Seen Better Days.

In Whitehaven today, I wandered down to the harbour and found the town's two lighthouses, both looking sad and dejected, but still standing guard at the harbour mouth. This one on the North Pier was built in 1841, and the one behind on the West Pier, was built 9 years earlier. Archive photos show that when the Queen visited the town in 2008, these were both beautifully painted in glowing white and red. What a shame they've been allowed to deteriorate. It makes me want to paint them back to their former glory.

In the 1700's, Whitehaven was the third largest trading port in the UK, exporting coal world wide and importing tobacco, sugar and spirits. It was also a major ship builder of over 1,000 vessels.