides

I have added yet another category to my blog, Stevenson Lighthouses in Scotland.  I found out when researching for Skerryvore Lighthouse that there are a great many Stevenson built lighthouses in Scotland and so far the ones that I have photographed, have been in the most beautiful locations.  So apart from all the other things I want to explore and photograph, I now want to see how many I can capture.  As I live in England and not Scotland, this could be a long affair, but fun, just adds somewhere else to visit, although, I do not have to physically visit the lighthouse, taking a photo from afar is ok.

We were lucky enough to have a second holiday in Scotland this year, when we stayed on Jura and Isley, two beautiful islands off the west coast and I realised that I had taken some photos of a couple of Stevenson Lighthouses.  This post is of the elegant Rinns of Islay Lighthouse, which is on the Isle of Orsay that you can see at the end of the road in Port Wemyss on Islay, separated by a stretch of narrow water.  Built by Robert Stevenson in 1825.  The light was alternately stationary and revolving, producing a bright ‘flash’ of light every 12 seconds, this was a new way to distinguish one light from another, without those intervals of darkness which characterise other lights on the coast.

May 2016

Edgartown Lighthouse, Martha’s Vineyard, USA

 

We have just come back from a lovely holiday on the west coast of Scotland, but as always, I took far too many photos.  So while I sort through them, I thought I would carry on with my lighthouse category.  When we were on holiday last year 2015. we saw this one from our hotel window in Edgartown.

One of five lighthouses on Martha’s Vineyard, Edgartown Harbour Light, was built in 1939 replacing an earlier one of 1828.

 

 

 

A Lone Light, Rubha nan Gall, 1857 (Sound of Mull) – Scotland

We were sailing back from the Isle of Coll, an Inner Hebridean Island, in 2013, on a very misty day, it had been warm, but the mist had stay with us all day.  This lone lighthouse was the only photo that I took on a three hour trip back to Oban.  I think its on Mull, but I’m not too sure, maybe someone can tell me 🙂  Anyway it is going in my ‘Lighthouse Category’

I found it 🙂 ………This is a traditional lighthouse designed by Thomas and David Stevenson. It was first established in 1857 and manned by keepers until 1960 when the light was automated. The tower is on a small islet joined to the keepers house and the shore by a bridge. The light is exhibited from a black-painted lantern room at the top of a 19 metre white-painted masonry tower. Access is by a one mile walk along the cliff top path from Tobermory, Isle of Mull.