Skokholm Lighthouse

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Skokholm Lighthouse
File:Cliff and lighthouse - geograph.org.uk - 173331.jpg
Skokholm Lighthouse on Quarry Point
Location Skokholm island, Pembrokeshire, Wales
Year first lit 1916
Automated 1983
Markings / pattern White
Height 18 metres (59 ft)
Focal height 54 metres (177 ft)
Current lens 4th Order 250mm Catadioptric Rotating
Intensity 57,900 CD
Range 20 miles (32 km)
Characteristic Flash White and Red Every 10 Seconds

Skokholm Lighthouse is a lighthouse found on the small Welsh island of Skokholm, just off the south-west coast of Pembrokeshire.

Skokholm island, a Site of Special Scientific Interest, is owned and managed by the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales. The site of the United Kingdom's first bird observatory, a great variety of birds can be found on what today is an uninhabited island.

The present lighthouse was constructed in 1861, although a previous lighthouse had been erected in 1776. Forming a triangle of lights with South Bishop and the Smalls to protect shipping moving into and out of Milford Haven and the Bristol Channel, the lighthouse shines 20 miles (32 km).

Construction of the present lighthouse was only enabled after the construction of a new jetty. This enabled building materials to be landed, which were then moved to the site using a narrow gauge railway, initially powered by a donkey, then a pony, and finally a tractor. Once in operation, relief was provided by boat from Holyhead. Automated in 1983, it is now monitored and controlled from the Trinity House Operations Control Centre at Harwich in Essex.[1]

See also

References

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External links

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