On Haws Point is the imposing structure of the Walney Lighthouse, which was built in 1790. Its purpose was to improve the navigation of the River Lune and act as a guide for cargo ships from the West Indies bound for the Glasson docks. The lighthouse was not built to benefit Barrow, as it was only a small fishing community at this time.
The lighthouse was built of stone quarried from Overton in Lancashire and transported to the site by ship. The octagonal tower is 70 feet high and rests on a circular foundation 20 feet 6 inches in diameter. There are 91 steps up to the top of the lighthouse. The original light was an argent burner, a type of paraffin lamp.
In 1909 an acetylene gaslight system was installed which flashed at one minute intervals. In 1953 this was replaced with an electric light which flashes at 15 second intervals. The new light is 30 times more powerful (450,000 candle power) and has a range of 18 miles compared to 13 miles of its gas predecessor. The electric light was first powered by its own generator, not being connected to the National Grid until 1969. This guiding light can even be seen from Blackpool.
Attached to the lighthouse are two houses in which the keeper and staff live. These houses were originally one house, which was built for the first full-time keeper. The house was divided into two in the late 19th century. When Peggy and her family first moved to the lighthouse the only water source came from the rain and the only lighting came from candles.
During the Second World War, the house was used as an officers' mess when 170 soldiers were encamped at the lighthouse as part of the coastal defence network. In 1946 14 prisoners of war were moved into the camp. They did odd jobs around the lighthouse in return for cigarettes and food. The remains of the barracks are still visible.
Today the lighthouse is run by the Port of Lancaster Commissioners and contains a radio beacon for Trinity House, forming a major link in the British coastguard system. Although the lighthouse is no longer open to the public, it can be viewed from the outside.
For more information visit the Tourist Information Centre, Forum 28, Duke Street, Barrow-in-Furness Tel: (01229) 870156
" ... Lancaster merchants, concerned about ships entering the port through such hazardous waters, petitioned Parliament in 1789 and were granted leave to build a lighthouse on the South-East end of Walney Island and to collect dues from vessels using neighbouring ports. A wooden tower was built in 1790 and an oil lamp with a parabolic reflector installed and was first shown on 1st December 1790. It was improved in 1791 when a Richard Walker installed his newly-invented revolving apparatus giving a flashing light that was distinguishable from both St. Bees and Liverpool's lights. The equipment consisted of three 3' parabolic reflectors fixed back-to-back (almost) around a central axis. The motor was driven by the 'clockwork' weight suspended down the centre of the tower which revolved the apparatus once every fifteen minutes (sic). The reflectors were made from 721 small pieces of glass embedded in plaster of paris on a wooden frame. Not surprisingly, in December 1803 the lantern caught fire and the structure was destroyed. The present octagonal stone tower was operational the following year. The light itself was changed in 1820 when four silver-plated copper reflectors were installed. They were designed by the veteran lighthouse architect Robert Stevenson, father of Robert Louis.
Of course, the light source has changed; it is now mains supplied transformed to 110 volts with a back-up generator in case of accidents. The original reflectors are in Lancaster Museum and the weight driven motor was replaced in 1956. It is, so far as is known, the last surviving catoptric apparatus, whatever one of those is! ... "
An extract from Peter Bancroft's article, for the Spring 1996 edition of Mainsheet, the Club's newsletter, reproduced in full below
Lightening our Darkness,
a visit to Walney Light in 1989 by Peter Bancroft
One of Glasson's many attractions is the view over towards Morecambe Bay on a summer evening at sunset. For someone who spent too long on the East side of the country, Western gloamings never lose their appeal. Wide skies are burnished into colours that no film can adequately capture until the whole spectacle is extinguished as the sun gracefully retires behind Sunderland Point.T
To be absolutely accurate, it drops behind the power station, but why wreck poesy with the facts.
It is at this point, though, that one can begin to make out the glimmer of the channel buoys and, from the top of the hill, the loom of the Walney Light. I recently had the privilege of being permitted to 'inspect' the Light and it's buildings on a Port Commission visit. I hadn't realised until recently that the Commission owns Walney Light and is responsible for it's upkeep.
Maybe we take too much for granted these days. With electronic gadgetry to place us exactly on a charted position, who needs lighthouses? (The secretary!) But Decca chains go down (ask the secretary), fuses blow and batteries go flat; of course we need lighthouses! But imagine how much of a blessing the Light must have been to mariners entering the Waters of Morecambe Bay with it's treacherous sands when it was first established in 1790.
Lancaster merchants, concerned about ships entering the port through such hazardous waters, petitioned Parliament in 1789 and were granted leave to build a lighthouse on the South-East end of Walney Island and to collect dues from vessels using neighbouring ports. A wooden tower was built in 1790 and an oil lamp with a parabolic reflector installed and was first shown on 1st December 1790. It was improved in 1791 when a Richard Walker installed his newly-invented revolving apparatus giving a flashing light that was distinguishable from both St. Bees and Liverpool's lights. The equipment consisted of three 3' parabolic reflectors fixed back-to-back (almost) around a central axis. The motor was driven by the 'clockwork' weight suspended down the centre of the tower which revolved the apparatus once every fifteen minutes (sic). The reflectors were made from 721 small pieces of glass embedded in plaster of paris on a wooden frame. Not surprisingly, in December 1803 the lantern caught fire and the structure was destroyed. The present octagonal stone tower was operational the following year. The light itself was changed in 1820 when four silver-plated copper reflectors were installed. They were designed by the veteran lighthouse architect Robert Stevenson, father of Robert Louis.
Of course, the light source has changed; it is now mains supplied transformed to 110 volts with a back-up generator in case of accidents. The original reflectors are in Lancaster Museum and the weight driven motor was replaced in 1956. It is, so far as is known, the last surviving catoptric apparatus, whatever one of those is!
But the technical stuff is too prosaic. After crossing the bridge from Barrow to Walney and passing through the main settlement via the somewhat pretentiously named 'Ocean Road' and then by the side of a beach which, on that warm sunny day, rivalled the exotic pages of the travel brochures, one is very quickly on the terrain reminiscent of the Hebrides. A rough track bounces you several miles towards the landmark at the island's tip. This is a nature reserve, and it shows, with tens of thousands of gulls and other sea birds protecting their young against the intruding visitor. Earlier in the year when there are even more young to protect, the gulls are apparently quite vicious and should be avoided. Rabbits galore of course and then the oyster farm. I did not see any oysters; they were probably indoors being milked or something.
But the real highlight of our arrival at the lighthouse 'campus' for it is quite a collection of buildings, one which houses the radio beacon - FN, and meeting the Principal Keeper Mrs Peggy Braithwaite, MBE (awarded in 1984). I will not, of course, reveal her age (she must have been 69 ish). Leave it that she is a lady of mature years with a very considerable personality. It's not so long since she regularly hoisted herself up the tower on a bosun's chair to paint it and still takes a stroll with a twelve bore after the odd rabbit. She also collects a limited number of gull's eggs for onward passage to the breakfast table of Buck House.
The pristine whiteness of the exteriors and the immaculate cleanliness inside dotted with both nauticalia and .......lighthouse-calia? vouch for a vocation, not a mere job. She painted the outside of the lighthouse 11 times, twice from her bosun's cahir.
The Swarbrick family (they get everywhere) (I do not think we are related - Michael) have been associated with Walney light for nearly a century. Peggy went to Walney as a small girl from Barrow when her father was appointed Assistant Keeper. Then her sister, Ella, held the post until 1967 when Peggy took over, having married the jovial and now retired engineer Ken Braithwaite in the meanwhile. She was appointed Principle Keeper in 1975.
I believe that she is the only lady Principal Lighthouse Keeper in the country and her character reflects that distinction, which as more and more lighthouses become unmanned, is likely ever to the only one. She has appeared on 'Down Your Way' and is to participate on a television programme in the new year (1990). Watch out for her. Sadly, ladies like Peggy are an endangered species! (Sadly Peggy died on 20th January 1996. She retired in 1994 and her former assistant Ian Clark took over and was still in charge when Peggy died. - Michael Swarbrick)
Walney Light :
Established 1790
Height of Light : 21 metres
Nominal Range : 23
Miles White Flashing (15 seconds)
Peter R. Bancroft