Lighthouse Lunatic
May 6th, 2008
With a long bank holiday approaching last Friday and the weather being lovely, I decided to escape London, again, and impulsively booked myself into a friendly B&B in Dover.
Now Dover as such is not that exiting, it’s a typical harbour city overflooded with French tourists and with a huge ferry terminal. I wasn’t in Dover to see Dover. I was in Dover to see a lighthouse.
The South Foreland lighthouse to be more exact. This lovely white lighthouse can only be reached by foot and demands a beautiful walks on the cliffs.
It was possible to get a guided tour of the lighthouse. I ended up on my own with a guide who knew all ins and outs of lighthouses and got told all the secrets of this particular one, it was great. Did you know that all lighthouses in a 100 miles area have their own light pattern (as in how many flashes they give, and how long the time is in between a light flash?)?
Being afraid of heights, some lighthouses are simply to hard for me to climb. This one was not too high but the view from the top was great.
Slightly tilted because of my wide angle lens.
And I am really not looking for dogs for pictures when I am out and about, but this one simply walked towards me and posed! How could I not take a picture of him.
I’ve made a map of the lighthouses I would like to visit. I think that will keep me busy for a while.
Some more Dover and surroundings pictures soon.
Here in London the summer has started.
Wonderful! I adore lighthouses even though I have no head for heights. Indeed this one may be the very one I stood outside crying as a child as I couldn’t “do” spiral staircases (we were holidaying in Folkestone at the time)
The past two years I’ve had lighthouse calendars in the kitchen so I could scare myself looking at the waves crashing over them.
I started a navigation course 21 years ago so I did know about the different pattens of lights.
Summers here!!:))
I have to say that this one is very Acrophobia (posh word for fear of heights I learned today!) friendly :) Even the spiral staircase in this one because it is not very high and you can’t look down!
The woman who guided me around was great too, I know all the tricks now :)
Summer’s here indeed!
I think I’ve found my dream house :)
That is a nice Cute Overload-style head tilt from the dog right there.
My four-year-old self says Portland Bill.
@Pauldwaite - Portland Bill is high on my list to visit actually (if only for the name, but it’s also a nic e red and white one!). But fact is that the real Bill is currently shooting a film there, so I’ll wait until the area has returned to its normal state. :)
The total sum of visited English lighthouses visited by me: 1 (it’s under my link). But I have to agree that lighthouses are something special. The nicest one I know in Holland is the ‘Paard van Marken’. Happy hunting!
@Dim that’s a nice one! I have to add it to my map :)
Actually - in clear weather I might actually be able to spot yours from the Isle of Man :)
Hurst Spit has a nice lighthouse. It’s a bracing walk along the spit but well worth it for the ride back on the ferry…