The Needles in Profile
The Needles is a row of three distinctive stacks of chalk that rise out of the sea off the western extremity of the Isle of Wight, UK, close to Alum Bay.
The formation takes its name from a fourth needle-shaped pillar called Lot's Wife that collapsed in a storm in 1764. The remaining rocks are not at all needle-like, but the name has stuck.
The Needles were featured on the 2005 TV programme Seven Natural Wonders as one of the wonders of Southern England.
The Needles' pointed shape is a result of their unusual geology. The strata have been so heavily folded during the Alpine Orogeny that the chalk is near vertical. This chalk outcrop runs through the centre of the Island from Culver Cliff in the east to the Needles in the west, and then continues under the sea to the Isle of Purbeck, forming Ballard Cliff (near Swanage), Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door. It is also believed that The Needles were once connected to Old Harry Rocks (east of Studland and north of Swanage) where these strata lines moving from horizontal to near vertical can be seen from the sea.
Just off the end of the Needles formation is the Shingles, a shifting shoal of pebbles just beneath the waves. The Shingles is approximately three miles in length. Many ships have been wrecked on the Shingles.
At the right hand end of the stacks is the Needles Lighthouse which was built by Trinity House in 1859 on the outermost of the chalk rocks near sea level. Designed by James Walker, it cost £20,000. Constructed from granite, it stands 33.25 metres (109.1 ft) high and is a circular tower with straight sides.
It replaced a light tower on top of a cliff overhanging Scratchell's Bay, which was first lit on 29 September 1786. Its height of 144m above sea level meant it was often obscured by fog and sea mists.
This 1982 view was taken before a helipad was added to the top of the lighthouse in 1987, and it became fully automated when the last keepers left on 8 December 1994. One of the last three remaining manned rock lighthouses in England and Wales, before automation it was staffed by a three man crew operating a 24 hour watch, serving one month on / one month off, living in rudimentary conditions in three levels below the light. One of the crew can be seen angling at the bottom right.
Due to the condition of the chalk strata on which the lighthouse was built, in April 2010 a £500,000 underpinning project was announced, designed to stop the lighthouse falling into the sea. Over a 12 week period from early June, civil marine contractors Nuttall John Martin were due to dig a trench around the base of the lighthouse, install a ring of stabilising posts, and infill it with concrete.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Needles
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Needles_Lighthouse
The Needles in Profile
The Needles is a row of three distinctive stacks of chalk that rise out of the sea off the western extremity of the Isle of Wight, UK, close to Alum Bay.
The formation takes its name from a fourth needle-shaped pillar called Lot's Wife that collapsed in a storm in 1764. The remaining rocks are not at all needle-like, but the name has stuck.
The Needles were featured on the 2005 TV programme Seven Natural Wonders as one of the wonders of Southern England.
The Needles' pointed shape is a result of their unusual geology. The strata have been so heavily folded during the Alpine Orogeny that the chalk is near vertical. This chalk outcrop runs through the centre of the Island from Culver Cliff in the east to the Needles in the west, and then continues under the sea to the Isle of Purbeck, forming Ballard Cliff (near Swanage), Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door. It is also believed that The Needles were once connected to Old Harry Rocks (east of Studland and north of Swanage) where these strata lines moving from horizontal to near vertical can be seen from the sea.
Just off the end of the Needles formation is the Shingles, a shifting shoal of pebbles just beneath the waves. The Shingles is approximately three miles in length. Many ships have been wrecked on the Shingles.
At the right hand end of the stacks is the Needles Lighthouse which was built by Trinity House in 1859 on the outermost of the chalk rocks near sea level. Designed by James Walker, it cost £20,000. Constructed from granite, it stands 33.25 metres (109.1 ft) high and is a circular tower with straight sides.
It replaced a light tower on top of a cliff overhanging Scratchell's Bay, which was first lit on 29 September 1786. Its height of 144m above sea level meant it was often obscured by fog and sea mists.
This 1982 view was taken before a helipad was added to the top of the lighthouse in 1987, and it became fully automated when the last keepers left on 8 December 1994. One of the last three remaining manned rock lighthouses in England and Wales, before automation it was staffed by a three man crew operating a 24 hour watch, serving one month on / one month off, living in rudimentary conditions in three levels below the light. One of the crew can be seen angling at the bottom right.
Due to the condition of the chalk strata on which the lighthouse was built, in April 2010 a £500,000 underpinning project was announced, designed to stop the lighthouse falling into the sea. Over a 12 week period from early June, civil marine contractors Nuttall John Martin were due to dig a trench around the base of the lighthouse, install a ring of stabilising posts, and infill it with concrete.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Needles
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Needles_Lighthouse