Portland lighthouse

At the Bill, Portland's furthest tip, strong currents meet causing the waters to angrily boil and froth like the contents of a devil's cauldron. 
It is surprising to find, then, that the first pair of lighthouses only appeared in 1716.

These were replaced in 1789 with a lighthouse running on new-fangled oil lamps and later equipped with two cannons to warn off any invasion by old Boney. A further pair erected in 1869 were superseded by the present lighthouse in 1906.  
Today's lighthouse is every child's dream of a lighthouse. On a clear day its clean lines dramatically outlined against an azure summer sky are unforgettable.

No whiskery lighthouse keeper is in attendance though, as the lighthouse finally became automatic in 1996.

Two of its precursors can also be seen, one of them, the Old Higher Lighthouse, owned from 1923 to 1958 by birth control pioneer, Mary Stopes, even has cottages to rent (click here).