South Gare Lighthouse was built in 1884 at the end of the breakwater at South Gare north west of Redcar in North Yorkshire and in north eastern England.

History

There already were two navigation light towers built in 1829 and operating in Durham county at Seaton Carew and another at Hartlepool to guide ships clear of Coatham Rocks off Redcar and then onto the Fairway Buoy outside the bar of the River Tees. The building of South Gare lighthouse was planned and supervised by John Fowler, engineer to the Tees Conservancy Commissioners. Both light systems were used until 1892 when use of the light towers at Seaton Carew was discontinued by the Tees Conservancy Commissioners. The South Gare lighthouse light was originally lit by a

paraffin Paraffin may refer to: Substances * Paraffin wax, a white or colorless soft solid that is used as a lubricant and for other applications * Liquid paraffin (drug), a very highly refined mineral oil used in cosmetics and for medical purposes * Alkan ...

wick lamp. and perhaps subsequently by a pressurised paraffin burner. This was removed in 1955, and in about 1980 the chimney and weather vane were removed. The paraffin lamp was replaced by a mains powered 500 Watt tungsten filament

Incandescent light bulb An incandescent light bulb, incandescent lamp or incandescent light globe is an electric light with a wire filament heated until it glows. The filament is enclosed in a glass bulb with a vacuum or inert gas to protect the filament from oxid ...

with a backup bulb on the bulb changer that operated with a backup diesel generator. The light operated with a 1.5 s flash every 12 seconds. The lens rotation mechanism was originally powered by a

clockwork motor Clockwork refers to the inner workings of either mechanical devices called clocks and watches (where it is also called the movement) or other mechanisms that work similarly, using a series of gears driven by a spring or weight. A clockwork mec ...

but this was replaced by two electric motors, i.e. one duty motor and a backup motor. A fog signal was mounted to the west of the lighthouse but this has evidently been removed. The light source was a 35 Watt CDM-T lamp until 2007 when it was replaced by a 45 Watt high intensity LED lamp.

Description

The lighthouse is high with a cylindrical cast iron clad stone tower all painted white. Small porthole windows in the north and south side of the column light an internal

helical Helical may refer to: * Helix, the mathematical concept for the shape * Helical engine, a proposed spacecraft propulsion drive * Helical spring, a coilspring * Helical plc, a British property company, once a maker of steel bar stock * Helicoil A t ...

newel A newel, also called a central pole or support column, is the central supporting pillar of a staircase. It can also refer to an upright post that supports and/or terminates the handrail of a stair banister (the "newel post"). In stairs having st ...

staircase. The light source is held in the original eight windowed lantern housing under a hemispherical copper domed roof. Below the windows there is a railed circular platform supported by brackets. The current light source is a 45 Watt high intensity LED with a fourth order prismatic lens and can be seen for a range of . Set above mean high water the light operates automatically exhibiting sectored red and white with a 0.5 s flash every 12 seconds with an effective intensity of 150,000

Candelas The candela ( or ; symbol: cd) is the unit of luminous intensity in the International System of Units (SI). It measures luminous power per unit solid angle emitted by a light source in a particular direction. Luminous intensity is analogous to ...

. The light is powered by a Schlunk 100 Watt water-cooled hydrogen fuel cell; a world first. This arrangement is more reliable than the mains electricity supply along the exposed breakwater because of its vulnerability in storms. The lighthouse is a listed building and still operates using the original lenses. Today the lighthouse is owned and operated by

PD Ports PD Ports is a Middlesbrough, UK headquartered port, shipping and logistics company; owner of Teesport, and ports at Hartlepool, Howden and Keadby; with additional operations at the Port of Felixstowe, Port of Immingham, and Port of Hull. Form ...

, and has the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

code A2626, NGA code 2020, and

Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society Founded in 2000 by Jim Weidner, K2JXW, the Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society (ARLHS) is devoted to maritime communications, amateur radio, lighthouses, and lightships. Its members travel to lighthouses around the world where they operate amate ...

(ARLHS) code ENG-131. The lighthouse can give status broadcasts using radio telemetry with the callsign G0SBN/P.

References

External links

British Listed Buildings

Redcar.org
{{Navboxes , list1= {{Lighthouses {{Lighthouses in England {{Redcar and Cleveland {{Authority control Lighthouses completed in 1884 Lighthouses in North Yorkshire Buildings and structures in Redcar and Cleveland Grade II listed lighthouses Grade II listed buildings in North Yorkshire Redcar

History

Description

See also

References

External links