Picture(s) of the day....

[NewcastleFalcon]

This is another nice image of a ford from Geograph caption reads..."This ford on the River Chess is found along Holloway Lane beside the watercress farm. The river forms the border between Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire."

http://s0.geograph.org.uk/geophotos/03/ ... 233f2d.jpg

Regards Neil

[CitroJim]

I had to look up Baba Yaga too! This forum really is a great education!

One thing Eddystone Radio did just before they folded was much development of DAB radio... It's not a well-known make outside professional circles as they were never very big in the consumer market and exited it completely in the late 50s...

[NewcastleFalcon]

How did lighthouses crop up again? Doesn't really matter but I have acquired a new found fascination and respect for them! As a source of information the internet is absolutely staggering...take lighthouses as an example-pictures and information from across all parts of the globe and easily linked so you can find it should you want to...and foremost in this..good old wiki!

I like a nice image, and lighthouses, come in many shapes, colours, (yes even black and white stripes!) and usually spectacular locations. As well as the "thats a nice image, that appeals to me" reaction, I saw this one, probably not the most outstandingly beautiful of images, and the gleaming white is a bit grubby at the bottom, the sea is neither blue, tranquil, or interestingly stormy, and the lighting, and sky fairly ordinary, no shillouette against a moonlit sky, or a beautiful sunset, or blue skies and fluffy white clouds.....but

...did get me wondering how on earth they built it in 1811, 12 miles off Arbroath in the North Sea, and also that particular lighthouse is attributed to Robert Stevenson ( which I misread as Robert Stephenson but a different preson entirely but also an outstanding civil engineer)...and communications at the time.....no telephone.....only Royal Mail Coaches... and no doubt a tremendous effort required to get the stone and other building materials from the quarries to the port and then 12 miles out to sea, with the reef on which it is perched only exposed only at low water to a height of 4 feet, and at high water is submerged 12 feet below the surface. A youtube video/documentary of the process would have been interesting!

Here's the image....Its the Bell Rock Lighthouse....and its an absolutely outstanding building. The design was influenced by the Eddystone designed by John Smeaton which Robert Stevenson visited in 1801.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... thouse.jpg

Regards Neil

[CitroJim]

Neil, you're not alone in your love of lighthouses. I have always been most interested in them.

And how did they come up again? Guilty as charged m'lud... My talk of vintage wireless...

Pleased they have... I never bore of lighthouse lore

[Zelandeth]

Ah, crossing fords...one of the most fun aspects of driving a rear engined Skoda...between the splash guards and the engine being in the back it's virtually impossible (within reason!) to drown them...so putting on a bit of a show for any onlookers tends to be the order of the day by going through in full rally car mode...

Obviously only if there is sufficient visibility to make sure I'm not about to soak anyone though.

[Hell Razor5543]

The BBC did a series a few years ago call "The Seven Wonders of the Industrial Age", and the Bell Rock Lighthouse had one episode.

[myglaren]

Must watch that again - I have a vague memory of seeing it on the Beeb when it was made.

[Hell Razor5543]

All of the episodes were worth watching.

[myglaren]

I'm sure they are James but I rarely watch proper programs or anything on tv - mine hasn't been turned on this year.

Just spend too much time watching musicians on YouTube.

[CitroJim]

The BBC did a series a few years ago call "The Seven Wonders of the Industrial Age", and the Bell Rock Lighthouse had one episode.

Saw that, an excellent programme... Made the cost of the TV license worth it...

On BBC4 if memory serves...

[NewcastleFalcon]

The BBC did a series a few years ago call "The Seven Wonders of the Industrial Age", and the Bell Rock Lighthouse had one episode.

Thanks for finding that James just watched it and let it run on to the next couple of videos, one with some excellent aerial shots, and a plan view of how the granite blocks fitted perfectly together in interlocking joints.

Just pure chance I stumbled across that particular lighthouse, in a long list of images on wiki. Never realised there would be such a fascinating story behind it.

..and thanks to Citrojim for his Eddystone radio which was the key to teasing the story out!

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Ah, crossing fords...one of the most fun aspects of driving a rear engined Skoda...between the splash guards and the engine being in the back it's virtually impossible (within reason!) to drown them...so putting on a bit of a show for any onlookers tends to be the order of the day by going through in full rally car mode....

The Audi 80, from the 80's, if this advert is to be believed is pretty good for splashing through a bit of water too

...If there's one thing guaranteed to uspet a Frenchman its when something comes between him and.."Le Week-end".....

Classic 80's

Regards Neil

PS More water-splashing here with the Audi Quattro, a glider, and a very nice "carphone" of the time.

[dnsey]

His father's own account of the building of the Bell Rock Lighthouse can be found within Robert Louis Stevenson's 'Records of a Family of Engineers'. It's compelling reading, and includes both the human and the engineering aspects of the job. Available free online, as it's in the public domain.

The secret of the construction of the Eddystone-type lighthouses is that the floors tie the walls in, as they're all part of the same structure.

[NewcastleFalcon]

His father's own account of the building of the Bell Rock Lighthouse can be found within Robert Louis Stevenson's 'Records of a Family of Engineers'. It's compelling reading, and includes both the human and the engineering aspects of the job. Available free online, as it's in the public domain.

The secret of the construction of the Eddystone-type lighthouses is that the floors tie the walls in, as they're all part of the same structure.

I never realised that Robert Louis Stevenson, was even related to "The Lighthouse Stevensons" until I watched this...some beautiful aerial shots as well. Not available currently on the BBC I-Player but youtube comes up with the goods as usual.



Regards Neil

[CitroJim]

[
I never realised that Robert Louis Stevenson, was even related to "The Lighthouse Stevensons" until I watched this...

Quite a family weren't they