| Pirate
BBC Essex will be broadcasting from the LV18 - one of the last manned
lightships to be built for Trinity House.
She
was built in 1958 and served Britain at various points around its
coastline before being decommissioned in 1993 as remotely controlled
lightships were established.
She's
now looked after by the Pharos Trust, which is carefully restoring
her to her former glory. In a first phase of restoration, much of
the exterior of the ship was cleaned up and the lantern tower repainted.
The
charitable Pharos Trust is now endeavouring to get a grant from
the Heritage Lottery Fund for the next phase of restoration. The
Pharos Trust's Tony O'Neil said;
"We've already received a grant by the East of England Development
Agency, to take her into dry dock for a bottom scrape. That'll be
more than a £100,000 worth of work. But it needs to be done."
The
LV18 is moored in Harwich harbour and Tony O'Neil's objective is
to make the ship a tourist attraction and a lasting symbol of the
town's link with Trinity House, whose national operations headquarters
is in Harwich.
"Our endeavour is to save this historic maritime vessel for
its home port of Harwich.
"It would also be used for educational purposes and to study
navigation and maritime subjects."
LV18
is no stranger to radio broadcasting. In recent years several community
based radio projects have won temporary licences to broadcast to
the north east Essex area. The ship has two studios with the broadcast
studio ideally placed with windows looking out across the harbour
to the Essex and Suffolk shores.
An
extra generator and fuel are being shipped in to provide extra power
for the Pirate BBC Essex project. They're being provided by Switchgear
from Witham which specialises in heavy duty electrical installations.
The equipment will be lowered onto the LV18 deck by crane.
For more information on the LV18 contact Tony O'Neil, Pharos Trust
07796 280980.
For more information on Switchgear contact Tim Kent, Switchgear
01376 531390.
|
