Bractan Range

The rear light of a leading pair, four miles inland. Bring it into line with the front light and you are in the channel.

Bractan is the only station on the register that cannot see the sea it serves. It stands on a wooded ridge four miles inland at eighty-eight metres, and it works only in combination: bring Bractan vertically above the front light at Bractan Point and the vessel is on the leading line for the estuary channel. Off the line, the two lights separate, and the direction of the error is immediately readable.

It is a fixed light that also flashes, which is unusual and was contentious when proposed. The fixed component is what is brought into transit. The flash exists so the light can be found in the first place against the sodium wash of the town below. Status was reduced in 2011 when the channel was re-buoyed, and the station is now maintained rather than operated.

RANGE AGAINST THE REGISTER

Ordane Rock

24M

Corvenn Reef

8M

Saltmere Head

19M

Hallow Pier

6M

Vane Shoal

14M

Bractan Range

21M