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Lavernock Point

Lavernock
Lavernock Point 062315.jpg
Lower Blue Lias rocks exposed at Lavernock Point
Lavernock is located in Vale of Glamorgan
Lavernock
Lavernock
Lavernock shown within the Vale of Glamorgan
Principal area
Ceremonial county
Country Wales
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Postcode district CF
Police South Wales
Fire South Wales
Ambulance Welsh
EU Parliament Wales
UK Parliament
Welsh Assembly
List of places
UK
Wales
Vale of Glamorgan
51°24′25″N 3°10′20″W / 51.406944°N 3.172222°W / 51.406944; -3.172222Coordinates: 51°24′25″N 3°10′20″W / 51.406944°N 3.172222°W / 51.406944; -3.172222
Monkstone Lighthouse
Monkstone - Fast boat ride.jpg
Monkstone Light in 2012
Lavernock is located in Wales
Lavernock
Location Lavernock
Bristol Channel
Wales
United Kingdom
Coordinates 51°24′53″N 3°6′0″W / 51.41472°N 3.10000°W / 51.41472; -3.10000
Year first constructed 1839 (first)
Year first lit 1993 (current)
Construction stone tower first-stage, fiberglass tower second-stage
Tower shape two-stages cylindrical tower with double balcony and small lantern
Markings / pattern black lower stage tower, red upper stage tower
Height 23 m (75 ft)
Focal height 13 m (43 ft)
Light source solar power
Intensity 3,976 candela
Range 12 nmi (22 km)
Characteristic Fl W 5s.
Admiralty number A5428
NGA number 5864
ARLHS number WAL-043
Managing agent

Trinity House


Lavernock (Welsh: Larnog) is a hamlet in the Vale of Glamorgan in Wales, lying on the coast 7 miles (11 km) south of Cardiff between Penarth and Sully, and overlooking the Bristol Channel.

Following overland tests at Salisbury Plain during March 1897, on 13 May 1897, the Italian born and recently British based inventor, best known for his development of a radiotelegraph system, Guglielmo Marconi, assisted by George Kemp (who was a Cardiff based Post Office engineer) transmitted and received the first wireless signals over open sea between Lavernock Point and Flat Holm island.

The very first message transmitted in morse code was "ARE YOU READY". This was immediately followed by "CAN YOU HEAR ME" to which the reply was "YES LOUD AND CLEAR". The morse recording slip for the first message is on display in the National Museum of Wales.

Following the initial opening exchange there followed detailed technical messages in both directions indicating each end's equipment settings and receiving sound levels. Marconi indicated that he was using a 20-inch (510 mm) spark on his equipment.

The successful test followed several days of trials and failure while adjustments were made to aerial length. Extensive trials were carried out over the remainder of the week in various weather conditions and with different settings on the equipment at each end. Marconi benefitted from the active encouragement of then Mr. William Preece (later Sir William Preece) who was Engineer-in-Chief of the Post Office and had himself transmitted radio telegraph morse signals across Coniston Water eight years earlier. Preece had been previously acted as a consultant to the Bristol Corporation's Electricity Department between 1883 and 1893. The Post Office engineers, including George Kemp who kept a detailed diary of these events, had been experimenting for some months at Lavernock Point. Kemp recorded the following in his diary of the experiments:


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