The summer months have now drawn to a close, and Pakefield Coastwatch has already had to weather its first stormy weather (Amy). Elsewhere, we are delighted to have received a generous donation for £140 from Melinda Bird and the “All About Friends” Social Group. The funds were raised through a garden party and we are very grateful for the local support. Below is a picture of our Watchkeepers receiving the donation from Melinda.
On sale currently at the Ferini Art Gallery in Pakefield, cards featuring a unique watercolour painting of the lighthouse, by Peter Fletcher. Proceeds from the sale of the cards goes directly to us. We would like to thank Peter for capturing the idyllic location of our station, and for of course raising vital funds.
The station has now moved to Winter operational hours, meaning it is manned 8am-5pm weekdays, and 8am-4pm weekends. We are gearing up for the darker weather, choppy seas and of course Grey Seal pupping season which is now right around the corner, supporting our colleagues at BDMLR. We leave you with a great review from a recent visitor to the station…
Positive Review from visitor to our Lighthouse:
Fantastic! A brilliant & amazing place, we were highly honoured to visit and meet Mr Hopkins and his colleagues. This is an exciting place where there was a stream of fast paced action. It was fascinating watching the busy multi tasking Mr. Hopkins in action – he was liaising over the communication system with other agencies, and noting shipping information while also monitoring the computer screens and reporting on weather conditions while telling us about the history of this entire stretch of sea, the atmospheric conditions, and the various types of animals, birds, and sea life in this area. He also.told us about the fossilised peat that washes up. We learned so much about how the light house watch tower was moved off the beach to its present position, and how in the war the army was based next door and some of the soldiers were so scared of the resident ghost, Crazy Mary, that they had to go around in pairs at night for fear of meeting the Banshee like spectre! Mr Hopkins was totally brilliant. He is a tour de force in himself, an absolute consumate professional, truly informative and so interesting. He told us all about the ships and yachts in the distance and showed them to us up close up on his computers.
He was so interesting, tracking all the vessels at sea, and listening to the distress channels. He told us about the border control ships and the radars and let us see the different flags ships were using, and which global ports they started out from. Mr Hopkins had such an extensive rich breadth of knowledge and was passionate and generous in sharing the history and geology of the area including the myths and legends, churches, unusual headstones, and secret tunnels at the top end of Lowestoft. The work done by this coastwatch station is pivotal both to sea faring safety and to the ultimate security of this nation because they are an integral part of a diverse group of agencies whose work is vital and which forms the backbone of this country’s security. Mr.Hopkins and his boss and colleagies are all volunteers, and unpaid, which is amazing when you consider the importance of their role and the extremely professional and high level of service that they deliver. Our visit was the high light of our year! Thanks to Mr. Hopkins and his colleagues we had an immersive exciting and thrilling learning experience that we found unbeatably informative, unsurpassed for excitement, and unmatchable in qualty! The Pakefield coastwatch really delivers! They provide visitors with a high quality visit that is perfect for all ages and which is unrivalled in terms of enjoyment! Entry is free. Donations are much appreciated. And all visitors need to make an appointment first so that they can gain access to the site which is reached through a holiday centre. Pakefield Coastwatch Volunteers are stars!
From Mrs H Jane, Sept 2025
Comments are closed