Island Life Magazine Ltd February/March 2008 | Page 37

ISLAND HISTORY

life

Photo: The Needles rocks have always been
a hazard for ships sailing up the Solent to
Portsmouth and Southampton and after a
Needles Tower was built in 1786 on top of
a cliff overhanging Scratchell’s Bay proved
useless in fog, James built a tower in 1859
on the outermost of the Needles chalk rocks
at sea level. It cost £20,000 to build and
the granite tower, white with a red band, is
33.25 metres high with perpendicular sides
and a stepped base to break up the force of
the waves. In 1987 a helipad was built on
the top of the lighthouse. It has a white, red
and green group of lights occurring twice
every 20 seconds and the fog signals are
controlled by means of a fog detector.

shape of the 27 metre high cylindrical Nab
Tower lighthouse standing a few miles to
the south-east of Bembridge and bristling
with latticed steel work round its sides.
Equally strange is its history that began
during the First World War when German
U-boats were attacking British merchant
shipping. Eventually the ‘backroom’
scientists came up with the idea of sinking
a line of eight fort-like steel towers
and linking them together with steel
boom nets across the Channel straits.
Only one was completed before the war
ended and in 1920 it was decided to use
this ‘white elephant’ as a replacement for
the Nab Light Vessel which marked the
Nab Rock. The tower’s 24 metre concrete
base was shaped with pointed bows and
stern for towing by two paddle wheel
tugs and once it was in position, the base
was flooded and sunk in 20 fathoms of
water at a distinct angle. During WW
11, the tower was armed with two 40mm
Bofors guns and in 1999 it was hit by a
freighter, the Dole-America, carrying a
cargo of bananas and pineapples. The
ship was badly damaged but the tower’s
base only suffered superficial damage.
The lighthouse’s light has a range
of 16 nautical miles and a mournful
fog signal gives two blasts every 30
seconds. The keepers who lived on the
tower were relieved monthly and also
enjoyed Christmas fare when the vicar
of Bembridge and the lifeboat crew took
out gifts from local shops and pubs. The
lighthouse was automated in 1983.
The last of the Island’s lighthouses is the
25 foot Egypt Point light with its red post

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and lantern. It was deactivated in 1989.
Today technology allows lighthouses to
be monitored remotely from the Trinity
House Operations and Planning Centre
in Harwich 24 hours a day, with access
by maintenance staff available to the
most remote lighthouses by helicopter.
Perhaps it’s not generally known that
Trinity House is also a major maritime
charity, separate from the GLA. Funded
by its endowments, it spends £3 million

every year on the welfare of mariners,
education and promoting safety at
sea. And for anyone who would like
a wedding with a nautical air in a
prestigious venue in London, Trinity
House on Tower Hill is licensed for
the celebration of civil marriages.
For information on visits to St.
Catherine’s lighthouse telephone 01983
855069 of visit www.trinityhouse.co.uk

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