Let there be lighthouse
QUESTION Where is the oldest working lighthouse in the world?
The Tower of hercules has served as a lighthouse and landmark at La Coruna harbour in north-western Spain since the late 1st century AD, when it was known as the Farum Brigantium. Built on a 187 ft high rock, the 180ft tower incorporates 111 ft of the original Roman masonry.
It has not been used continuously throughout history. It suffered a long period of disuse beginning in the late 9th century, the time of the Viking invasions.
By 1589, during an english siege, the tower was considered nothing more than ‘a bird’s nest’. A 1682 restoration saw it resume work protecting the ships along the Costa da Morte or Coast of Death.
The hook lighthouse in Co. Wexford, Ireland, was built by magnate William Marshall in the early 13th century.
It was maintained and operated by the monks of St Saviour’s of Rinndeuan. The monastery had been founded by Welsh monk St Dubhan in the 5th century, who is believed to have started the practice of lighting a warning beacon at hook head.
The tower of the original lighthouse is 75ft tall and a large beacon fire would have been lit on the top in Medieval times. It was maintained without interruption until 1641, but is described as ‘a former lighthouse’ in 1657.
It was restored in 1671 when the light was encased in glass. It was powered first by coal and then whale oil. The lamps were converted to gas, then paraffin and finally electricity in 1972. In 1996, its operation was automated.
The most important east-West shipping lane in the Baltic Sea passes the dangerous hiiu sandbank. The Kopu lighthouse in estonia has been in continuous use since its fires were lit in 1531.
Jim Brown, Southampton.
QUESTION Does a Formula 1 race create more pollution than the average motorist in a lifetime of driving?
A 2019 AUDIT found F1’s entire driving activities produced 256,500 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, equivalent to powering 30,000 houses annually.
There were 21 Grand Prix in 2019, which means 12,200 tonnes of CO2 per race. Forty-five per cent of this comes from equipment logistics by road, air or sea; 27.7 per cent is business travel, the air and ground transport of F1 teams and their partners, including hotels and hospitality; 19.3 per cent is factory emissions; 7.3 per cent is event operations, such as broadcasting, support races and electrical power use; and 0.7 per cent is due to emissions produced by F1 cars.
A typical passenger vehicle emits 4.5 metric tonnes of CO2 based on 11,500 miles per year. It would take 2,711 years for a driver to generate the amount of CO2 produced in a single F1 race.
Martin Gillies, Burnley, Lancs.
QUESTION The Beatles’ Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane is said to be the greatest double A-side in pop history, but only reached No 2 in the charts. Did any double A-sides make it to No 1?
A STANDARD 7in single vinyl record was usually pressed with the song on side A and a bonus track on side B.
For a double A-side, both songs are deemed to have equal merit. Thirty-eight double A-sides have been UK No 1s. The story of the double A-side begins with The Beatles. The John Lennon number Day Tripper had been earmarked to be released in December 1965, but record label eMI wanted the catchy We Can Work It Out to be the A-side.
Lennon objected and the result was that both songs were released with equal billing, making it the first double A-side. It was also the first double A-side to reach No 1, at least in Britain.
In the U.S., the Billboard singles chart placed each song individually: We Can Work It Out topped the chart while Day Tripper peaked at No 5.
The Beatles had a second double A-side No1 with Yellow Submarine/ eleanor Rigby in 1966.
Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane was heralded on its release in 1967 as ground-breaking and is considered by many to be The Beatles’ finest single release. Yet it failed to reach the UK No 1, held at bay by engelbert humperdinck’s Please Release Me.
The best-selling single of all time was a double A-side, elton John’s Something About The Way You Look Tonight/ Candle In The Wind 1997. Released in memory of Princess Diana, it has sold almost five million copies.
Despite hitting the top spot, some double A-sides are dominated by one song. Rod Stewart’s Maggie May was released with a cover of Tim hardin’s Reason To Believe in 1971 and Wings’ Mull Of Kintyre was released with Girls’ School in 1977.
Louis Armstrong’s What A Wonderful World was released with Cabaret in 1968 and The Jam classics Going Underground (1980) and A Town Called Malice (1982) were released with Dreams Of Children and Precious.
Classic double A-side No 1s include Boney M’s Rivers Of Babylon/Brown Girl In The Ring (1978), Kraftwerk’s The Model/Computer Love (1982), Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody/These Are The Days Of Our Lives (1991) and Spice Girls’ Mama/ Who Do You Think You Are (1997).
The fact that the last three double A-sides to be No 1 were by McFly — All About You/You’ve Got A Friend (2005), Don’t Stop Me Now/Please, Please (2006) and Baby’s Coming Back/Transylvania (2007) — might explain the format’s demise.
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