Tower 12 at Vazon

A lovely sunny morning which is the opposite of the forecast so lets hope it lasts. Todays blip is taken on the West coast at Vazon bay and shows a mass of sea pinks growing in the shingle in front of a martello tower. This tower is built of the 'pink' granite which is indiginous to this part of the island. There are 14 types of granite found in the island, most of which are grey and so the pink is quite sort after for building. The martello tower was built in 1779 as part of the island defences during the Napoleonic wars. There were 15 similar towers built around the island, most of which still exist. In later years more elaborate fortifications were built at prominent locations on the coast.