Surrounded by lagoon, palm trees and residential homes Milnerton Lighthouse stands on Woodbridge Island.
This is the only nautical guard within metres of a golf course, lighting the eighteenth
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hole of the spectacular Milnerton Golf Course.
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It is one of the most famous views in South Africa with the panorama of Table Mountain and Table Bay in the background.
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Milnerton Lighthouse was commissioned on 10 March 1960 and the cost of the
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installation was R38 320. It is one of only a few cylindrical lighthouses along the
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South African coastline
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This 21m cylindrical tower of white concrete protects seafarers near this suburbs
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coastline, which has caused more shipwrecks than any other section of South Africa’s coast.
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Urban development has reconstructed this coastline between Table Bay Harbour and Cape Colombine burying the secrets of wrecked ships below a new mass of land and construction.
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Over 150 ships have wrecked themselves on these shores over the last few
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hundred years, the stranded Nieuw Haarlem is commemorated with a plaque at the
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lighthouse.
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The lighthouses revolving electric optics cast white light 25 nautical miles out across
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the Atlantic Ocean swells, flashing 9 times in a minute with a candela power of 800
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000 CD. This West Coast site of flashing light has a focal plane of 28 metres above
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high water.
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Mariners approaching Table Bay after dark are confronted by a maze of lights and a
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high level of background city illumination. The harbour navigation lights tend to
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merge with the city lights making identification difficult.
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Milnerton functions in conjunction with Robben Island and Green Point lighthouses to
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remove any ambiguity in determining a safe anchorage.
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Milnerton Lighthouse is not open to the public but it has still managed to become a
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popular landmark over the years.
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Photo by Manie van der Hoven