The Eddystone Light
United Kingdom
Harbour
Lights Limited Edition #636
Harbour Lights 10 Year Anniversary
This is the story of
two men, born centuries apart; each with a unique dream
involving lighthouses, and each with the fortitude to make their dreams
come true.
The year was 1695,
Henry Winstanley was a London entrepreneur and visionary extraordinaire.
He was also quite eccentric. His home, full of hidden passage ways and
carnival delights, became a popular public attraction. After losing two of
his ships to the Eddystone Rock, he charged down to the authorities and
demanded why, when the Rock was causing wrecks left and right, nothing had
been done.
They told him the
Eddystone was impossible to mark: it was only 30 feet across and barely
rose out of the waves at high tide with a 30 degree slope. Not to mention,
it was 14 miles out in one of the world's roughest seas. Winstanley's
reply: "I will build a lighthouse!" Skeptics said it couldn't be
done. Winstanley didn't hear them -- he was busy drawing up plans.
He and his crew fought
freezing wind and rain and high seas to build the tower. Three months
after its completion, they returned to find the keeper going insane, the
lighthouse literally falling down around him.
But Winstanley was not
daunted. He utilized all he'd learned from his first attempt and built
another tower right over the previous one. For five years, not one wreck occurred
at Eddystone.
Critics complained the
tower was top heavy; but Winstanley said it could survive any storm. In
fact, he said that his one crowning wish in life was "to be in the
lighthouse during the greatest storm that ever was."
Someone should have
told him to be careful what he wished for.
He was making repairs
on the lighthouse when it did hit -- the greatest storm ever recorded in
English history. The storm ripped apart much of London. Not one ship
remained floating in the Port of Plymouth. And the Eddystone Lighthouse?
Gone - along with Henry Winstanley.
His vision, courage,
and tenacity lived on in a remarkable way through subsequent lighthouses
at Eddystone. In all, there were five -- each one incorporating lessons in
engineering from the previous -- until the final tower was built of
stone in 1882 and still stands today. Winstanley set a precedent that
lighthouses could be built in "impossible" locations.
 It is Winstanley's
Eddystone, and all that it stands for, that was chosen to commemorate
Harbour Lights ten year anniversary.
Fast forward to 1991
when an entrepreneur and visionary named Bill Younger (also a bit
eccentric, it has been said) decided to build a company honoring his
lifelong passion: lighthouses. Skeptics raised their eyebrows. Bill got
busy. He named the company Harbour Lights, and introduced its first line
of lighthouse replicas.
Ten years and hundreds
of lighthouses later, Harbour Lights has become a leader in authentic
lighthouse reproduction. With each lighthouse, lessons were learned and
applied to the next, until today's replicas display an exquisite attention
to the smallest of details, capturing a realism that was once considered
unattainable.
But the similarities
between Henry Winstanley and Bill Younger only go so far. Though Bill has
alluded to the fact that he certainly wouldn't mind spending his last
moments in a lighthouse, he's still going strong, and so is Harbour Lights.
This promises to be a year packed full of exciting events and
celebrations, not to mention the introduction of some of the company's
most exquisite and important lighthouse collectibles.
This very unique
Harbour Lights will be available for order by authorized retail dealers
from January 1 to December 31, 2001. It comes complete with a history and
an antiqued brass coin. The lighthouse is packed in a special edition box and will
be hand numbered on the special edition label. The size is 8" in
height with the base 4" wide. This is a very fragile piece and
should be handled with care.
Click
on each image to view a larger size in a new window.
| HL# |
Name |
MSRP |
Introduced
First Shipped |
Retired
Last Shipped |
Edition |
|
636 |
The
Eddystone Light |
$99 |
1/1/2001 |
12/31/2001 |
Timed* |
* The Eddystone Light will be available to
order from 1/1/2001 until 12/31/2001.
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© Harbour Lights
December 13, 2001 |
