Marking time on lighthouses
The mystery explained
On one occasion, whilst examining the machinery of the monster revolving lamp belonging to a lighthouse, a visitor, wishing to see how many seconds would elapse before it completed a revolution, took a half-crown from his pocket, and placed it on the revolving framework.»more»
Watch in hand, he patiently waited for the coin to come round again to where he was standing, but no half-crown appeared. The seconds lengthened out into minutes—still no half-crown.
“Strange!” he exclaimed. “What can be the reason of it?”
In order to find out, he walked to the other side of the lamp, and met one of the lighthouse men, who touched his cap and said respectfully,
“Thank you, sir.”
[from the Rockhampton newspaper The Capricornian, 14 December 1907.]
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Lighthouses
John Deazeley’s backdrop
Here’s an object that tickles my interest in three branches of history—photography, lighthouses, and the region where I live.
It’s a cabinet photograph made in the 1880s by John Deazeley, a photographer with a studio in Queen Street, Brisbane. Queen Street was, and still is, the main commercial street in the city. Three other Brisbane photographers had Queen Street studios then—Thomas Mathewson, Albert Lomer, and Eddie Hutchison.»more»
Zen raking
First thing in the morning. I’m on the verandah of the Assistant Lightkeeper’s quarters. I can hear waves lapping the shore, sea birds calling, the wind in the palm fronts. At a distance, just audible, repeated strokes of a rake on sand.»more»
Draft Dent Island plan released
The draft Dent Island Lightstation heritage management plan is now available for download. The period for public comments ends on 3 April 2013. I was commissioned by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, to complete this joint plan.
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Lighthouses
A lighthouse keeper’s life
The National Museums Scotland website has a fine online exhibition—Shining lights: the story of Scotland’s lighthouses—where I found this video of interviews with lightkeepers:
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Port Said lighthouse
Another one for the bucket list: I must have seen it as I passed through the Suez Canal (twice, in 1965 and 1966), but I don’t remember it. It marks the northern entrance to the canal.
It was the first reinforced concrete lighthouse tower, and was designed by François Coignet and completed in 1869—the first Australian example of this type was Green Cape lighthouse (first lit in 1883).
The Port Said lighthouse was among the first to be lit by electricity, using a carbon arc powered by de Meritens dynamos—the first (and only) use of this system in Australia was at the second Macquarie lighthouse (first lit in 1888).
»more»A christmas pudding for the lighthouse
Last year’s email Christmas card was received so well, I have done the same thing again—another wood engraving from the Illustrated London News, by the same artist, of a similar sentimental subject involving Christmas, a rowing boat, lighthouse keepers, and a pile-lighthouse.
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Lighthouses
A visit to the Eddystone Lighthouse
I feel guilty, just a little, because I support the vandals who cut up old books and magazines. I am part of that awful trade. I search for bits of paper on eBay, and I pay money to dealers. Forgive me.
But I rationalise that it’s a small transgression. If I don’t buy those bits of paper, somebody else will; and if nobody wants them, they’ll all go to landfill.
I paid a dealer to send me some pages pulled from a bound volume of the Strand Magazine (Volume IV, July-December 1892)—an article written and illustrated by F G Kitton, describing a visit to the Eddystone lighthouse. It’s a nicely written piece that gave me a peak into the offshore light keepers’ life.
»more»Henry Winstanley’s great lighthouse engraving
I have a few nice old prints of lighthouses, but none as wonderful as the one I just acquired. It’s from a copper plate engraved by Henry Winstanley (1644-1703)—an English engraver, merchant, and entrepreneur.
The engraving shows the lighthouse Winstanley built, with very great difficulty, on the Eddystone Rocks near Plymouth. The work started in 1696, and the lighthouse was finished and lit in 1698. Winstanley was not satisfied—he enlarged and strengthened the structure in 1899, and my engraving shows it in this improved form. The picture is surrounded by notes that set out the history of the project, and the intricate details of the design.
»more»The new yacht ‘Galatea’
On this day in 1868 The Illustrated London News ran a picture of the Galatea, the lighthouse yacht I have already mentioned. The launching of such a vessel, associated with such a noble purpose (and such noble personages), was a typical subject for celebration in the popular illustrated press in the nineteenth century.
The Illustrated London News was the first illustrated weekly newspaper (founded 1842). It was followed in England by The Graphic (1869), in America by Harper’s Magazine (1850), and in Australia by the Australasian Sketcher (Melbourne, 1873). At their best, these mass-circulation illustrated papers brought high quality illustrations of current events into the homes of middle class people.
»more»Quite a regal station
The Brisbane Courier-Mail newspaper published this letter to the editor on Wednesday 5 May 1937, under the heading Coincidence of names:
Sir,—I think it is rather interesting to note that the three lightkeepers recently stationed at Cape Moreton Lighthouse were named L. R. King, H. P. Earl, and L. Marquis, making quite a regal station.—I am, sir, &c.,
H. P. Earl.
Mary Street, Wynnum.
The Byrne family at Cape Moreton
Just because I enjoy looking at this evocative image so much, I am posting this photograph from the Byrne family collection.
»more»Catoptric lights
Some work I’m doing at Cape Moreton Lighthouse prompted me to do just one more search for historical photographs and drawings online. At the National Archives I found something new—this drawing, signed by W Wilkins, lighthouse engineer of Long Acre, London, of a proposal for Cape Moreton lighthouse, the first lighthouse in Queensland and the only one built of stone.
»more»A most delightful trip (not)
A hundred years ago the postcard was a favoured medium for quick informal messaging. The limited space, and the idea of quick communication, encouraged a short, informal writing style—having a great time, wish you were here. Perhaps the fact that somebody bought and posted a card said as much as the words written on the back.
»more»Christmas papers for the lighthouse
My Christmas ‘card’ this year includes this old image from the Illustrated London News. On the left is the bulk of a side-wheel paddle steamer with a man on deck shown in the act of throwing parcels towards three men in a rowing boat close by. Alas, one of the parcels has fallen short of the boat, and one of the men is reaching over the bow to pull it out of the water. From the title, and from the silhouette of a pile lighthouse in the background, we understand the three men are light keepers who have rowed out to meet the steamer to collect the Christmas mail and papers.
I have found several pictures like this, in popular Victorian magazines, that depict light keepers—strong, stoic men doing important but lonely work—in poignant scenes around Christmas time. I can imagine parents showing these pictures to their children, and reminding them how fortunate they were to be in a snug parlour with their family around them, and a dry copy of a Christmas magazine to read.
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Lighthouses
A postcard from North Reef
My favourite Queensland lighthouse is the one at North Reef, about 120 km north east of Gladstone. The lighthouse was built in 1878 on a small patch of sand on a coral reef, supported on a concrete-filled iron caisson founded on the coral. It is the tallest example of its type, and the most remarkable. Because the lighthouse is remote from the mainland, and is difficult to approach by boat, few visitors went there and old photographs are very rare.
I went to the North Reef lighthouse in 2006 for my nationwide survey project. I flew in and out with an Australian Maritime Systems maintenance crew by helicopter—an exciting and efficient way to get a great view of the tower and the reef.
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Lighthouses
Visited: San Giorgio Maggiore
Cross this one off the list. Today I visited the pair of lighthouses at the island of San Giorgio Maggiore.
»more»The four lighthouses of ‘South Solitary’
On Saturday Margie and I saw the film South Solitary and thoroughly enjoyed it. It brought to mind the four different lighthouses closely connected with the film. And it reminded me that I still want to go to Maatsuyker Island, the place that inspired the film.
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Lighthouses
San Giorgio Maggiore lighthouses
I guess that Pevsner would have classed most lighthouses as buildings, not architecture.† But in Venice there is a pair of lighthouses that must belong in the architecture class, and I’m putting them on my visiting list. I hope to see them next month.
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Lighthouses
Alguada Reef Lighthouse
So remote is this lighthouse tower, on a wave-swept rocky reef off the coast of Myanmar, that a google image search found no photographs of it. That remoteness, along with its beauty and its impressive height, prompts me to add this lighthouse to my must see list.
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Lighthouses
Mumbles Lighthouse
Another old postcard (or six), another old lighthouse I want to visit. Mumbles Lighthouse. Mmm, great name.
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Lighthouses
New year’s resolution for 2010
I have resolved to compile a checklist of lighthouses I would like to visit some time. I have already said I want to visit Muckle Flugga. Next on the list is in Chennai (formerly Madras) in southern India. The postcard below shows an amazing architectural mashup of lighthouse and courthouse. The building, described as an exquisite example of Indo-Saracenic style of architecture, incorporates the lighthouse lantern room and optical apparatus in the top of its highest dome. Flickr user NavneethC took a nice telephoto shot that shows the Chance Brothers lantern grafted into the Indo-Saracenic dome.
»more»Engineering heritage conference in Dunedin
I have just spent a couple of weeks in New Zealand, at the 3rd Australasian Engineering Heritage Conference and visiting various sites in Otago. I presented a paper on Queensland’s timber and iron lighthouses: 19th century colonial innovation [pdf, 165KB].
»more»Ramsbotham on lighting of the Great Barrier Reef
I spoke to a gathering at the Brisbane auditorium of Engineers Australia the other day—on timber and iron lighthouses, my usual shtick. My audience were a well-informed lot, and the discussion especially interesting. My thanks go to Bill Oliver for inviting and introducing me, and to Robert Riddel for a vote of thanks at the end.
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Lighthouses
Lighthouse life in Queensland
It was my pleasure today to talk to members of the Queensland Women’s Historical Association on the subject of lighthouse life in Queensland. The association hosts morning talks each month at Miegunyah, its house museum at Bowen Hills. Before the talk we gathered on the verandah for introductions and chat. There were white table cloths, tea in china cups, and platters of dainty sandwiches. It was a warmish day, and kind ladies handed out fans to the members as they filed into the dining room for the talk.
My audience really enjoyed seeing a series of photographs of the Byrne family, taken at Sandy Cape Lightstation between 1903 and 1913. The photos are now in the John Oxley Library collection, and published on the web. The Byrne family story is also told as one chapter in the library’s virtual exhibition Travelling for love.
»more»Design for extreme places
This article, describing a design to support habitation in Antarctica, reminded me of the living quarters built into the 1878 lighthouse on North Reef, off Gladstone in north Queensland.
»more»Talking to volunteer lighthouse guides
Today, at a seminar for volunteer museum guides at the National Maritime Museum, I spoke on Cape Bowling Green lighthouse in historical context. The hundred or so enthusiastic volunteers had some terrific questions, and there was some lively discussion after the talk. I prepared a small handout (pdf, 673 KB).
»more»Cape Bowling Green lighthouse
Since I was in Sydney for other reasons, I arranged with the Australian National Maritime Museum to have a close look at the Cape Bowling Green lighthouse on display there. This was the second of a series of timber framed, iron plated towers designed by Queensland architect Robert Ferguson (1840-1906). It was built in 1874 on a sandy cape south of Townsville. In 1987 the lighthouse was dismantled and taken away for display at the planned National Maritime Museum at Darling Harbour.
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Lighthouses
Peter Garrett comes good
The Minister of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts has refused the application to despoil Nobbys Head lighthouse. Bravo!
»more»Timber and iron in the smart colony
Yesterday I gave a talk at the Queensland Museum, part of a series called Queensland Connections. In this series, speakers about cultural heritage subjects are teamed with Queensland Museum staffers who talk about natural environment subjects. The result is short talks and odd double-bills.
»more»Peter Garrett and Nobby’s Head
The Commonwealth Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts, Peter Garrett, is inviting comment on his proposed decision not to approve a new building wrapped around the 1858 lighthouse at Newcastle. For the record, I have written to him supporting his decision to refuse this inappropriate and damaging proposal.
»more»Mapping lighthouses
All the lighthouses I have recently inspected are displayed on this Google map. If you have Google Earth installed, try this link.
»more»Muckle Flugga
I want to go there. Muckle Flugga: a rocky islet near Unst in the Shetland Islands, site of the northernmost lighthouse in Scotland, at Latitude 60° 51.3′N. The light was established to guide ships carrying British troops to the Crimean War. Bella Bathurst describes engineer David Stevenson’s visit in the 1850s:
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Lighthouses
Navigating the Bosphorus
While I am at work surveying historic lighthouses in Australia my client for this project, AMS, is at work installing the latest navigation aids in Turkey.
»more»John Smeaton
Another month, another placeholder. I’m still busy inspecting lighthouses, and collecting useful knowledge about them.
»more»Business offshore
I’m busy with the lighthouse inspections, so I won’t be writing anything original here for a while. Let this engraving mark the time I am spending offshore. Islands have such evocative names: Who would not want to go to South Solitary Island, or Booby Island, or Low Isle, or Cliffy Island?
»more»It’s no holiday
I am off to Northern Tasmania tomorrow to inspect lighthouses. This morning I walked past a rack of postcards at the Southbank Market - reproductions of old travel posters, jam tin labels, and other ephemera. This one said buy me!
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Lighthouse welcome
Just found in the National Library picture collection: a stereo photo of a welcome arch built in Hobart for the 1901 visit of the Duke and Duchess of York. This little object tickles my interest in stereo views, lighthouses, and celebratory arches.
»more»Kangaroo Island
I’m at Kangaroo Island, inspecting lighthouses. Today’s subject was the Cape St Alban Lighthouse, which deserves an award for cuteness.
»more»Split Point Lighthouse
I’ve been inspecting lighthouses lately, but seldom get to see them as they are meant to be seen - from the seaward side, at night.
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Lighthouses
HUET sequel
As I set off by helicopter from Gladstone to inspect another lighthouse tomorrow, I’ll have this plastic laminated card in my pocket. A source of comfort, I’m sure.
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Lighthouses
HUET
Yesterday I did Helicopter Underwater Escape Training. I spent the morning watching video clips of helicopter crashes, and hearing the theory of surviving a crash into the sea. After lunch the 14 of us did practical training in the cool water of the Queensland Police Academy swimming pool.
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Lighthouses
Rained-in at Nobby’s Head
Last week at Nobby’s Head lighthouse I met heavy weather: Rain, and cold gusty winds. It’s a long cold walk from the car, and the same going back.
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Lighthouses
Cape Byron lighthouse
I was doing some survey work at Cape Byron lighthouse yesterday. In the tower, on the level below the main light, there is a window facing Julian Rocks not far offshore. A red light in this window gives warning to sailors to watch out for the hazard. It also makes a magic atmosphere inside the lighthouse.
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