Orfordness Lighthouse.

[Mr Gazza]

I just received this email from The Orfordness Lighthouse Trust.
Looks like it might be the last year to visit the lighthouse in it's current state/position.
Any interest in any of the dates?


"Thank you for your patience in waiting for the us to announce this year's Visit Dates... we are confident the worst of the winter storms are now safely out the way and we are delighted to publish our visit dates, which are listed below.

How is the Lighthouse?

A question we Trustees of Orfordness Lighthouse are asked so frequently! The winter of 2018/2019 has thankfully not been quite as severe as last Winter, but it still had its moments. The beach in front of the lighthouse has retreated so much over the year that every high tide is in contact with the defences, and so has an effect. This effect is sometimes positive, bringing a bit more shingle up on the tide. But more often it is negative, taking shingle away and further undermining the Victorian water tanks and the bungalow cottage. The beach is now so narrow and steep in front of the lighthouse that we have not been able to add to the defences this year. There simply is not enough shingle to fill the rubble sacks, and no stable platform on which to place the "sausage rolls".

So it is the beginning of the end. This year while having the lighthouse open to visitors we will be planning its the dismantlement and the saving of the artifcacts. Sad yes, but through generous donations and hard work by volunteers we have kept her open to 100s of visitors when it was predicted it would be in a ruinous state by 2015/16 when decommissioned in 2013.

Orfordness Lighthouse Trust remains committed to keeping the Lighthouse standing where it is for as long as possible, and remaining alive to the constant threat of the sea. It remains our intention to dismantle the Lighthouse and rebuild a replica elsewhere on the Ness. If you want to hear more about this plan, we'd recommend coming on one of our Open Days and we'll be glad to tell you more about it.

How Do We Book to Visit?

To book your places on any of the visits please email us at orfordnesslighthouse@gmail.com with the number in your party and your preferred date. If you could include your name in the subject line, that would be very helpful, thank you. You can find a link to our email address at the bottom of this message.

Full details on how the visits run are listed on the Visits Page of our website here. We will also send a house keeping email the day before the visit with last minute house keeping (which will mainly be about the weather!)

2019 VISIT DATES:

14th April
5th May
2nd June
21st July
25th August
22nd September

*There may be a further visit in October, TBC subject to demand and volunteer availability*"

[Ron1000]

Do you have an interest in lighthouses? By chance I work for the northern lighthouse board.

[Mr Gazza]

I don't really have a general interest in Lighthouses, but we visited Orfordness last year and I found the tour of the lighthouse very interesting. Apart from anything the location is very surreal and the plight of the lighthouse is somehow endearing.
Looks like they are about to start taking it down anyway before the Sea does... You have to admire their dedication.

I thought Trinity House looked after the lighthouses? Perhaps not in the North?

[Ron1000]

Yeah they’re pretty cool in the inside.

All part of the tri-gla. Trinity house, northern lighthouse board and Irish lights.

[Grumpy]

Sounds like an interesting day out.
Why not go for the 5th of May, combining the visit with out monthly breakfast.
We could meet up, have breakfast then ride to Orford.
Depending on the times for visiting the lighthouse as to where we meet for breakie.

[Mr Gazza]

Ah. Thanks Ron, I can see a bigger picture now... Interesting job you have.

Good call Grumpy.
I have written to the Trust to reserve 8 places on the boat for 5th May. # Date changed to Sept 22nd. See post #16
We ate lunch in the pub opposite the car park last time as the boat sailed at 1pm I think, but breakfast elsewhere might be an option.
There is the issue of stashing bike kit to walk across the Ness a bit lighter. Last year Mrs Kingfisher kindly let us use her car as a cupboard, so someone coming in a car would be extremely handy again.

Please put your name on the list if you would like a place, so I can ask the Trust for more places if we get oversubscribed or surrender unwanted ones.

Grumpy
Mr Gazza
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[Mr Gazza]

BTW.. That's the Saturday of the bank holiday weekend.

Grumpy
Mr Gazza
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[Mr Gazza]

I've heard straight back from the lovely Lydia of the Trust.
We have 8 places reserved.
Tickets for the boat can only be bought on the day from a van on the quay 1pm onwards @£3.50 return.
The boat sails at 1.30pm and returns at 5pm.

All the info here. http://www.orfordnesslighthouse.co.uk/visit/

Grumpy
Mr Gazza
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[Grumpy]

I've heard straight back from the lovely Lydia of the Trust.
We have 8 places reserved.
Tickets for the boat can only be bought on the day from a van on the quay 1pm onwards @£3.50 return.
The boat sails at 1.30pm and returns at 5pm.

All the info here. http://www.orfordnesslighthouse.co.uk/visit/

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Grumpy + Mrs Grumpy
Mr Gazza.
Richard D

[Mr Gazza]

Might have to review the date of this event due to cataclysmic news from the Weekender team! Watch this space and also see the Weekender thread.

[Grumpy]

Moving the visit to the lighthouse sounds a good idea.
I'm off to the TT so the 2nd of June is out for me, otherwise any date suits.:thumbsup:

[Mr Gazza]

Let's come back to this when the dust settles, I've cancelled with the Trust for now.
July sounds manic for anywhere coastal, I'm thinking September?

[Kingfisher88]

Id be up for it again :) got a better camera now so would be good. Do you know if dogs are allowed? I'm pretty sure people took dogs last time, if so I may be able to provide a car to put clothes in again.

[Grumpy]

Let's come back to this when the dust settles, I've cancelled with the Trust for now.
July sounds manic for anywhere coastal, I'm thinking September?

September works for me.

[Mr Gazza]

I'm pretty sure there were dogs last time too. When I booked for May I asked Lydia if dogs were permitted, as StevieL would have gone last year if could have taken his dog.
Lydia confirmed the National Trust's firm no dogs policy on an SSSI site.
So that's the official stance, but I think on the day it's a different matter. (The NT is not there on a Sunday) It's up to you if you want to chance it..

Lydia was keen for me to book up for September as apparently it's a popular one. So I think I will go ahead and get 8 places for Sept 22nd and we'll start from scratch again.

[Mr Gazza]

Lydia has just confirmed 8 places for us on the 22nd September.

New list.

Mr Gazza
Grumpy. + Mrs Gumpy.
Richard D
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[Mr Gazza]

I've just heard from Lydia that the sept 22nd trip is now fully booked, so there will be no more extra places available once our 8 are spoken for.
So sign up quickly if you want to guarantee a place..


Mr Gazza
Grumpy. + Mrs Grumpy.
Richard D
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[jakefh]

Yes please.

[Mr Gazza]

Welcome aboard Jake... Will be nice to see another M900Sie.

Mr Gazza
Grumpy. + Mrs Grumpy.
Richard D
jakefh
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[Grumpy]

Welcome aboard Jake... Will be nice to see another M900Sie
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They're becoming like red buses in london.......:chuckle::running:

[maxxjod]

I like to put my name down for the visit please 😊. Will have to park in the naughty corner if I bring my bike, if the weather looks pants I will bring my van in which case all will be welcome to use it for storage of bike kit.

[Mr Gazza]

It'll be good to meet you Jody.
Thank You, your offer of your van to stash gear will be very gratefully received, but lets hope you can make it on the bike.

Two places remaining on this trip...First come first served.. (So sorry to have to cap numbers!)

Mr Gazza
Grumpy. + Mrs Grumpy.
Richard D
jakefh
maxxjod
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[maxxjod]

I thought we had met each other🤔, but if not then will be nice to meet you too.
Hopefully the weather will play ball that weekend 🤞.

[Mr Gazza]

We've had some good chats on here, but I don't think we have met face to face yet... September is always good... :biggrin:

[Mr Gazza]

Mr Gazza + 1 Norton owner
Grumpy. + Mrs Grumpy.
Richard D
jakefh
maxxjod
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Just one place left on this trip now.
Please let me know in plenty of time if you cannot make the date. There are strictly only 8 places available.

Itinerary will roughly be; Meet 12 noon at Jolly Sailor Pub in Orford, have grub.
Proceed to Quay to buy ferry tickets (£3).. Ferry departs 1.30pm.

I'll update everyone via PM/email.. Again please let me know if you can't make it and lets fill that last place.. :mand:

[Mr Gazza]

All fully booked up now. PMs and emails heading out to all on the list very soon.

Mr Gazza + 1 Norton owner + 1
Grumpy. + Mrs Grumpy.
Richard D
jakefh
maxxjod

[Mr Gazza]

We did it!

Thank you to everyone for turning up. Jody up from Brighton, Jake from Chelmsford and Mr and Mrs Grumpy rode over from Peterborough. All respectable rides. I think Martyn and I had the shortest ride from Norwich.

All went smoothly to plan, we all met up just before 12 and proceeded fairly swiftly to the pub. Food was served quickly and was quite acceptable. My brother arrived with his Scimitar soon after the bikes and we were able to change and stash our gear in it after lunch.

The weather was fine and the rain held off until the last few yards to the return ferry.

The Lighthouse visit and tour was very good. Informative and interesting, and yet poignant regarding the effects that climate change is already having. Coastal erosion always has and always will be an ongoing issue, but is accelerating fast now. The Lighthouse is very close to falling into the Sea now and it's a battle of wits to decide when is the time to lift the top off and pick what they can of the tower down.

The plan is to build a shorter version of the tower nearer the Village and put the original top back on. A very interesting museum is also planned... I chipped in towards it, but some way to go to fund it all yet!

Hope you all had safe journeys home. Martyn and I had a gentle ride home in light rain all the way, with the roads looking much slipperier than they really were.

Smashing day out.. Great to see everyone.. :thumbsup:

[Grumpy]

Thanks for organising a great day out Gary.

Good to meet everyone, hope the journey home was smooth.
Richard and I managed to miss the rain storms on the A14, we parted ways at Newmarket. The Mrs and I worked our way cross county to home, arriving about 7pm having watched a beautiful sunset over the last 5 miles.


The Ness is a stunning place to visit, peaceful and interesting.
As for the lighthouse, fascinating. I hope the society who are trying to preserve what they can of the building are successful.

[maxxjod]

Great to meet you all today, new faces and old.
Was a very interesting day, shame it's not more straightforward to be able to save the lighthouse from the sea.
I had a good run back, the further south I travelled the drier it became, got back home just after 8. Kids were super excited to see where daddy had been today.

Anybody interested in a trip to Newhaven fort at some point in time maybe?

[jakefh]

Yes thanks to Gary for organising, I really enjoyed the day and the chance to visit somewhere different and temporary. I great opportunity to try my first proper camera too.

Really good to meet some people from here - I guess I'm not a lurker anymore...

I got a bit damp on the way home, but the great weather whilst we were there more than made up for it.

https://i.postimg.cc/FKfB6Nh0/DSCF0569-HDR.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/05GHFt1X/DSCF0623-HDR.jpg

[jakefh]

Well I have no idea how to put pictures into a post...

It worked in the test area, honest!

http://www.ukmonster.co.uk/monster/showthread.php?t=57814

[Grumpy]

Great to meet you all today, new faces and old.
Was a very interesting day, shame it's not more straightforward to be able to save the lighthouse from the sea.
I had a good run back, the further south I travelled the drier it became, got back home just after 8. Kids were super excited to see where daddy had been today.

Anybody interested in a trip to Newhaven fort at some point in time maybe?

Good to catch up with you.

I'm up for a trip to Newhaven Fort, when were you thinking of going?

[Grumpy]

Well I have no idea how to put pictures into a post...

It worked in the test area, honest!

http://www.ukmonster.co.uk/monster/showthread.php?t=57814

The pictures capture the day a treat.

[maxxjod]

Re Newhaven Fort, I will look at dates and also see if there are any events on at all.

[Mr Gazza]

My pal Martyn from the NOC has sent me this news from the Lighthouse Trust.

https://i.postimg.cc/85ZbR9dL/half-bungalow.jpg (https://postimages.org/) (Oh dear! Doesn't seem to be possible to post photos on the Suffolk Forum?)

Following extremely High Tides and strong winds over the weekend of the 28th/29th September, the Bunglalow just below the Lighthouse has been seriously undermined and much of it has collapsed.

It is the current intention of Orfordness Lighthouse Trust to fence off the collapsed building and to demolish it as soon as can be arranged. This is to prevent the building being a danger to curious visitors and can also serve as an extra defence to the Lighthouse structure and the Oil Store.

The bungalow was built in the late 19th Century as outhouses to the cottages that stood either side of the Lighthouse. The Lighthouse was automated and the cottages were demolished in the 1960s and thereafter the Bungalow served as a bunk house for visiting engineers.

The Bungalow has been undermined in the past and the Orfordness Lighthouse Trust has carried out remedial work to shore up the shingle underneath it. Now with almost no beach in front of the Lighthouse this was no longer feasible.

The structure of the Lighthouse itself is still sturdy. Internal examinations of brickwork in the cellar (including a diamond drill through the 2m thick foundations) have proved that the bricks that make up its structure have not been infiltrated by damp and nor does the building show any cracks that would suggest the Lighthouse has been undermined. The temporary defences (The Geo-Textile "sausages") put down year after year by Orfordness Lighthouse Trust have worked well. The overall level of the beach is far lower and high-water mark far beyond the promontory the Lighthouse sits on.

What Next?

For several reasons, including the nature of the fabric of the Lighthouse itself and the protected land it stands on and the nature of the erosion, we have long known that preserving Orfordness Lighthouse where she stands was only a short term aim.

Because of the very mobile nature of the shingle we have always caveated that a bad storm with winds in a certain direction could threaten the structure. Every winter since 2013 this has been possible. We have in fact been quite lucky that big storms, like the Beast from the East, have actually deposited shingle on the beach. We don't know how long we'll continue to be so lucky! The collapse of the Bungalow is a timely reminder that the sea and weather can undermine our assumptions and expectations just as quickly as they have the Bungalow.

We have no intention of letting the Lighthouse “fall into the sea” and never have. It has always been the stated aim of Orfordness Lighthouse Trust to keep the building standing and open to visitors for as long as possible, then to preserve the artefacts after that. We communicated recently that the lack of beach in front of the Lighthouse means that we can add no more temporary defences and therefore that dismantling the Lighthouse would have to happen sooner rather than later.

We are very proud to have taken hundreds (if not thousands!) of visitors to Orfordness Lighthouse over the past 6 years and have been supported by kind donations by our visitors and supporters near and far.

We shall keep you up to date with our progress and plans over the coming months, as well as how the Lighthouse is doing over the winter.

[Mr Gazza]

I've just had an update from the Orfordness Lighthouse Trust. I'm afraid it's rather sad news. No more trips to the lighthouse for us!
The structure has now been declared unsafe by the Suffolk County Council and they have ordered it's demolition.
To precis the very long mail; they have managed to get plant to the remote site and have demolished the Oil Store building, which itself was teetering, and used the rubble to protect the lighthouse from Storm Dennis. Many of the artefacts have been removed and the huge cast Bronze light room at the top is due to be removed by crane in the next few days. (weather permitting.)
The lighthouse now projects into the Sea, with the shoreline behind it.
I can't deny being very moved and sad by this. I'm just glad we got a crowd and went to see it last year. It was in fact the last but one trip to the lighthouse by the public.

Sorry I can't post pictures on this thread, I urge you to open the links to view the full drama.

This one needs no explanation really!
https://i.ibb.co/q19QPDK/undermined-1.png (https://ibb.co/Qmnw1JL)

This was taken on what was solid land when we last visited.
https://i.ibb.co/Syr5L3s/undermined-2.png (https://ibb.co/C82mrH1)

The view from the top of the lighthouse showing the undermined oil store building about to be pushed in front of the lighthouse to try and save it from the current storm. The Sea is to the right of the picture and you can see how far the beach has encroached.
https://i.ibb.co/RNCSGqt/undermined-3.png (https://ibb.co/DY7bPZm)

I can forward the whole email to anyone interested if you pm me your address.

[Jez900ie]

End of an era...

There are a bunch of other youtube vids on the lighthouse, but this one is fairly recent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhzzSOUgAZY

[The Clockie]

Weather, eh? Sad to see it go.

One of my earliest memories is of visiting a lighthouse down in Dorset (I think: St Margaret's Bay or somesuch?) with my father, and I was very impressed with the facets of the light's lens and the mercury bath on which it rotated. Writing that last, I can barely believe it! I don't suppose lights are allowed to spin on evil elements now. Life was simpler then, and Monsters were definitely confined to stories. Don't mention under beds 'cos we lived in a shoe-box...

Nick

[Mr Gazza]

I remember being given a palmful of Mercury in science class. Watching blobs of it wobble along the desk and smashing them with my fist, to watch smaller blobs shoot in all directions....Never did me any 'arm.. :freak:

We could go and see Happisburgh Lighthouse later this year? This is a sister ship to Orford, built to the same design I believe. We can ride right up to this one and park at the bottom of it.
You can see an equally graphic display of coastal erosion from the top!

Anyone up for that?

[Grumpy]

I remember being given a palmful of Mercury in science class. Watching blobs of it wobble along the desk and smashing them with my fist, to watch smaller blobs shoot in all directions....Never did me any 'arm.. :freak:

We could go and see Happisburgh Lighthouse later this year? This is a sister ship to Orford, built to the same design I believe. We can ride right up to this one and park at the bottom of it.
You can see an equally graphic display of coastal erosion from the top!

Anyone up for that?

I'm game!

Time for a list me thinks.....

Mr Gazza.
Grumpy

[Mr Gazza]

I'll get in touch with them and arrange a date.. Our calendar is quite full already, I reckon we are looking at September for that one?
DaveR and I tagged on to a Norton Owners run to the Lighthouse last year. It was a tenner a head for the tour if I recall.