Friday 12 November 2010

Darling Harbour, Cape Bowling Green lighthouse

The Cape Bowling Green lighthouse is located at the Australian National Maritime Museum, at Darling Harbour. It was originally built in 1874 at Cape Bowling Green, a low sandy spit 70 kilometres south of Townsville, Queensland. It was one of 22 identical lighthouses built on the North Queensland coast to guide vessels around the Great Barrier Reef, where many ships had run aground. The frame of this 22 metre high lighthouse was built from local hardwood and clad with iron plates from Britain. It was staffed by a keeper and three assistants and moved twice, in 1878 and 1908, when threatened by the sea. In 1913, an incandescent mantle was installed, fuelled by vapourised kerosene. It was destaffed in 1920 when an automatic acetylene light was installed, operated by a sun valve. It was replaced by a modern tower in 1987 and then transported to the north wharf of the maritime museum in Sydney in 1994.

42 comments:

  1. I'm glad they are not just tearing these beautiful old lighthouses down, turning them into museums are a fantastic idea.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love lighthouses and this one is such a beauty! It's wonderful to know these are being saved and turned into museums, fantastic idea indeed! Gorgeous blue skies as always and gorgeous capture -- as always! Have a wonderful weekend, Jim!

    Sylvia

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nice lighthouse. I love that is looks to be in an urban neighborhood. That must be nice to wake up to.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow! A refugee from the north :-)

    Very interesting post - thanks!

    tff

    ReplyDelete
  5. Looks like this one has had quite a checkered career. Nice to see that she has been preserved

    ReplyDelete
  6. I agree with Ryan, it would be a sin to tear down such beautiful reminders of days past, and of all the ships and lives this light has saved.
    -- K

    Kay, Alberta, Canada
    An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow, wonderful and interesting in the same time!
    You are invited here, my friend!
    Sorry! Ha ha

    Photographis:
    http://graphis-artwork.blogspot.com/

    Best regards!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Lighthouses alway have special meaning to me as they are a "guiding light." Beautiful picture.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Love the perspective in this one.
    Interesting history. Thanks for sharing. My contribute this thursday is a flying dragon stucked and entangled in the wire to a ski lift.

    ReplyDelete
  10. What a great history for a lighthouse. Years since last seen by me. Please have a peaceful Friday.

    daily athens

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thank you for visiting my site. I am now your newest follower, and I also invite you to follow my blog.

    The Disconnected Writer
    http://thedisconnectedwriter.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  12. A magnificent photo of the lighthouse with the city in the background, and of course that incredible blue sky.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Two superb photos. Love the stories behind the structures and the wonderful Sydney sky above them.

    ReplyDelete
  14. long may she shine!




    Aloha from Waikiki :)

    Comfort Spiral

    ><}}(°>


    <°)}}><

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thanks for the background - and such a great crisp picture

    ReplyDelete
  16. Your sky is spectacularly blue.

    www.ewok1993.wordpress.com

    ReplyDelete
  17. There is something about a lighthouse that is appealing. Though their usefulness is in decline the public can’t bear to lose them. Like endangered species, some man made thing beg to be perserved.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hi!
    Amazing to see such a timeless structure amidst all the high rise buildings! What a great shot!
    ~Maria

    ReplyDelete
  19. So lovely! Love the idea of saving old lighthouses!

    ReplyDelete
  20. I love lighthouses, they should always be preserved!! Beautiful sunny shot.
    Sunrise

    ReplyDelete
  21. This is a beautiful lighthouse and much higher than the only one I know in Australia: the lighthouse on Grassy Hill in Cooktown. Grassy Hill is the highest place in Cooktown. Thanks for this information!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Fantastic colors and good place!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Beautiful SkyWatch posting!
    thank you for sharing this beautiful photo work


    Happy SWF! Have a good weekend,

    Regards, Bram

    My SkyWatch on WordPress

    Seen on Sky Watch Friday, Season 4, Episode 18

    ReplyDelete
  24. I could look at lighthouses all day, I find them fascinating. This one is so beautiful against the blue sky.
    The Road to Here

    ReplyDelete
  25. Beautiful shot and great lighthouse. I had to look up what a sun valve is, though. Very interesting...

    ReplyDelete
  26. I love lighthouses and this is a gorgeous shot ! I find them so romantic !

    ReplyDelete
  27. It looks great. An interesting piece of history.

    ReplyDelete
  28. I have always liked pictures of lighthouses, and this is a strikingly beautiful picture of this lighthouse with the dreamy clouds in the perfectly beautiful blue sky background.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Lovely that they have kept it. I love the contrast of the old lighthouse and the new buildings.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Wonderful image! So glad the lighthouse is being preserved even though it is no longer needed for its original purpose.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Wow I have never seen a lighthouse in the middle of modern structure. Great capture!
    Looking at the sky

    ReplyDelete
  32. jim,
    great shots here. i stayed in darling harbour several years ago. great place for photography.
    nikonsniper steve

    ReplyDelete
  33. well kept history for a beautiful lighthouse.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for visiting my blog. Please leave me a message. Jim.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...