Thursday, October 14, 2010

A tower in the sea

So okay, the Nab Tower doesn't look like everybody's idea of a typical lighthouse, but I think I prefer it that way.

Dark and looming, mysterious even. A bit grim and foreboding, even on a sunny summer's day. I am trying to wean myself off it but as it is such a part of the Bracklesham Bay seascape it's hard to leave it out of my seaside paintings. So anyone wondering what that black rectangle is on the horizon, wonder no more.

Interesting facts: It was towed to its site in the Solent in 1920.

It rests at a crooked angle on the seabed, is 27 metres high and flashes a white light every 10 seconds.

For history geeks there are some fascinating pictures of the tower under construction, and lighthousekeepers' first-hand accounts of everyday life on it back in the days when it was manned, on:
http://www.findonvillage.com/0707_giants_code_named_mn.htm
(Sorry, can't do links!)

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