Wickhambrook Local History Society News – April 2024
At the AGM on 16th April the committee and office bearers were re-elected to serve for another year. Chairman Dorothy Anderson, secretary Gillian Cooper and treasurer Pam Miller reported on an excellent year of talks and outings and thanked the members for their support.
The Trinity House Story – Captain Karl Lumbers
Trinity House is best known for the 66 lighthouses which beam light around our shores bur there is a whole lot more to learn about this fascinating subject. Karl Lumbers has lived a sea-faring life and now gives talks as part of Trinity House’s charitable works.
During the reign of Henry VIII there was a dispute about piloting on the Thames and a group of mariners from Deptford called on the King to enforce training for the pilots as there were at that time no charts of the sandbanks. This led, in 1566 in the reign of Elizabeth I to the placing of beacons and then to the first lighthouse which was built on land at Lowestoft in 1609. This lighthouse was built of wood and powered by candles and a tax of fourpence was levied on ships that passed it. These were known as light dues and are still payable today. A huge container ship can pay around £15,000 to pass a lighthouse.
We had all heard of the Eddystone Lighthouse which was also originally made of wood and blew down in 1701. It was rebuilt in stone in 1882 and survives to this day, one of the many rock lighthouses still in use.
Trinity House also looks after light vessels, anchored where there is no rock, basically floating masts to give height to the light and to many buoys (from the Spanish word for floating) which now are very sophisticated and can record and send electronic signals.
By 1998, the last lighthouse keepers had all left as technology can now provide all that they did in the past. A sad day, but an indication of how Trinity House has adapted and survived over its 500 year history.
Katl answered questions from the audience before being thanked for his interesting talk.
Our next meeting is on Tuesday 21st May when Ashley Cooper will talk on Rural Rebellion – the Tithe Wars of the 1930s.
Dorothy Anderson