SAR helicopter training at the Needles, Isle of Wight. He was dangled right down between the Needles to water level and then winched up again. Rather him than me; funny, what some folk will do as a day job…
Archive for the ‘Lighthouses’ Category
Dangling around Leave a comment
Gribben Head Daymark Leave a comment
This striped 25m tower was built in 1832 near Fowey in South Cornwall, to distinguish Gribben (aka Gribbin) Head from neighbouring headlands, hence allowing safe approach to Fowey. Because this is the internet, absolutely anything is possible, including building your own daymark.
Lighthouses of the Isle of Wight 1 comment
There are only two on the Island; the Needles (above) and St Catherine’s Point (below). Both are spectacular to paddle past, in exposed locations and overlooking significant tide races.
Gannets of Bass Rock 1 comment
One of my favourite images ever. Approaching 150,000 gannets on Bass Rock, in the Firth of Forth. We had been able to smell them from several miles back…
Bishop Rock Lighthouse Leave a comment
Approaching Bishop Rock Lighthouse, Isles of Scilly. There is nothing past this, but America. Whilst the Stevenson family lit up remote shores of Scotland, construction in England and Wales was dominated by Trinity House Chief Engineers James Walker and James Douglass. When James Walker replaced the 1776 lighthouse on Pembrokeshire’s Smalls Rock (constructed using wooden and [...]
Sark Lighthouse Leave a comment
Passing Sark’s lighthouse early one morning; if I remember rightly, we were due to be at the northern tip of this Channel Island at 0746 am exactly, to begin an open crossing.
Flamborough Head lighthouses Leave a comment
There are two lighthouses at Flamborough Head in Yorkshire. One dates from the nineteenth century, the other from the seventeenth.
Durlston Castle 1 comment
Huge sums of ££££££££££££££ have been spent renovating Durlston Castle, overlooking Durlston Head on Dorset’s Purbeck coast. The castle was built in the late nineteenth century and was apparently in serious need of a makeover; although I quite liked it in its previous ramshackle and dusty incarnation, complete with the best situated cafe in Dorset, [...]
Paddles with an Anas Acuta 1 comment
One consequence of the explosion in sea kayaking blogs, is that it’s now customary to introduce yourself to paddlers you meet out on the water by enchanging blog titles. In the unlikely event that the paddler you’ve met turns out not to possess a blog, then social etiquette dictates that you should paddle on past [...]
St Aldhelm’s Chapel Leave a comment
High atop the Dorset headland of St Alban’s Head, about four miles south of our house, sits St Aldhelm’s Chapel. This dates from Norman times, and was reputedly topped by a brazier to warn shipping. The building behind is a Coastwatch station.
Scarborough Harbour 2 comments
Not such a bad place…
Le Hanois Lighthouse 1 comment
Le Hanois rocks are the westernmost point of the Channel Islands. The fine rock lighthouse is reached by following a chain of rocks and reefs out from the south-west tip of the island of Guernsey.
Casquets Leave a comment
An island too far … we had crossed 26+ miles from Sark to the island of Alderney, negotiating some epic tidal flows en route. Another eight miles out from Alderney were the Casquets Rocks, with their lighthouse guarding the southern approaches to the Dover Strait. Reaching the lighthouse on these rocks would involve crossing some of the strongest [...]
Sleeping with Bill Leave a comment
A night at Portland Bill, Dorset’s most southerly point, before getting up early this morning to attempt to paddle around the Isle of Portland. It was too windy and we turned back to Portland Harbour before reaching the lighthouse, but it was still good to get out on the water and catch up with friends. All good.
Why the Whales Came Leave a comment
Why the Whales Came is a children’s book by Michael Morpurgo (previously children’s Laureate), set in the Isles of Scilly during the First World War. The plot centres around the islands of Bryher and Samson, which has been uninhabited since the mid nineteenth century. My wife reads the book with her pupils at school; the [...]
Sunny Hunny Leave a comment
Hunstanton is the only town on the east coast with a view facing west. It looks out over the Wash and is frankly, a very fine place.
Orford Ness Leave a comment
Hidden away in a remote corner of Suffolk is a 16km long shingle spit called Orford Ness. It’s a huge and important geological and ecological feature, but what those who make the journey to this obscure spot will remember is the Cold War legacy. Orford Ness has been used for all sorts of military functions in [...]
Flannan Isle Leave a comment
This photo was taken on our last night in the Western Isles. We were stood on the cliffs looking out west to the Flannan Isles, around twenty miles offshore. These uninhabited isles are known as the ‘Seven Hunters’ due to the toll they have exacted on ships. There is a lighthouse on Eilean Mor (‘big [...]
Western Isles Work Avoidance 1 comment
Greetings from an obscure corner of the Western Isles, where I’m supposed to be typing up some notes on sea birds. Finding it hard to focus after this mornings’ splendid paddle, and indeed last nights’ fantastic surf session (where H was confidently standing up for the first time, and I progressed past this stage to falling, [...]
Mobile Phone clear-out Leave a comment
It’s a beautiful sunny weekend, but I’m sprawled on the sofa under a blanket, trying to shake off a nasty bout of man flu. Mrs R is upstairs in bed trying to sleep off whatever the female version is called (whatever it is, it surely can’t be as bad). What a pair. This is pretty [...]
