Friday 12 January 2007

Anvil point lighthouse

Each lifeboat's patch is littered with reference points; handy spots which can be used to quickly pass relative positions between the lifeboat, coastguard and other assets involved in an incident. One such point in our patch is Anvil Point, not in itself a particularly prominent headland but topped with a lighthouse.

As lighthouses go it is fairly typical in design although rather short, this due to the height of the cliffs which it sits atop. It was built in 1881 and planned so that "the light might be so placed as to be kept open of St. Alban's Head to clear you of all the Kimmeridge Shoals, and shut in to clear northward of the Shambles". It was meant to fill a dark gap in the chain of lights on the southern English coast.

Oh the clouds boil black and the wind will wail
Let the light from the lighthouse shine on me
And you're caught in the teeth of a living gale
Let the light from the lighthouse shine on me
And then your sailor's heart is filled with fear
Let the light from the lighthouse shine on me
When the sound of the surf on the rocks is near
Let the light from the lighthouse shine on me

Bob Zentz

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