Tag Dungeness

Favourite Ten from Ten Years on the Road

It’s that time of year again when most photographers share their favourite images from the past year but disappointingly I haven’t got any images to share because for the first time for many years for one reason or another I… Continue Reading →

30th December 2017 0

Dungeness – Wild, Weird and Wonderful

Dungeness has a very unusual landscape with one of the largest expanses of shingle in the world at the end of a mile and a half promontory, between New Romney, Lydd and Camber on Romney Marsh in Kent.  As well… Continue Reading →

29th June 2017 0

Britain’s Wonderful Wrecks

Britain's Wonderful Wrecks 1 In the Autumn of last year I published an article on Britain's Historic Harbours and following on from that I thought it worth taking a look at some of the more notable boat wrecks I have discovered on my journey around the British Isles.  The wonderful wrecks usually provide a really good focal point with plenty of character and if you are lucky, also in some wonderful coastal scenery.  Of the four locations, I'm recalling two are in Scotland and one each in England and Wales.  We'll start in Scotland on the Isle of Mull and certainly the most photographed wrecks on the island if not in the whole of Scotland.  On the east coast of the island on the Sound of Mull is the village of Salen, approximately halfway between Craignure and Tobermory.  The full name of the settlement is 'Sàilean Dubh Chaluim Chille' (the black little bay of St Columba).  Nearly all of the boat names are no longer visible but after some research, I have established one of is called "Girl Claire".  The others being "Pavonia" and "Elsie May" hence the title of the image. "Sisters of Clare" - Salen - Isle of Mull On another of the Scottish islands - Islay I discovered the wreck of the trawler "Wyre Majestic".  She ran ashore on passage from Oban close to the Bunnahabhain Distillery.  The rusting remains, visible in the middle right of the image still sit resting on the rocks, across the Sound from the Paps of Jura.  The area in and around the Sound of Islay is a notorious graveyard of ships with over 50 wrecks catalogued.  There are strong rips and currents that boil through the narrow sound and these have caught many vessels unawares. "Wyre Majectic" - Sound of Islay - Islay Moving on now to the south-east corner of England in Kent and the wonderfully strange landscape of Dungeness which is at the end of a mile and a half shingle promontory, between New Romney, Lydd and Camber on Romney Marsh. The motor fishing boat "Tina" lies on the beach and is a long way from the shoreline, which through a natural phenomenon known as Long Shore Drift, is now about 700 yards away.  The sea has retreated from Dungeness for many years, and at this point, along  the beach, there are dozens of boats and winding engines long since abandoned. "Tina" - Dungeness - Kent For our final location we are visiting Wales and the wonderful coastline of the Gower Peninsula and in particular one of the most dramatic bays in Europe, three-mile-wide Rhossili Bay presents a staggering view across the adjacent clifftops which rise above 200 feet.  The dramatic hillside setting of Rhossili Down rises to 600 feet above the sweeping bay.  Down on the beach, the ocean-stripped oak carcass of the "Helvetia" which was shipwrecked in 1887 is still visible today and an easily recognised landmark of Rhossili. "Helvetia" - Rhossili - Gower Researching the history of these wonderful wrecks always brings another dimension to my landscape photography and sharing this with others always makes the extra effort worthwhile.   I hope that you share my interest in these wrecks and if so why not take a look at Part 2.  

In the Autumn of last year I published an article on Britain’s Historic Harbours and following on from that I thought it worth taking a look at some of the more notable boat wrecks I have discovered on my journey… Continue Reading →

28th April 2017 0

Lighthouses around the British Coast

Lighthouses around the British Coast 2 It's time to take another whistle-stop tour of the many varying aspects of the British landscape.   During my travels around the British Isles, I am nearly always guaranteed I will find a lighthouse often sighted in spectacular locations.  With over a hundred working lighthouses around the mainland including some that are not very accessible there are many I have not yet even seen, never mind photographed, but I am certain there will be plenty more opportunities on my travels. This time I share just five with you including three in Scotland and two in England.  We'll start off on the west coast of Scotland and one of my favourite locations of Wester Ross.   Rubha Reidh Lighthouse - Wester Ross Rubha Reidh meaning Smooth Point in Gaelic is a prominent headland jutting into The Minch about halfway between Stoer Head and the Isle of Skye.  It was opened in 1912 and cost almost £15000 to build and until a road was built in 1962 was only accessible by sea.  In 1944, an American Liberty Ship the "William H Welch" missed the entrance to Loch Ewe and went ashore at Black Bay during a severe storm.  Two lightkeepers were actively involved in the rescue of 15 survivors out of a complement of 74.  Automated in 1986, the station is now operated as a holiday let.   Our next lighthouse is in England, in fact, Norfolk and is positioned on one of our most threaten coastlines at Happisburgh.  The oldest working light in EastAnglia, built in 1790, originally one of a pair - the tower is 85ft tall and the lantern is 134ft above sea level.  Saved as a working light by the local community, it is maintained and operated entirely by voluntary contributions and is the only independently operated lighthouse in the UK.   Happisburgh Lighthouse - Norfolk Back to Scotland now and a visit to the "Queen of the Hebrides" - the Isle of Islay.  A dramatic lighthouse on Carraig Fhada headland on the south coast of the island, the Port Ellen lighthouse (also known as the Carraig Fhada Lighthouse) lies opposite Port Ellen, marking the western approach to the harbour there.  It comprises an unusual square masonry tower, 57 feet in height. It has no lantern; rather a light is displayed from a stumpy mast surmounting the tower.  The lighthouse was built in 1832 by the Laird of Islay, Walter Frederick Campbell, in memory of his first wife, Lady Eleanor Charteris, who had died aged only 36 in September of that year.   Carraig Fhada Lighthouse - Isle of Islay Back now to England and Kent and the mysterious and haunting Dungeness.  Dungeness is at the end of a mile and a half shingle promontory, between New Romney, Lydd and Camber on Romney Marsh.  The Dungeness Estate is privately owned, and whoever originally decided to purchase it was obviously a genius, as it has to be one of the best investments ever.  Each year more and more shingle is deposited on the shore, so Dungeness, unlike a great deal of the rest of the coast, is actually getting bigger.   Dungeness Lighthouses - Kent At first, only a beacon was used to give a warning to sailors, but this gave way to a proper lighthouse during the reign of James I in 1615.  As the sea retreated, this had to be replaced in 1635 by a new lighthouse nearer to the water's edge.  As more shingle was thrown up, a new and more up-to-date lighthouse was built near the sea in 1792.  In the background is lighthouse number four commissioned in 1901; then in 1961 its modern successor, the black and white lighthouse number five, was commissioned and the 1901 Old Lighthouse became a tourist attraction.  Its 169 steps give visitors a bird's eye view of the shingle beach.   Back to Scotland for our final location, Pladda which lies off the south-east coast of Arran in the Firth of Clyde.  The island is small, flat, teardrop-shaped island, less than a mile along its length and rising to just 89 ft above sea level.  Unusually for such a small island, it has its own source of fresh water.   Pladda Lighthouse dates from 1790 and was the first light on the Clyde to be commissioned by the Commissioners of the Northern Lights.  The lighthouse was automated in 1990.  Pladda and its lighthouse feature extensively in Peter Hill's book Stargazing: Memoirs of a Young Lighthouse Keeper.  Pladda shares its name with Pladda Island a tiny islet situated in the Lynn of Lorn between Lismore and Ardmucknish Bay.   Well, that's the end of a brief look at some of the lighthouses that perform a vital role in the safety of mariners in all weathers. If you want to see more take a look at Part 2.  

It’s time to take another whistle-stop tour of the many varying aspects of the British landscape.   During my travels around the British Isles, I am nearly always guaranteed I will find a lighthouse often sighted in spectacular locations.  With… Continue Reading →

30th May 2016 0

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