UK Lighthouses
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Welcome to my UK Lighthouse Site! In 1946 I started a career in engineering with an apprenticeship at the Lighthouse Works of Chance Brothers Limited, Smethwick ( in what is now the West Midlands ). My stay at Chances was restricted to around 6 years ( see the article published in the Black Country Bugle ) but in that time I was imbued with a solid appreciation of engineering and a sense of wonderment which has served me well over the years. I saw enough of the the production of lighthouse optical apparatus from the drawing office to testing of the finished article to instill in me an appreciation of lighthouses which has simmered in the background of other engineering activities for over 50 years and now rekindled as an obsessive enthusiasm. I like to think of myself as a "born again pharologist" though my interest is concentrated on lighthouses in the British Isles. I hope you approve?. Alan Taylor E-mail me
More background notes This is a copy of the title slide which I use most when giving talks on the History of Lighthouses
I hope that this, together with my notes reproduced below, gives a clear idea of why I am doing this.
My original ( and still major ) reason for giving these talks was to raise money for cancer charities because both Joyce and myself have reason to be thankful for our treatment. As I began to revive my lighthouse knowledge ( it is over 50 years since I left CB`s ) I was reminded that the magnificent / romantic world of lighthouse engineering was disappearing BUT WORST OF ALL the wonderful story of Chance Brothers Lighthouse Work was being lost without trace. The firm had been broken up and the Spon Lane works razed to the ground ( sometimes ruthlessly ) whilst there were ever fewer people around with knowledge of “Spon Lane days". I FELT A RESPONSIBILITY TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THAT. It is not happening with “chains and anchors” ; these Black Country products are well covered in museums and history books. Since Autumn 2002 I have been able to contact a score and more of old Chance colleagues, or in some cases their sons or daughters, from West Sussex to North Somerset to New York and Australia and all over the Midlands. With there help I have built up a meaningful collection of pictures and information about lighthouses in general and Chance Brothers in particular. From that collection I have been able to illustrate talks and to begin this website. And on the way I have gained tremendous enjoyment and satisfaction. I am eager to add to that list of contacts and find more information and pictures about Chance Brothers Lighthouse Works, their employees, and their products. Please E-mail me if you can help My wife, Joyce, and I met at Chances in 1949. ( see that article published in the Black Country Bugle ) She may not be so obsessively interested in lighthouses as myself but she is always pleased when I make contact with an old colleague and remembers names much better than I do. I would also like you to see this Gift tag received from my daughter and son-in-law in Dec 2002. The Site Is a Christmas Gift to Alan Taylor. We hope he will get hours of pleasure (Sorry Mrs T!) from using this site to not only share his information and make links with others with a similar interest but also to develop his computer skills. I am sure that, "reading between the lines", you will see that I am not short of support and encouragement. I have a lot to be thankful for!.
This page was last updated on 16-08-2004.
This page was last updated on 16-08-2004.
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