Isn’t this magnificent? This is the lighthouse at Happisburgh, pronounced Hazeburgh, and it is the oldest working lighthouse in East Anglia (Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex) and interestingly it is the only independently run lighthouse in Great Britain.
It was built in 1790 went into action in 1791; originally there were two of them, this magnificent lighthouse is 85 foot tall and the top of it, lantern, is 134 foot above sea level. It’s partner was only 65 foot tall and 20 feet lower. The second one went out of action in 1883 and demolished safely before it was dangerous due to coastal erosion. The two lighthouses produced a guide like landing lights for an aircraft to lead ships safely round some very dangerous sandbanks, the Haippsburgh Sands.
Volunteers now look after it after it was decommissioned in 1987; they repainted it in glorious red and white bands in 2009. You can see a live webcam from the top here;
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/norfolk/hi/people_and_places/nature/newsid_8394000/8394100.stm
