Monthly Roundup of Beacon Bits
By Sue Clark on Jan 29, 2009 in Beacon Bits 
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Monthly roundup of feature stories around the ‘net for fun or interesting reading.
This originally started out as a weekly feature, but got changed to monthly when there really wasn’t too much going on. So I hope you’ll take the time to check out these sites below. Again, some aren’t necessarily news, just enjoyable reading about our lighthouses.
- Royal Support For Norfolk Lighthouse
- The Princess Royal, HRH Princess Anne, has thrown her support toward the Happisburgh Lighthouse, Norfolk, England as Patron for the Friends for a three year term. Be absolutely sure to view the slideshow on the page.There are some some great views of and out of the lantern room.
- Designer of Sullivan Light Gets Some Recognition
- Remember the only lighthouse with an elevator in Charleston, SC? Jack Graham, 74, missed the recent ceremony held by the National Park Service celebrating the transfer of the Charleston Light from the U.S. Coast Guard to the National Park Service but on Jan. 7, he and his wife Martha toured the lighthouse that he designed the concept for decades ago when he was in the U.S. Coast Guard. Graham shared the concept behind the drawings, the reasons for its unique features, including its triangular steel structure, and why it had an elevator, lacking in most lighthouses. Fascinating reading.
- The Lighthouse at the End of the World
- I only wish the photo was a little better. Jules Verne wrote the novel The Lighthouse at the End of the World in 1905, three years after the subject was discontinued. But by 1998, another had been built to take its place, guiding mariners around Cape Horn, on a tiny island near Tierra Del Fuego. The lighthouse was built after a “modern day Robinson Crusoe” found the ruins of the original.
- Abandoned Russian Polar Nuclear Lighthouses
This is probably the most interesting site I’ve seen. The images are hauntingly breathtaking. But some of them are heartbreaking as well, particularly the one of the Fresnel lens left abandoned. From the site: Russian Northern coast is a vast territory lays for a few thousand of miles and all this coastline is inside the Polar Circle. Long polar winters mean no daylight at all, just one day changes another without any sign of the Sun rising above the horizon. There is only polar night for 100 day a year. But across this Northern coast there was always a short way for the cargo boats to travel from Eastern part of Russia to the Western. Now this trip can be made fairly easy with the appearance of all the satellite navigation equipment like GPS and others, but during the Soviet Era they had none of this.
- Musical Lighthouses?
- Duncan Sheik: A Troubador Turns to Theater.
A singer writes a musical about a haunted lighthouse, but the production doesn’t get off the ground. So he releases the tunes on a CD. You can listen to a couple of the songs at the NPR site. - Maryport lighthouse turned into art and music exhibit. Inspired by the creaks and groans of the Maryport Lighthouse in the UK, Irish composer Ailis Ni Riain will broadcast her original song from the lighthouse for three days. Called the Lighthouse Lullaby, she said, “I thought it felt feminine, it felt like a woman – and if she could, maybe she would sing.” Download the song from the page (mp3 format - 11 MB).
- Duncan Sheik: A Troubador Turns to Theater.
Hope you enjoy these selections this month. If you have any sites you’ve come across, by all means let me know.
Photo Credit: Abandoned lighthouse from the EnglishRussia site referenced in the story.
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