Saltmere Head
CHARACTER
red occulting light every 8 secondsred occulting light every 8 seconds.
The oldest station on the register, and the only one where the light is more often on than off.
Saltmere occults rather than flashes: the light burns steadily and is eclipsed briefly, so what the eye catches is the darkness rather than the light. The choice was deliberate and it was argued about. A headland light seen against the loom of a town behind it can be lost among shore lighting, and a steady light with a regular gap in it survives that confusion where a flash does not.
The station has been continuously attended since 1848. The dwelling is still occupied, the garden still walled against the wind, and the original first-order optic still turns on its mercury bath, floated so finely that a hand can start it moving. It is the last mercury float on the register and there is no plan to change it.
RANGE AGAINST THE REGISTER
- Ordane Rock
- 24M
- Corvenn Reef
- 8M
- Saltmere Head
- 19M
- Hallow Pier
- 6M
- Vane Shoal
- 14M
- Bractan Range
- 21M