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Beacon fire to be re-lit at long last
DANBY'S restored historic beacon is due to celebrate the anniversary of Nelson's victory at Trafalgar in a striking ceremony tomorrow.
The new beacon, which has been made from a type of steel called corten which will eventually take on a weathered look, will be lit by Lord Downe at 6.30pm.
Following the lighting ceremony there will be a buffet and drinks at The Moors National Park Centre in Danby to which the public are invited to attend.
Over the centuries the moorland site high above Danby village has seen a number of early warning systems, possibly dating as far back as the Vikings.
There are valid recordings of a beacon in place in the early 1800s aimed at warning of an invasion by Napoleon and the French fleet.
A retired soldier and his wife lived in a stone hut beside it ready to light it at the first sighting of the French so that the warning could be passed through a chain of similar beacons across the country.
During the Second World War, the beacon site provided a much more sophisticated warning system in the event of enemy invasion with one of the country’s earliest radar stations, constructed before the war in 1938.
And it was the radar station which tracked the first German bomber to be shot down in the Second World War.
The bomber was brought down by the late Sir Peter Townsend who wrote of it: “I shall never forget that day; Danby Beacon deserves to be remembered by succeeding generations who owe their freedom from Nazi tyranny to the young men and women, crews of radar stations like Danby who stuck to their posts and by their skill and courage helped to protect our island from enemy invasion.”
Peter Townsend will also be recalled by older readers as the man who courted the late Princess Margaret, sister of the present queen.
An old wooden beacon marked the site until it disintegrated in 1999.
The new one has been erected by the efforts of members of the Danby Beacon Trust led by Don and Anne Watt who held fund-raising events to raise the cash for it.
And Mr and Mrs Watt would like to contact the person who put an unsigned note through their door recently saying that an Alf Callow, who lodged in Mr and Mrs Maw’s Calais House at Scaling, was in charge of lighting the beacon.
Mr Callow’s son was deputy head at Norton School in Malton.
Mrs Watt said: “I would like to contact the writer of the note because it seems they may be able to add to the history of the beacon.”
The commissioning service will take place at the beacon at 6.30pm.
Mr and Mrs Watt can be contacted on (01287) 660010.
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Weather for Whitby
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 15 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: East
