Out of all the lighthouses in the World; Hood Point happens to be my favourite! Built 1895; It is the third oldest behind the Donkin Hill and Green Point; However; Green Point and Donkin Hill had 2 different towers there; while Hood Point's Original tower still stands. In 1894; the old Castle Point lighthouse (named for the nearby shipwreck Gateway Castle which sank here in the early 1800's) was deactivated after it was found too obsolete! It was later on torn down; and Imperial Lighthouse Service decided that a new lighthouse was to be built. SO in 1895; the well known Hood Point lighthouse rose from the ground and lit up for the first time on June 4 1895. Back then; I was never painted. Then in the early 1900's; the lighthouse received a black and vermillion-white checkerboard daymark while the lantern room received a silver coating. When the diaphone came out; a singe horn system was installed in a shed outside the compound. This diaphone was the most powerful foghorn on the South African Coastline; with a range of 20+ kilometers! A few years earlier the original parabolic reflector lamp was removed and replaced by Stone-Chance 1st Order Fresnel Lens; which had 6,000,000,000 candlepower; which produced for light beams that could be seen for 21 miles out to sea! After World War Two; the lighthouse was transferred over to Transnet; the South African company that owns all of the country's lighthouses. The checkerboard day mark was later sandblasted off and repainted white; while the lantern room was repainted red. The diaphone was then replaced in 1983 by two ELG 300 nautophones on the harbour which still serve today. However; due to it's historicalness; and its use as a backup horn; the diaphone was reinstated. Today; the keepers continue to run the light; and to keep the historic diaphone up and running. The Fresnel lens still serves wit Hood Point; and the lighthouse is open for climbing all year round for a small fee; and only by appointment. it is only 1 of 12 lighthouses open to the public in South Africa.
Wednesday 4 January 2012
Hood Point lighthouse
Out of all the lighthouses in the World; Hood Point happens to be my favourite! Built 1895; It is the third oldest behind the Donkin Hill and Green Point; However; Green Point and Donkin Hill had 2 different towers there; while Hood Point's Original tower still stands. In 1894; the old Castle Point lighthouse (named for the nearby shipwreck Gateway Castle which sank here in the early 1800's) was deactivated after it was found too obsolete! It was later on torn down; and Imperial Lighthouse Service decided that a new lighthouse was to be built. SO in 1895; the well known Hood Point lighthouse rose from the ground and lit up for the first time on June 4 1895. Back then; I was never painted. Then in the early 1900's; the lighthouse received a black and vermillion-white checkerboard daymark while the lantern room received a silver coating. When the diaphone came out; a singe horn system was installed in a shed outside the compound. This diaphone was the most powerful foghorn on the South African Coastline; with a range of 20+ kilometers! A few years earlier the original parabolic reflector lamp was removed and replaced by Stone-Chance 1st Order Fresnel Lens; which had 6,000,000,000 candlepower; which produced for light beams that could be seen for 21 miles out to sea! After World War Two; the lighthouse was transferred over to Transnet; the South African company that owns all of the country's lighthouses. The checkerboard day mark was later sandblasted off and repainted white; while the lantern room was repainted red. The diaphone was then replaced in 1983 by two ELG 300 nautophones on the harbour which still serve today. However; due to it's historicalness; and its use as a backup horn; the diaphone was reinstated. Today; the keepers continue to run the light; and to keep the historic diaphone up and running. The Fresnel lens still serves wit Hood Point; and the lighthouse is open for climbing all year round for a small fee; and only by appointment. it is only 1 of 12 lighthouses open to the public in South Africa.
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