Needles, Isle of Wight - lighthouse, 1859 engraving - postcard c.1970s

• Postcard

   

• Picture / Image:  The Needles, Isle of Wight, 1859 from a Brannon engraving
• Publisher: none stated
• Postally used: no
• Stamp:  n/a
• Postmark(s): n/a
• Sent to:  n/a
• Notes / condition: 

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

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The Needles Lighthouse is an active 19th century lighthouse on the outermost of the chalk rocks at The Needles on the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom, near sea level. Designed by James Walker, for Trinity House at a cost of £20,000. It was completed in 1859 from granite blocks, stands 33.25 metres (109.1 ft) high and is a circular tower with straight sides. It replaced an earlier light tower on top of a cliff overhanging Scratchell's Bay, which was first lit on 29 September 1786.

In 1781 a group of merchants and ship owners petitioned Trinity House for navigation lights to be provided around the western approaches to the Solent. The response was positive, but it was not until 1785 that construction began, on three new lighthouses: one on St Catherine's Down, one on Hurst Point and one on the clifftop above the Needles; all three were designed by Richard Jupp.[3] From September the following year the Needles light was operational; however, its height of 144m above sea level meant it was often obscured by fog and sea mists, a problem that eventually led to its replacement some 70 years later.[3] Prior to its decommissioning, illumination was provided by 13 Argand lamps with parabolic reflectors;[4] the light shone red to seaward but white from St Alban's Head to Hurst Point.[5]

Before work could begin on the new tower a sizeable section of rock was cut away to provide a level base. Tunnels were also excavated within the rock behind the tower to provide rooms for storage. A new oil burner, with four concentric wicks, provided the light source atop the new tower, placed within a large (first-order) fixed catadioptric optic provided by Henry-Lepaute of Paris.[4] The tower displayed a fixed red light with a white sector indicating a clear approach running south of Durlestone Head and past a pair of sandbanks: South-west Shingles and Dolphin Bank.[5] Later a narrow white sector marked the approach from the north-east past Warden Ledge;[6] By 1884 a further (green) sector had been added and the light made occulting.[7] Later, a more powerful incandescent paraffin vapour burner was installed.

During the Second World War, the lantern, lens and lamp were badly damaged in a German aerial attack. After the war the lighthouse was repaired: in 1946, a new electric light was installed (powered by diesel generators providing 100 volt direct current) and mounted in a new, second-order fixed catadioptric optic.