Lavernock
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Lavernock Welsh Larnog |
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| Coordinates | 51 ° 24 ′ N , 3 ° 10 ′ W | ||
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| Residents | 47,863 (2001) | ||
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| ZIP code section | CF62-63 | ||
| prefix | 01446 | ||
| Part of the country | Wales | ||
| Preserved County | South Glamorgan | ||
| Unitary authority | Vale of Glamorgan | ||
| British Parliament | Vale of Glamorgan | ||
| Welsh Parliament | Vale of Glamorgan | ||
Lavernock ( Welsh Larnog ) is a hamlet in the Vale of Glamorgan on the Welsh coast, 11 km (7 mi) south of Cardiff between Penarth and Sully . The village made technical history because Flat Holm transmitted the first wireless Morse code over the open sea to it.
The first radio message over the open sea
After tests over land in Salisbury Plain in March 1897, the 22-year-old Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi sent the first wireless signal over the open sea from Flat Holm to Lavernock Point on May 13, 1897 . He was assisted by Post Office Engineer George Kemp from Cardiff . Marconi had failed to convince the Italian government of his invention, so he brought his telegraph system to Great Britain. He met William Henry Preece , a Welshman who was the Chief Engineer of the General Post Office at the time and a major figure in the field. Marconi and Preece installed a 34 m high transmitter on a flat spar and a 30 m high receiver at Lavernock Point. The first attempts on May 11th and 12th failed. On May 13, the mast in Lavernock was raised to 50 m, whereupon the signals were clearly received. The message in Morse code was "Are you ready"; the original paper with the morse code signed by Marconi and Kemp is in the National Museum of Wales .
After the first transmission, detailed technical data on the equipment of the two transmitters and the volume were transmitted in both directions. Marconi submitted that he was using a frequency (spark) that was 20 in (510 mm).
Success came after several days of trial and error during which the frequency was discontinued. Extensive tests were then carried out under different weather conditions and with different types of equipment. Marconi was assisted by William Henry Preece, the then Engineer-in-Chief of the Post Office , who had already sent radio-telegraphic Morse code via Coniston Water eight years earlier . Preece had recently been hired as a consultant to the Bristol Corporation's Electricity Departments (1883-1893). The Post Office Engineers , including George Kemp, who kept a detailed diary of these events, had been experimenting at Lavernock Point for several months. Kemp describes the following experiments in his diary:
"Mr. Marconi's apparatus was set up on the cliffs of Lavernock Point, about 20 yards (18.28 m) above sea level. Here we erected a 30-yard (27.4 m) mast with a cylindrical zinc on top - Cap attached was 2 yards (1.82 m) high and 1 yard (91 cm) in diameter.
Connected to this cap was an insulated copper wire to one side of the detector, the other side of which was connected to a wire that ran from the cliff down to the sea. Mr. Preeces apparatus was set up on Flat Holm, the Rühmkorff lamp also produced 20 in (50 cm) sparks by an eight-cell battery. On May 10th, the experiments on Mr. Preece's electro-magnetic transmission were repeated, also with outstanding success. The next few days were eventful days in the history of Mr. Marconi. On the 11th and 12th the experiments were unsatisfactory - worse, they failed - and the fate of his new system seemed to be shaken.
An idea saved it. On May 13th the device was brought to the beach at the foot of the hill and connected to the mast above with another 20 yards (18.28 m) cable so that the antenna was 50 yards (45.7 m) high ) reached. Result, the instruments, which had not recorded any readable signals for two days, made the signals sound clear and unadulterated, all with the addition of a few yards of cable! "
Marconi's new devices were therefore used in conjunction with devices already in use by the post office. The initial tests were so successful at the "three and a third mile" (6 km) distance that the decision was quickly made to move the telegraph equipment from Flat Holm to Brean Down Fort at Weston Super Mare , thereby increasing the distance to Lavernock Point Transmitter has been increased to 10 mi (about 16 km).
After these successful attempts, Marconi incorporated his new patent rights into his Wireless Telegraph and Signal Company , which unfortunately made further collaboration with the Post Office Engineers impossible. George Kemp left his position immediately and became “Head of Engineering Development” in Marconi's company.
In 1948 a bronze plaque was placed by the Cardiff Rotary Club in the recently closed St. Lawrence Church , Lavernock, to commemorate the historic radio broadcast 50 years ago. The little stone hut that Marconi used to house his experimental radio-telegraph equipment still stands on the cliff at the end of the trail at Lower Cosmeston Farmhouse .
The Bays of Lavernock
From the late 1890s to 1968 Lavernock and the nearby Bays of St Mary's Well and Swanbridge Beaches (including the Watts footpath to Sully Island ) were popular day trippers from the South Wales Valleys , Newport , Cardiff, Penarth and Barry . The beaches were full of visitors on the weekends and bank holidays in the summer. Sometimes thousands of vacationers used an ice cream stand, two cafes, the Golden Hind pub and the Lavernock Bay Hotel . Until the 1960s, most visitors came on the steam trains that ran to Barry Island on the Taff Vale Railway .
After the railway line was closed by the Beeching ax , the number of visitors dropped dramatically and the tourism businesses had to close.
Lavernock Point
Lavernock Point is a headlands and bays on the South Wales coast overlooking the Bristol Channel and the Somerset Coast opposite . An imaginary line between Lavernock Point and Sand Point (Somerset) marks the lower boundary between the estuary of the Severn and the actual Bristol channel. The tidal range in the Bristol Channel is 15 m (49 ft); it is only exceeded by the tidal range in the Bay of Fundy in eastern Canada . Due to the extreme tide range, there are very strong currents for hours at every tide, which can reach over 7 kn (13 km / h).
Severn Barrage (tidal power station)
If a tidal power plant ( Severn Barrage ) were built, this could have significant consequences for Lavernock. Several studies have been commissioned on this. The most recent is from 2007 when John Hutton , Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform requested a report from the Sustainable Development Commission . One possible construction route extends from Lavernock Point to Brean Down in Somerset .
The idea of building an 8.6 GW tidal power plant that would provide five percent of the UK's electricity consumption is being opposed by many environmental groups.
geology
Coming from Penarth, the first thing that catches the eye at Lavernock Point is a cliff of the Blue Anchor Formation , below which massive limestone blocks have been placed for coastal protection . Between this point and the Point , the Westbury Formation emerges in the cliffs and off the coast. It contains a thin, irregular layer of sandstone containing pyrite and parts of a bone bed with the bones and teeth of fish and reptiles. Pieces of it can occasionally be found on the beach.
To the west of Lavernock Point is the Blue Lias Formation , and in the cliffs of St. Mary's Well Bay it folds into a slight syncline ; its three sections (St. Mary's Well Bay Formation, Lavernock Shales and Porthkerry Formation) are easy to spot. At the point , the limestone layers contain large groups of the Liostrea oyster . Further to the west, on the younger layers, one finds the flattened shells of the ammonite Psiloceras .
In June 2015 it was announced that brothers Nick and Rob Hanigan had discovered the fossils of a new species of dinosaur on the beach. The fossils belong to a dog-sized theropod , a "cousin of the giant Tyrannosaurus Rex".
Lavernock Fort
On Point was in the 1860s Lavernock Fort with a gun emplacement of the Royal Commission established. The fort had three 7 '' rifled muzzle loader cannons to protect the canal's approaches to the ports of Cardiff and Bristol. Already before 1895 the position was reinforced with a fourth cannon and in 1903 all four cannons were replaced by two Rapid Fire 6 '' (152 mm) Naval Guns .
A unit with two searchlights was set up during World War II. The renovations in World War II were part of the Fixed Defense, Severn Scheme and protected the Atlantic shipping convoy de-grouping zone Cardiff, Barry and Flat Holm . Today the remaining section of the gun emplacement is an ancient monument . These include the cannon positions, the direction and range finding positions, the crew and officers quarters. The main access road from Lavernock Point is still called 'Fort Road'.
Royal Observer Corps
A few meters from Marconi's hut is Penarth's only Royal Observer Corps (ROC) searchlight post. The position was set up by the Air Ministry on parts of the military area near the Lavernock Gun Battery . The voluntary ROC Observer discovered many attacks of the Nazi - Air Force and activated the alarm chain.
In 1962, a nuclear shelter was built at Penarth Clifftop for the ROC (OS Grid Ref: ST 1858 6903) , which had relocated operations in the 1960s to monitor nuclear explosions with underground equipment. They should warn the population if nuclear war breaks out. During the Cuban Missile Crisis that same year, the Observer spent 10 days in the bunker.
The bunker was closed by the ROC in 1975 after multiple vandalism had occurred. The Royal Observer Corps itself was dissolved in December 1995 after the end of the Cold War .
Nature reserve
The nature reserve is particularly worth seeing due to the combination with the historical facilities. Dyer's greenweed (dyer's gorse, Genista tinctoria), devil's-bit scabious (devil's bite, Succisa pratensis), common spotted orchid (fox's orchid, Dactylorhiza fuchsii) and fleabane (flea herb) thrive on the unprocessed limestone cliffs and grasslands ). More than 26 species of butterflies have been observed in over twenty years of record.
Lavernock and the nearby Cosmeston Lakes continue to be an important resting place for migratory birds. The reserve is managed by the Wildlife Trust of South & West Wales .
Monkstone Lighthouse
The Monkstone Lighthouse ⊙ is in the Bristol Channel near Lavernock Point. The first lighthouse was built there in 1839. The original iron structure was replaced in 1993. The current lighthouse is powered by solar power and is maintained by Trinity House . It consists of a stone tower reinforced by iron bands with a red tower made of fiberglass-reinforced plastic .
present
The Lavernock Railway Station has been sold, and long stretches of the old railway line between Fort Road Bridge and Lower Penarth are still accessible as the Green Route .
Lavernock, St Mary's Well Bay and Swanbridge are still accessible from Penarth via the cliff path. The old Cafe Car Park near Swanbridge became the Captain’s Wife pub . The Marconi Holiday Village at Lavernock Point is operated by Lavernock Point Holiday Park and consists of holiday homes, caravans and caravan sites. The Marconi Club on the premises is open to the public.
The small medieval parish church of St. Lawrence is a listed building. It was closed in 2008. The building is being maintained and renovated by a group of volunteers. Services are still held on certain days.
Leisure attractions
- Cosmeston Lakes Country Park features waterfowl and lake walks as well as the Living Museum at Cosmeston Medieval Village .
- Views of the islands Flat Holm and Steep Holm .
- Swanbridge and Sully Island are historic islands with relics from Romans, Celts and smugglers.
- The Bendricks is three kilometers away and has the only known footprint of a dinosaur from the Triassic in Britain.
Web links
- Old map of the railway line and pictures of the route .
- Lavernock and St Mary's Well Bay, photos from the 1950s and 1960s .
- Marconi Holiday Village and Lavernock Point Holiday Park .
- Gun Battery's Eastern Observation Post .
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Marconi: Radio Pioneer . In: BBC South East Wales . Retrieved April 12, 2008.
- ↑ "Mr Marconi's apparatus was set up on the cliff at Lavernock Point, which is about twenty yards above sea-level. Here we erected a pole, 30 yd high, on the top of which was a cylindrical cap of zinc, 2 yd long and 1 yd diameter. Connected with this cap was an insulated copper wire leading to one side of the detector, the other side of which was connected to a wire led down the cliff and dipping into the sea. At Flat Holm Mr Preece's apparatus was arranged , the Ruhmkorff coil also giving 20 in sparks from an eight-cell battery. On the 10th May experiments on Mr Preece's electro-magnetic transmission method were repeated, and with perfect success. The next few days were eventful ones in the history of Mr Marconi . On the 11th and 12th his experiments were unsatisfactory - worse still, they were failures - and the fate of his new system trembled in the balance. An inspiration saved it. On the 13th May the apparatus was carried down to the beach at the foot of the cliff, and connected by Another 20 yd of wire to the pole above, thus making an aerial height of 50 yd in all. Result, The instruments which for two days failed to record anything intelligible, now rang out the signals clear and unmistakable, and all by the addition of a few yards of wire! "
- ^ Severn Estuary Barrage (PDF) In: UK Environment Agency . May 31, 2006. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved September 3, 2007.
- ^ Marjorie A. Chan, Archer, Allen William: Extreme Depositional Environments: Mega End Members in Geologic Time . Geological Society of America , Boulder, Colorado 2003, ISBN 0-8137-2370-1 , p. 151.
- ^ Coast: Bristol Channel . In: BBC . Retrieved August 27, 2007.
- ↑ Philippe Naugthon: Severn Barrage study alarms campaigners . In: The Times , September 25, 2007. Retrieved September 26, 2007.
- ^ New study for Severn energy plan . In: BBC News , September 25, 2007. Retrieved September 26, 2007.
- ↑ Tidal Power in the Severn? ( Memento of the original from June 9, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed May 12, 2008
- ^ Geological Walks in Wales - Penarth, Lavernock and St. Mary's Well Bay
- ↑ Jurassic dinosaur remains on beach - BT . Home.bt.com. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
- ↑ Atlantic convoy regrouping area ( Memento of the original from October 2, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Monkstone Lighthouse . Trinity House. Archived from the original on August 17, 2012. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
- ↑ St. Lawrence Church, Lavernock, south Wales, Marconi and the birth of Radio - urban75 blog (English)
- ^ Church of St Lawrence - Sully - Vale of Glamorgan - Wales - British Listed Buildings (English)
- ↑ Wonderful evening at St Lawrence at Lavernock (From Penarth Times )
