Beaulieu River Millenium Beacon and Beaulieu Spit East End

by Ken Trethewey

[Beaulieu river Millenium Beacon, Ken Trethewey, 2002]

Thus it was that, on my way back from Hurst Point, I took the opportunity of looking along the coast to the east where I knew that there were some other ALL listed structures. Now, I'm sure that these navigational aids mean a lot to you if you are trying to navigate around the coasts at night. Sometimes, identification of the ALL structures from the land, during the day, is surprisingly difficult and, undoubtedly, best done with the joint aid of a marine chart.

A navaid called ‘Jack in the Basket’ (A0541) was actually listed on my OS map, but I was quite unable to identify it, despite quite a bit of trekking around the lanes of south Hampshire. However, I refused to give up, so my next attempt was to look for another ALL structure identified as Beaulieu Spit East end (A0553.2). As I drove towards this point on my map, travelling through the New Forest through the lovely village of Exbury where some famous gardens are located, I took a small road east from Exbury, travelling towards Lepe, and just as I arrived at the coast, I immediately came across the Beaulieu River Millenium Beacon. This is the newest lighthouse in England and is clearly listed in the ALL (A0553.15), though I stupidly failed to notice it prior to my departure. It was therefore a delightful surprise to come across the attractive little structure, a good representation of a traditional lighthouse shape in a compact design and made of concrete with a proper enclosed lantern. Additionally, I was able to see clearly the light on the Beaulieu Spit that I had come to see. The arrangement for entering the Beaulieu River is marked by a series of red and green vertical wooden poles running parallel to the beach and the navaid was located at the eastern end of this array. It consisted of a group of three red poles and a small light to mark it. Thus it as that the visit, despite the frustrations at the start, ended on a very good note.

[Beaulieu Spit East End, Ken Trethewey, 2002]

Copyright 2002 Ken Trethewey; all rights reserved.

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Posted August 12, 2005. Site copyright 2005 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.