See Herd Groyne Lighthouse, South Shields, England

Add to My List Check Off

Herd Groyne Light at South Shields was constructed in 1861–67 to preserve Littlehaven Beach, then known as Herd Sands, which had begun to be washed away by the change of currents caused by the new piers. This very unusual lighthouse resembling a 1940s sci-fi movie space craft was built by Newcastle-upon-Tyne Trinity House in 1882 (ownership was passed to the Tyne Improvement Commission the following year). It consists of an upper hexagonal part (including the lantern) of wood and corrugated iron construction, sitting on twelve cylindrical steel legs. The whole structure is painted red and stands 49 ft (15 m) in height. The Groyne shows an occulting light which marks a safe entrance course between the piers, showing white to a vessel approaching from seaward on the correct course, green to a vessel off-course to the north, and red to one off-course to the south. In 1928 both the South Pier and the Groyne lights were converted from incandescent gas to automatic electric operation. They were run off mains electricity (the gas lights being retained as an emergency standby). At the same time each lighthouse was equipped with an electrically activated fog bell; these were switched on and off remotely from a control hut in the pier blockyard. In the event of a power cut, each bell was designed to keep ringing for a further six hours. In 1961 the Commissioners installed a groundbreaking system by which the two fog bells would switched on and off by the keepers on duty in the Tynemouth Pier lighthouse, using an 'infra-red ray' beamed across the river. This was in turn replaced by a radio link to an automatic fog detector when the latter lighthouse was automated in 1967. At the same time the South Shields lights were themselves fully automated, with the addition of standby diesel alternators and automatic lamp changers.

Write a Review

No Ratings Yet

Flag as inappropriate ›