Premier Technical Services Group Ltd (PTSG) has completed a specialist electrical services project at Happisburgh Lighthouse in East Anglia.
Situated on the North Norfolk coast, it is the only independently operated lighthouse in Great Britain. It is also the oldest working lighthouse in East Anglia. Historically it was called Haisborough or Haisbro’ Lighthouse.
The building was constructed in 1790 by the Corporation of Trinity House as one of a pair of lights (“High Lighthouse” and “Low Lighthouse”) and worked with the Newarp Lightvessel to guide mariners around the southern edge of the offshore Haisborough Sands.
The lighthouse was used as the location for the video for Ellie Goulding’s 2010 song “The Writing”. It also features prominently in the 2015 horror film “AfterDeath”, its beam causing terrifying flashbacks.
In this project, engineers from PTSG Electrical Services Ltd a test and inspection of the lightning protection system in place at Happisburgh Lighthouse. Such a test is carried out periodically to determine whether it is still operationally sound to keep the building and its users safe during an electrical storm.
A lightning strike is seen when the electric discharge takes place between the atmosphere and the ground. The British Isles see 300,000 to 400,000 strikes per year. Between 30-60 people are struck by lightning each year in the UK, with 5-10% of those resulting in a fatality according to ROSPA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents).
