But first, a couple of interesting (to us) notes about our readers: Interestingly, the largest block of readers last week were in Ukraine! And no, they have offered us no money., board positions, or any incentive - nor have we offered them any, nor have we threatened to hold back aid. We appreciate any and all readers with an interest in maritime ... stuff, and welcome any who wish to follow us.
And further to that, we were secretly hoping to hit a benchmark of 100,000 readers by year end. We are, as of today, about 730 short of that number with two weeks remaining in the year so ... holding our breath, we are hopeful of making the number! Personally, I am stunned, gratified, and somewhat perplexed at the number who read us - after only five years four months.... Thank you all for your continuing interest in Maritime Maunder. And now, today's post, albeit somewhat shorter than usual. From Associated Press:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A 120-year-old lighthouse was put on wheels and rails
and moved back from the eroding North Sea coastline in northwestern
Denmark on Tuesday.
The
now-defunct Rubjerg Knude lighthouse was moved 70 meters (300 feet)
inland, said Kjeld Pedersen, the mason in charge of the move, which took
less than the expected 10 hours. Concrete will now be poured around the
base of the roughly 1,000-ton structure.
The lighthouse is 23 meters (76 feet) tall and sits atop a cliff 60 meters (200 feet) above sea level.
When
it first went into service in 1900, it was roughly 200 meters (656
feet) from the shore. But steady erosion meant that, by the time the
move started on Tuesday morning, it was only about 6 meters (19 ½ feet)
away.
Denmark’s
environment ministry spent 5 million kroner ($747,000) to save the
building, which officials say would otherwise have to have been
dismantled. Environment Minister Lea Wermelin has called the white,
square lighthouse “a national treasure.”
Local mayor Arne Boelt and the town of Hjoerring also chipped in to foot the bill.
The
lighthouse ceased operating in 1968 and was briefly turned into a
museum, including an exhibit about the structure’s struggle against sand
drift.
In the
end, it was closed because of shifting sands which slowly buried the two
buildings adjacent to the lighthouse. The lighthouse, however, still
gets more than 250,000 visitors each year.
The move was broadcast live on major Danish news outlets.
In
2008, a nearby church was dismantled to prevent it from falling into
the sea. The Romanesque Maarup Church, built on a cliff around 1250, was
picked for scenes in “Babette’s Feast,” which in 1987 became the first
Danish film to win the Oscar for best foreign language film.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Again, our thanks for your continued support and interest. Until next time,
Fair Winds,
Old Salt
No comments:
Post a Comment