Guilty of never really putting photos up, this was probably my favourate explore of the summer..
Flat holm is the bigger of two islands in the mouth of the River Severn. The other is known as 'Steep Holm'
The island has a history right back to the dark ages and has been a retreat for monks, acted as a sanctuary for Vikings, Anglo-Saxons, Miners, Smugglers and cholera victims. Fortified in Victorian times and again in WW2, it is most famous for the first ever radio message across water sent by Marconi in 1897. It is now a site of Special Scientific Intrest and a Local Nature Reserve.
The foghorn station was built in 1908 to accompany the lighthouse warning boats sailing up and down the Severn of the islands. The lighthouse on flat holm originates right back to 1737. The powerful compressed air signal was installed in one building while a cottage provider the keepers with extra accommodation. I can remember it's distinct noise from where I grew up as a boy. It was that loud.
With the full automation of the lighthouse in 1998 and other advances in marine navigation the foghorn was silenced for the final time. It was mothballed and kept maintained for a few years after but now the roof of the building is too structurally weak to hold the horn up without the aid of building struts inside of the building.
Flat holm is the bigger of two islands in the mouth of the River Severn. The other is known as 'Steep Holm'
The island has a history right back to the dark ages and has been a retreat for monks, acted as a sanctuary for Vikings, Anglo-Saxons, Miners, Smugglers and cholera victims. Fortified in Victorian times and again in WW2, it is most famous for the first ever radio message across water sent by Marconi in 1897. It is now a site of Special Scientific Intrest and a Local Nature Reserve.
The foghorn station was built in 1908 to accompany the lighthouse warning boats sailing up and down the Severn of the islands. The lighthouse on flat holm originates right back to 1737. The powerful compressed air signal was installed in one building while a cottage provider the keepers with extra accommodation. I can remember it's distinct noise from where I grew up as a boy. It was that loud.
With the full automation of the lighthouse in 1998 and other advances in marine navigation the foghorn was silenced for the final time. It was mothballed and kept maintained for a few years after but now the roof of the building is too structurally weak to hold the horn up without the aid of building struts inside of the building.