How the Beachy Head Lighthouse was built. Photo shows a temporary cable car and iron ocean platform transporting workers and stones to the lighthouse site.

The Lighthouse under the cliff

Beachy Head is a chalk headland on the south coast of England, close to the town of Eastbourne in the county of East Sussex. The cliff there is the highest chalk sea cliff in Britain, rising to 162 m (530 ft) above sea level. The peak allows views of the south east coast from Dungeness to the east, to Selsey Bill in the west. Its height has also made it Britain's most notorious (and probably most often used) suicide spot. How the Beachy Head Lighthouse was built. ... How the Beachy Head Lighthouse was built. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1488x1984, 605 KB) Beachy Head lighthouse Cross-posted from Wikipedia Germany: see de:Bild:Beachy Head Lighthouse under the cliff. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1488x1984, 605 KB) Beachy Head lighthouse Cross-posted from Wikipedia Germany: see de:Bild:Beachy Head Lighthouse under the cliff. ... Easyworld were an indie rock band from Eastbourne, United Kingdom consisting of Dav Ford on vocals, guitar and piano, Jo Taylor on bass, and Glenn Hooper on drums. ... The Needles,situated on the Isle Of Wight, are part of the extensive Southern England Chalk Formation. ... The bay at San Sebastián, Spain A headland is an area of land adjacent to water on three sides. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... For other places called Eastbourne, see Eastbourne (disambiguation). ... East Sussex is a county in South East England. ... “Precipice” redirects here. ... ‹ The template below (Unit of length) is being considered for deletion. ... A foot (plural: feet or foot;[1] symbol or abbreviation: ft or, sometimes, ′ – a prime) is a unit of length, in a number of different systems, including English units, Imperial units, and United States customary units. ... Dungeness is the headland of a shingle beach on the Romney Marsh in Kent, England. ... Selsey Bill is a headland into the English Channel on the south coast of England in the county of West Sussex. ...

The chalk was formed in the Cretaceous period when the area was under the sea, 65 million years ago. During the Cenozoic Era the chalk was uplifted, and was later eroded to form the dramatic cliffs of the Sussex coast. Much of the grandeur of the cliffs was lost in 2001 when, after a winter of heavy rains, its main distinguishing feature - a chalk pinnacle known as the the Devil's Chimney - collapsed into the sea. // The Cretaceous Period is one of the major divisions of the geologic timescale, reaching from the end of the Jurassic Period (i. ... The Cenozoic Era (IPA pronunciation: ); sometimes Caenozoic Era or Cainozoic Era (in the United Kingdom), meaning new life (Greek (kainos), new, and (zoe), life), is the most recent of the three classic geological eras. ... Geological map of Great Britain, showing the differing geology of England, Scotland and Wales. ... The Devils Chimney on Leckhampton Hill. ...

The name appears as Beauchef in 1274, was Beaucheif in 1317, becoming consistently Beachy Head by 1724, and has nothing to do with beach. Instead it is a corruption of the original French words meaning Beautiful Headland.^[1]

The prominence of Beachy Head has made it a landmark for sailors in the English Channel. It is noted as such in the sea shanty Spanish Ladies: Satellite view of the English Channel The English Channel (French: , the sleeve) is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates the island of Great Britain from northern France and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. ... Sea shanties (singular shanty, also spelled chantey; derived from the French word chanter, to sing) were shipboard working songs. ...

The first land we sighted was called the Dodman,

Next Rame Head off Plymouth, off Portsmouth the Wight;

We sailed by Beachy, by Fairlight and Dover,

And then we bore up for the South Foreland light.

Lighthouses

The headland was also a danger to shipping. In 1831 the construction of Belle Tout lighthouse was started on the next headland west from Beachy Head, but it did not become operational until 1834. Because its light could not be seen in mist and low cloud, it was superseded by a newer lighthouse, 43m in height, built in the sea below Beachy Head and operational from October 1902.^[1] Until the lighthouse was fully automated in 1983, the red and white striped tower was manned by three lighthouse keepers. Their job was to maintain the light that rotated two white flashes every 20 seconds, 26 miles out to sea. Belle Tout lighthouse was moved more than 17 m (50 ft) further inland in March 1999 due to cliff erosion.^[2] Leopold I 1831 (MDCCCXXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... The Belle Tout lighthouse is a decommissioned lighthouse and famous British landmark located at Beachy Head, East Sussex. ... Year 1834 (MDCCCXXXIV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... 1902 (MCMII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Year 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar). ... This article is about the year. ... Severe soil erosion in a wheat field near Washington State University, USA. For erosion as an operation of Mathematical morphology, see Erosion (morphology) Erosion is displacement of solids (soil, mud, rock and other particles) by the agents of ocean currents, wind, water, or ice by downward or down-slope movement...

Beachy Head at war

The third day of fighting in the Battle of Portland, 1653, took place off Beachy Head during the First Anglo-Dutch War. The Battle of Beachy Head, 1690, was a naval engagement during the War of the Grand Alliance. During World War II, the RAF established a forward relay station at Beachy Head to improve radio communications with aircraft. In 1942, signals were picked up at Beachy Head which were identified as TV transmissions from the Eiffel Tower. The Germans had reactivated the pre-war TV transmitter and instituted a Franco-German service for military hospitals and VIPs in the Paris region. The RAF monitored these programmes hoping (in vain) to gather intelligence from newsreels.^[3] There was also an important wartime radar station in the area and, during the Cold War, a radar control centre was operational in an underground bunker from 1953 to 1957.^[1] The Battle of Portland, also known as the Three Days Battle, was a naval battle of the First Anglo-Dutch War. ... Events February 2 - New Amsterdam (later renamed New York City) is incorporated. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Combatants France England United Provinces Commanders Anne Hilarion de Tourville Earl of Torrington Strength 75 ships 56 ships Casualties None 7 Dutch ships lost The naval Battle of Beachy Head or Bataille de Béveziers took place on 30 June 1690 near Beachy Head, a promontory near Eastbourne, on the... Events Giovanni Domenico Cassini observes differential rotation within Jupiters atmosphere. ... Combatants  Denmark Dutch Republic, England,[3]  Holy Roman Empire,  Portugal Duchy of Savoy, Spain,  Sweden France, Jacobites Commanders William III, Prince Waldeck, Duke of Savoy, Duke of Lorraine , Elector of Bavaria, Prince of Baden Louis XIV, Duc de Luxembourg â€ , Duc de Villeroi, Duc de Lorge, Duc de Boufflers, Nicolas Catinat... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... RAF is an three letter acronym for: Royal Air Force -- the Air Force of the United Kingdom (see also Air Ministry) Red Army Faction (Rote Armee Fraktion) -- a German terror organisation Rigas Autobusu Fabrika -- a factory making buses in Riga, Latvia Rapid Action Force in India Računarski Fakultet RAF... Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Eiffel Tower (French: , ) is an iron tower built on the Champ de Mars beside the River Seine in Paris. ... For other uses, see Radar (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Cold War (disambiguation). ... Year 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar). ...

Tourism

West from Belle Tout, the cliffs drop down to Birling Gap, and beyond that the Seven Sisters. The whole area is a popular tourist attraction, and Birling Gap has a restaurant and, in the summer heat, multiple ice cream vans. Birling Gap is a coastal hamlet in East Sussex on the South Downs between Eastbourne and Seaford It is situated on the Seven Sisters not far from Beachy Head and is owned by the National Trust. ... The Seven Sisters cliffs and the lifeboat cottages, from Seaford Head across the River Cuckmere The Seven Sisters are a famous series of chalk cliffs by the English Channel. ...

Suicide

Flowers laid at the cliff edge.

Beachy Head is notorious as a location for people to attempt suicide. Infamous art provocateur industrialist musicians Throbbing Gristle used the spot for the cover of their 20 Jazz Funk Greats album for just this reason. There are regular day and evening patrols by the Beachy Head Chaplaincy Team [1], and a special telephone box with a direct line to The Samaritans. After a steady increase in deaths between 2002 and 2005, there was a marked decrease in 2006 with only 7 fatalities, a reduction attributed by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency [2] to the actions of the Chaplaincy Team and local media.-1... -1... For other uses, see Suicide (disambiguation). ... Throbbing Gristle (formed on September 3, 1975, in London) are a British Avant-Garde group that evolved from the performance art group COUM Transmissions. ... 20 Jazz Funk Greats is the third full-length album by industrial music pioneers Throbbing Gristle. ... For the ethnic group of this name, see Samaritan. ...

Beachy Head is also famous in film too. In the 1979 film Quadrophenia, the character Jimmy intends to ride off the chalk clifftops on the face's vespa, resulting in only the scooter colliding with the rocks at the base of the cliff-face. Also: 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins. ... Quadrophenia is a 1979 British film based on the 1973 rock opera album Quadrophenia by The Who. ... Vespa Logo Classic Vespas in Perth, Western Australia The Vespa is a line of motor scooters that was first manufactured in Pontedera, Italy in 1946 by Piaggio & Co, S.p. ...

References

External links

• www.beachyhead.org.uk [3] - About the Area, holiday cottages, walks and cycle rides
• Beachy Head - a page from Eastbourne's official website
• Beachy Head walk to East Dean
• Beachy Head Chaplaincy Team
• The Belle Toute Lighthouse Preservation Trust An organisation being formed to purchase and maintain the Belle Toute lighthouse as well as open it to the public

Coordinates: 50.73743° N 0.24768° E The Belle Tout lighthouse is a decommissioned lighthouse and famous British landmark located at Beachy Head, East Sussex. ... Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...