The Manx Lighthouses

Just a short post about the Island's five major lights. Starting from North to South they are ....1 Point of Ayre ......2 Maughold .......3 Douglas Head......4 Langness.....5 Chickens Rock. Incidentally, the last picture shows a view of the Chickens Rock light from the Calf and shows one of the disused lights with the keeper;s and family accommodation. The two lights on the Calf were identical with the two houses having flat roofs to collect rain water which was channeled into tanks. There was very little water on the Calf .

The Chickens is an interesting story. Before it was built on a shoal a mile South of the Calf there were two lights on the Calf itself. ....one a bit higher than the other . When these two lights were in line any boat was on a direct course for the Chickens Rock itself.....when the two lights converged....well, it was too late......your boat was sitting on top of the reef. But there was a downside, in bad weather when the lights were needed the most, they were often hidden in low cloud and mist as they were built high up on the Calf. . So a light was built on the Chicken Rock , completed in 1873 and the two Calf lights were never used again , though both lights are still standing and will be still there for a long time yet . A severe fire in the Chicken's lighthouse at Christmas 1960, saw the light become the first Manx automated light, to be followed by the de- manning of the remaining lights during the following years .

Another interesting story concerning the lighthouse occurred in the 1950's ...1954 to be exact.. Anyway, the then warden's wife was expecting a baby . There was a big storm one day, they lost wireless communication with the main island....and of course the baby decided to arrive early.  The Warden  grabbed a box of flares and tried to signal the shore , but they were damp and only one lit....and had no effect . Then the Warden grabbed a pot of paint and dashing over to the old - lower light, lit a large fire and painted the word BABY in 6 ft letters on the side of the old lighthouse, hoping some one on the Chicken Rock light would see it . There was no response so he returned to the farm , hoping they could safely deliver the baby. With his wife in labour and with very few medical supplies available they were hoping for the best ....when to their complete surprise, a helicopter landed in the field outside the farm ....and the expectant mother was airlifted across to the main island .

His signal had been seen by a keeper on the Chicken Rock light and had alerted the authorities. There was no helicopter on the Island so one was scrambled from Northern Ireland with a plane escort.. The baby, Sally Williams suffered no ill effects and was brought up and educated on the Isle of Man. The father, Frank Williams was stranded on the Calf for another two weeks when at last he crossed to the main island and saw his daughter .. Great story!

I took a photo of the light in the 90's...the word BABY faint but still readable.