NUMBERED DAYS

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 137, 6 December 1930, Page 10

NUMBERED DAYS

PENCARROW'S LIGHT

SEVENTY YEARS' SERVICE

SfOVE TO BAEING HEAD

One of Wellington's favourite walks, for the energetic, is along tho eastern side of the harbour to tho Heads, with Pencarrow lighthouse as the objective. " The trampcr has % the choice of two routes,, over the hills or along the beach. Tho former provides the easier ■walkjug, with panoramic views thrown in, ■while the latter is a scramble in places, but made interesting, especially during the last mile or so, by the sight of the bleached bones oi" scows and other hapless wooden vessels which lie half buried in shingle and sand. ' These remains tell of storms in days gone by, and are a reminder of the perils awaiting those who go down to.tho sea in ships and occupy their business in great waters. At the end of tho walk, at the very foot of Penearrow Head, the gaunt iron bows of tho Devon recall the night when that vessel, mistaking the lower Pencarrow beacon for the Somes Island light, finished her career on the jagged rocks of the headland, fortunately without loss of life. Farther on, round in Palliser Bay, are remnants of other wrecks, victims of the treacherous coast in spite of Pencarrow's light and other guiding beams. Before many months have elapsed, however, a walk "to the lighthouse will be considerably longer, for, as is generally known, tho Pencarrow lighthouse, after over 70 years of faithful service, is to be dismantled. Its place is to be taken' by . a better-placed light on Baring Head, which is farther on. Through the generosity of Mr. Eric Riddiford, 'of Orougorongo, the requisite site for the new lighthouse has been secured by the Marino Department, and building operations will not be long delayed. ' PENCARROW'S HISTORY. It was on Ist January, 1559, that the 3?encarrow lighthouse was taken over by-the Marine Department. It was tho first of the- New Zealand lighthouses to be built, for it was considered essential that the cntraneo to the harbour of the country's capital city should be made as safe as possible for mariners. Official records tell with precision that the cost of erecting and equipping the squat, iron tower was £6422 and fourpence. Many-a southerly storm has come and gone, since that day when the lighthouse keeper spent some hours trimming and cleaning the oil lamp, which was his charge. Penearrow has seen the passing of tho day of the sailing boat and the wooden vessel;'has seen: the advent of the iron vessel driven by steam, and the beginning of the era. of the motor ship. Though these seventy years the Penearrow light itself has undergone changes to keep abreast with the times. Twenty-five years ago the. old-style oil lamp gave place to something better—to a practically- automatic incandescent light; (still burning kerosene) of 700 candlepower. The present light, one is gravely informed by tho "Nautical •Almanac'" 5 and similar publications, is "a. second order dioptric." In itself it looks insignificant enough, but the tier upon tier of glass prisms and lenses arranged concentrically about it make the light,visible in clear weather at a distance of 25-miles, and, after seeing these prisms and lenses, the layman is quite willing to admit that tho whole thing is exactly his idea of a dioptric of'the second order. ADVANTAGES OF NEW SITE. The new light on Earing Head will be'eonsiderably higher above sea level than the Pencarrow light, which is 322 feet above, and it will be a much more up-to-date affair.; It will be similar t > that recently erected at Cape Egmont, and will'consist Of a revolving lens with a'fixed'' incandescent acetylene burner.v.A^sun.valve will"operate it, turning it oh".and off as the ease may be. ..'lts minimum range in ordinary clear weather'will be 25 miles. ' • : •■■' All mariners:are agreed that a light on Baring Head will be much more ■useful than one on Pencarrow. The form-er will" bo picked up very much sooner; by .vessels coming from the Pacific, and, as one.skipper put it, "would make the making of Wellington Harbour like na.vigating on a tramway." Although it will never- bo quite as easy as' this, the new light will certainly assist navigation in tjio somewhat difficult Straits. Baring Head, when other points are obscured, is very often clear. Pencarrow is', too ' far in the bight, and if a large vessel gets too close inshore in endeavour to pick rip the light, and fails, there is always si'.1 chance of a, disaster. The*light on Baring Head will obviate this danger ■and enable vessels from the north and the. east to make the entrance of the harbour in quicker time and with greater safety. The transference of tho fog signal to Baring. Head will also be appreciated by seafarers, as it will give timely warning of danger ahead. LIGHTING THE SEA ROUTES. Although one of the most important 'of the lighthouses around New Zealand's rocky coast, Pencarrow is not the" most powerful. There are about fifty lighthouses 'in -' New Zealand waters, a dozen being in Cook Strait, in addition to well over a hundred beacons, and they are needed^ too. The most powerful lighthouse is that on Stephen Island. It rises 600 ft above liigh-water "mark, and in clear weather its guiding beam can be seen at a distance of over thirty miles. The lightnouses at Capo Brett and East Capo are nearly as powerful. Prom Cape Farewell, with -its seven mile long sandy spit, to Cape Palliser extends a dangerous stretch of water demanding adequate lighthouses in view of the big amount of the Dominion's shipping which uses this highway. All things .considered it is well served already, but Uie new light on Baring Head will make navigation safer still, especially with" the strengthening of the light of the lower Pencarrow beacon, which ■will remain where it is at present. ROMANCE IN THE NAME. The name Penearrow, redolent of the rocky Cornish coast, is a fitting one for Wellington's harbour sentinel. It was conferred on the headland by a brother 'of the Hon. Molcsworth,- who, in the early days, was a member of the 2>few Zealand Company, Poncarrow being the name of the Molcsworth Cornish estate. The lighthouse, which for seventy years, on fine nights and on foul nights, on nights when the sea is as smooth as glass, and on nights when wild and savage waves break with fury oh the cruel coast, may become but a memory, but the name will Temain as applied to the headland and the beacon. "With the Baring Head lighthouse, in spite of its better efficiency, there cannot be connected the same romance.as there always will bo with Pencarrow, whose beam, since Wellington was an infant, has pointed the way to ships on the water highway of Cook Strait wishing to make entrance to the Capital City's harbour. Tho walk to Pencarrow will remain Ihe joyous scramble that it has always been, but the lighthouse will soon be gone. To reach Baring Head will be something more than a Sabbath Duy's journey on foot, but the übiquitous motor will make short shift of 'the distance because a road will connect tho yite' with tho -.main, road through, the Wainui-o-mata "Valley.