Whitehouse Point, Fowey; St Catherine's Point, Fowey, Banjo Pier, Looe
by Ken Trethewey
[Whitehouse Point, Ken Trethewey, 2002]
A trip to Fowey came up unexpectedly. It was a beautiful sunny Saturday and would probably be the last warm one of the year. I knew there were some minor navigational lights to be seen in Fowey so it became a pleasure trip, coupled to some lighthouse 'business'.
The day was not without its problems, however, but these were not to appear until later. The first problem was that I entirely missed a lighthouse - probably the most important of the ones at Fowey, too! But more of that later. When you arrive at the water's edge, you can see a small harbour light along the shore in a seaward direction. To get to it, you need to walk along the road a little distance in the direction of St Catherine's Point. The lighthouse is better described as a navigational aid and is a red can mounted on a red pole. There is a red ladder leading up to it and the whole is enclosed in a red wrought iron fence. Now, I assume that this is the light listed in ALL as Whitehouse Point, but the description is baffling, for the ALL describes it as a red metal column (correct!) with a characteristic of IsoWRG 3s. This in itself is fine, except that the notes say that the sectors are visible from 017 to 037. This is not at all how the light I saw is configured, for the light is certainly a narrow beam and is focussed out towards the sea in a southerly direction. This identification remains a mystery for now. There is nothing else listed in the ALL that fits the description of the structure in my photographs.
[St Catherine's Point, Ken Trethewey, 2002]
Continuing along the road from the town of Fowey towards the sea, in the direction of St Catherine's Fort, you pass the small house in a beautiful little cove where author Daphne du Maurier lived for a time. To reach the fort and thus the small light that is there, you cross the beach and climb the steps to the coastal footpath. A short distance along the path is the fort, which is a fine reward for your efforts. The views are very fine, whether it be out to sea, east towards Polruan, or north to Fowey. The little red navigational light occupies a position immediately outside the wall of the fortification. The ALL claims that this light is 15 m above sea level, but I would guess it to be much more than that: my guess would be 25 metres. The stupid mistake that I made was that I did not bother to take the coastal path through the tress to the west, for now know that there is a more substantial lighthouse in that direction. I shall have to visit it another day.
[Banjo Pier, Ken Trethewey, 2002]
With my new interest in the smaller navigational lights fully kindled, it was with great excitement that we revisited Looe, one of the jewels of Cornwall. This vibrant and beautiful fishing village looked at its very best on this beautiful day in early autumn, but it was 1600 when we finally arrived there on our way home from Fowey. We went straight to West Looe where I knew we would get a good view of the light on the Banjo Pier. The sunshine was illuminating the subject perfectly as I looked down on the light from the cliff road on the other side of the river. Furthermore, the light structure was in perfect condition, looking as if it had been repainted in the very recent past. The red pole with its red lantern and ladder looked very similar in both design and vintage to the light at what I have identified as Whitehouse Point, Fowey. There is so much that could be said about these small lights, yet it is so hard to find and although people see them every day, the lights are barely noticed. Awareness and perspective are truly mysterious human properties.
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.