THE END OF AN ERA?

The proposal by Trinity House to scrap Britain's lighthouses is deeply shocking. Not because it is wrong: it isn't. It is the shock of an era ending, and the icons of that era becoming suddenly redundant. With dgps, radar, chartplotting and so on, the truth is that lighthouses are very secondary navigation aids. The argument that electronic means can fail is a bit limp. Even boats under 30 feet often carry more than one digital navigation device. It is unusual, and probably an indication of recalcitrence, to find a boat without any. And it is strange that until very recently you could become a yachtmaster without any instruction in the use of these aids.
Nonetheless there is a beauty and intricacy to the system of navigation lights, each flashing their unique code, and I imagine we are a long way off getting rid of all of them. The smaller and closer in, the higher their survival chances I would thiink. The iconic headland lights also have a beauty, even if their primary purpose is no longer in demand. I imagine that a movement will occur to save them as heritage items, publicly funded either by charitable status or by government intervention.
But gps is not all good. Where the horizon is blue all round, I wouldn't want to be without one. But I know of more than one person who goes around Britain utterly lost at all times, thanks to the sat nav. There is something about studying a map (and we have some of the finest maps in the world in this country) that adds to knowledge, imagination and passion for the country in which we live and which reconnects us with the animals we really are, primally dependant on navigation for our very survival. We forget that at our peril.