The lighthouses construction and operation. - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

Malcolm T · 13th Sep 2022, 12:21 pm

Utterly incredible, not much radio but an appreciation for the Lighthouse builders the service and their families.
Try getting anything made like these from granite and at sea today
would be impossible imho !.

Refugee · 13th Sep 2022, 12:41 pm

They are still out there building at sea with steel and under water concrete.
That is how they are doing off shore wind farms.

kalee20 · 13th Sep 2022, 12:48 pm

It wouldn't be impossible - but it would be a major operation.

Henry Winstanley building the first Eddystone lighthouse, after it was believed impossible, gets a lot of admiration from me. No funding available, because it was believed it would be money down the drain - so he negotiated to be able to get a levy from each ship when it docked in Plymouth if he funded the lighthouse himself and put a light on the rock.

He built the lighthouse with a mixture of inflated ego, ignorance of how hard it would be, and sheer guts and determination. Afterwards he said if he'd realised how trying it would be, he'd never have started. But he succeeded, and shipwreck rate plummeted.

newlite4 · 13th Sep 2022, 5:14 pm

The boom in lighthouse construction during the nineteenth century was largely facilitated by the development of steam power tools. Prior to this period, construction took a lot longer and the towers had a limited lifespan. The Douglas system of interlocking granite blocks with marble keys revolutionised construction and longevity.
Neil
(member, association of lighthouse keepers)

Malcolm T · 14th Sep 2022, 8:01 am

Must admit i have never heard of the Douglass system till now .

Radio Wrangler · 14th Sep 2022, 8:51 am

Up here, lighthouse building was a family business: The Stevenson family.

I think the models and explanations are still there in the National Museum of Scotland, on Chambers Street, Edinburgh.

David

jamesperrett · 14th Sep 2022, 10:35 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Radio Wrangler

Up here, lighthouse building was a family business: The Stevenson family.

There is an excellent book by Bella Bathhurst on the Lighthouse Stevensons

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/sh...use_Stevensons

which seems to be based in part on Robert Louis Stevenson's publication "Records of a Family of Engineers" which can be found at

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/280

My mother always said that her great grandfather was one of the Lighthouse Stevensons although I never found a definite connection.

Uncle Bulgaria · 15th Sep 2022, 2:10 am

Particularly good are the Stevensons' 'Accounts' of each lighthouse build which they had to write for the Commissioners. These are available online to read, for example Alan Stevenson's 'Account of the Skerryvore Lighthouse' prepared for the Commissioners of the Northern Lighthouses. It is this lighthouse that he describes as having granite stones that took between 55 and 320 man hours to dress each, depending on their location and complexity.

ms660 · 15th Sep 2022, 3:08 pm

Wiki says it was Douglass not Douglas.

They were involved with the Wolf Rock Lighthouse down here between Land's End and the Isles of Scilly, apparently the first in the world to have a helipad up top.

Somewhere I have a photo I once took many years ago of the sea near Wolf Rock from a ship I was on which was on a 9 day inward journey from Montreal to Tilbury Docks, the reason I took the photo was because of the sea state, no not rough but almost mirror calm, the calmest I had ever seen, if I ever find it I'll try and post it up.

Lawrence.

G6Tanuki · 16th Sep 2022, 2:19 pm

Back in the late-60s as an impressionable schoolboy I went with my parents to visit the lighthouse on Anglesey. Access was down what seemed like an unending series of stone steps then across a rather fragile wire-rope bridge. Apart from the whole issue of 'where do you buy furniture to fit curved walls?' I remember the radio-room had a Marconi transmitter/receiver [surely should have been an Eddystone if it was in a lighthouse?] which looked distinctly 1930s - the receiver was a TRF with a 'regeneration' control!

ms660 · 16th Sep 2022, 4:53 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by ms660

Wiki says it was Douglass not Douglas.

They were involved with the Wolf Rock Lighthouse down here between Land's End and the Isles of Scilly, apparently the first in the world to have a helipad up top.

Somewhere I have a photo I once took many years ago of the sea near Wolf Rock from a ship I was on which was on a 9 day inward journey from Montreal to Tilbury Docks, the reason I took the photo was because of the sea state, no not rough but almost mirror calm, the calmest I had ever seen, if I ever find it I'll try and post it up.

Lawrence.

Found it! and the chief hillbilly snapper...

Lawrence.

13th Sep 2022, 12:21 pm	#1
Malcolm T Hexode Join Date: Dec 2018 Location: Lugo, Spain Posts: 483	The lighthouses construction and operation. Utterly incredible, not much radio but an appreciation for the Lighthouse builders the service and their families. Try getting anything made like these from granite and at sea today would be impossible imho !.

13th Sep 2022, 12:41 pm	#2
Refugee Dekatron Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Worksop, Nottinghamshire, UK. Posts: 5,553	Re: The lighthouses construction and operation. They are still out there building at sea with steel and under water concrete. That is how they are doing off shore wind farms.

13th Sep 2022, 12:48 pm	#3
kalee20 Dekatron Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Lynton, N. Devon, UK. Posts: 7,081	Re: The lighthouses construction and operation. It wouldn't be impossible - but it would be a major operation. Henry Winstanley building the first Eddystone lighthouse, after it was believed impossible, gets a lot of admiration from me. No funding available, because it was believed it would be money down the drain - so he negotiated to be able to get a levy from each ship when it docked in Plymouth if he funded the lighthouse himself and put a light on the rock. He built the lighthouse with a mixture of inflated ego, ignorance of how hard it would be, and sheer guts and determination. Afterwards he said if he'd realised how trying it would be, he'd never have started. But he succeeded, and shipwreck rate plummeted.

13th Sep 2022, 5:14 pm	#4
newlite4 Octode Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Bath, Somerset, UK. Posts: 1,805	Re: The lighthouses construction and operation. The boom in lighthouse construction during the nineteenth century was largely facilitated by the development of steam power tools. Prior to this period, construction took a lot longer and the towers had a limited lifespan. The Douglas system of interlocking granite blocks with marble keys revolutionised construction and longevity. Neil (member, association of lighthouse keepers) __________________ preserving the recent past, for the distant future.

14th Sep 2022, 8:01 am	#5
Malcolm T Hexode Join Date: Dec 2018 Location: Lugo, Spain Posts: 483	Re: The lighthouses construction and operation. Must admit i have never heard of the Douglass system till now .

14th Sep 2022, 8:51 am	#6
Radio Wrangler Moderator Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Fife, Scotland, UK. Posts: 22,869	Re: The lighthouses construction and operation. Up here, lighthouse building was a family business: The Stevenson family. I think the models and explanations are still there in the National Museum of Scotland, on Chambers Street, Edinburgh. David __________________ Can't afford the volcanic island yet, but the plans for my monorail and the goons' uniforms are done

15th Sep 2022, 2:10 am	#8
Uncle Bulgaria Nonode Join Date: May 2016 Location: Cornwall, UK. Posts: 2,333	Re: The lighthouses construction and operation. Particularly good are the Stevensons' 'Accounts' of each lighthouse build which they had to write for the Commissioners. These are available online to read, for example Alan Stevenson's 'Account of the Skerryvore Lighthouse' prepared for the Commissioners of the Northern Lighthouses. It is this lighthouse that he describes as having granite stones that took between 55 and 320 man hours to dress each, depending on their location and complexity.

15th Sep 2022, 3:08 pm	#9
ms660 Dekatron Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Cornwall, UK. Posts: 13,454	Re: The lighthouses construction and operation. Wiki says it was Douglass not Douglas. They were involved with the Wolf Rock Lighthouse down here between Land's End and the Isles of Scilly, apparently the first in the world to have a helipad up top. Somewhere I have a photo I once took many years ago of the sea near Wolf Rock from a ship I was on which was on a 9 day inward journey from Montreal to Tilbury Docks, the reason I took the photo was because of the sea state, no not rough but almost mirror calm, the calmest I had ever seen, if I ever find it I'll try and post it up. Lawrence.

16th Sep 2022, 2:19 pm	#10
G6Tanuki Dekatron Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Wiltshire, UK. Posts: 13,998	Re: The lighthouses construction and operation. Back in the late-60s as an impressionable schoolboy I went with my parents to visit the lighthouse on Anglesey. Access was down what seemed like an unending series of stone steps then across a rather fragile wire-rope bridge. Apart from the whole issue of 'where do you buy furniture to fit curved walls?' I remember the radio-room had a Marconi transmitter/receiver [surely should have been an Eddystone if it was in a lighthouse?] which looked distinctly 1930s - the receiver was a TRF with a 'regeneration' control! __________________ I'm the Operator of my Pocket Calculator. -Kraftwerk.