This is a unique opportunity for just FOUR members of the Society to visit to the interior of Happisburgh Lighthouse. Because the lighthouse is privately owned and managed there is a fee of £10 per attendee which will be collected on the day. Our volunteer guide is Colin.

We will have the opportunity to photograph inside the tower of the lighthouse and climb up the internal steps and ladder to the lantern.

96 stone steps wind up the inside of the perimeter wall to the service room directly below the light. It is a strenuous climb with camera gear so you need to be fit and healthy

In olden days this room was used to store oil and other equipment which was winched up from the bottom of the Lighthouse. The service room is now home to a light sensitive cell, a type of ‘trip switch’ which activates the lamp as conditions darken outside; not only at night but during stormy and foggy weather as well.
From the service room a short trip up a few stairs leads to the lamp room itself where the main 500 watt sits within a large ‘optic’ of prisms for refraction and magnification of the light.

Image by NDPS member David Powley

Images copyright of NDPS members

About Tom’s Tours

The regular shoots at both unique and interesting locations organised by Tom Watson have proved to  be such a successful addition to the annual programme of events that they have become widely referred to amongst members of the Society as ‘Tom’s Tours’.

About once a month Tom organises shoots at East Anglian locations that are of interest to photographers where often it is difficult to successfully capture good images. Generally this is either because getting good images is not possible without exclusive access or it might be because the venue is open to the general public. In other cases it is because photography is not normally allowed inside the venue during normal opening times.

Past trips have have proved popular and include:

• Historical buildings in Norwich, such as the Cathedrals, the Avia Marble Hall, and Dragon Hall (similar visits have also been made to Cambridge and Ely)

• The hidden Streets under the City of Norwich

• Jarrold’s Print Museum.

• Traditional Morris Dancing at dawn on 1st May at various locations around Norwich

• Norwich Puppet Theatre

• Local heritage Steam Railways and Museums

• Norwich Aviation Museum

• Street Photography around Norwich, Cambridge and Ely