as my husband David took part in the Happisburgh Lighthouse Zip Slide Challenge.
Happisburgh Lighthouse is on the North Norfolk coast, seven miles and a fifteen minute drive from where we live. It is the only independently operated lighthouse in Great Britain and the oldest working lighthouse in East Anglia. It was built in 1790 and was originally one of a pair of leading lights marking safe passage around the southern end of Happisburgh Sands. The tower is 85 feet tall and the lantern is 134 feet above sea level.
Back in the eighteenth century, the lantern was illuminated by many candles, which were replaced by oil lamps with polished reflectors in 1801. In 1863 a new lantern was installed, which still tops the lighthouse, consisting of diagonal frames which cross each other at a constant angle to enable shipping to see the light from all angles to seaward, and which does not need to rotate. In 1865 the light source was changed to Cannel Gas, which was manufactured from coal on the premises and stored in two large gas holders behind the lighthouse, and was replaced by paraffin in 1910, acetylene in 1929, and finally electricity in 1947.
By 1884 t
here was only one tower at Happisburgh, which was distinguished from another lighthouse further up the coast at Winterton by painting it with the distinctive three broad bands it still has today.
After a major review of navigational aids, it was announced that Happisburgh Lighthouse was on the list for closure on 13th June 1988. However, a local resident, who knew of the dangers of working offshore without a guiding light in this treacherous area of the North Sea, organised a petition to oppose the closure; she started the Friends of Happisburgh Lighthouse to promote the campaign. It involved a Private Bill being passed by Parliament, which finally received the Royal Assent on 25th April 1990 and made Happisburgh the only independently run operational lighthouse in Great Britain.
The lighthouse was repainted, inside and out, on 30th and 31st August 1990 during filming for t
he BBC television programme ‘Challenge Anneka’, and celebrated its bi-centennial anniversary on New Year’s Day 1991. Its other claim to fame is being the location for the video of Ellie Goulding’s song ‘The Writer’.
To celebrate twenty five years since the operation of the lighthouse was handed over to the Happisburgh Lighthouse Trust, a one off zip slide event was held over two days this weekend to raise vital funds for the upkeep and continued operation of the lighthouse, as it is funded solely by voluntary contributions and staffed by volunteers on open days.
writing in north norfolk 
