Rogue Waves and a Tapping Coffin: Inside The Smalls Lighthouse, Irish Sea
From Absolute History.
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A lighthouse keeper, a storm, and a coffin that won’t stay quiet. Step into the Irish Sea’s most feared rocks and the extraordinary tower that defied them.
From the 1801 ordeal of Thomas Griffith and Thomas Howell to Henry Whiteside’s daring wooden hut on stilts, this episode uncovers how a violin maker built the “impossible” on the Smalls Reef. We witness rogue waves recreated at Edinburgh University’s Flowave tank, visit Smeaton’s granite blueprint at Plymouth, and trace how Liverpool’s global shipping boom turned a remote light into a fortune. Along the way: the arm tapping at a window, cast iron vs oak, prefab assembly in a Welsh harbor, life on month-long watches, kite fishing off the lantern, and the Victorian redesign that still stands.
Discover how engineering, courage, and a little luck kept one of Britain’s busiest sea lanes safe. Watch to the end to see why this lighthouse became a gold-standard survivor.
#Lighthouses #SmallsLighthouse #IrishSea #RogueWaves #MaritimeHistory #Engineering #Documentary
From the 1801 ordeal of Thomas Griffith and Thomas Howell to Henry Whiteside’s daring wooden hut on stilts, this episode uncovers how a violin maker built the “impossible” on the Smalls Reef. We witness rogue waves recreated at Edinburgh University’s Flowave tank, visit Smeaton’s granite blueprint at Plymouth, and trace how Liverpool’s global shipping boom turned a remote light into a fortune. Along the way: the arm tapping at a window, cast iron vs oak, prefab assembly in a Welsh harbor, life on month-long watches, kite fishing off the lantern, and the Victorian redesign that still stands.
Discover how engineering, courage, and a little luck kept one of Britain’s busiest sea lanes safe. Watch to the end to see why this lighthouse became a gold-standard survivor.
#Lighthouses #SmallsLighthouse #IrishSea #RogueWaves #MaritimeHistory #Engineering #Documentary
