Of lighthouses and the damage to humans

"I'm surprised you don't know what that is!" I had just told Neil the story of how I managed, just before our epic hike on Dartmoor, to slip on a smooth slab of rock in a Plymouth pavement, and flop my knee inside out. Only moderately, fortunately; the hike was not jeopardised by this event. But I mentioned I did not know what that smooth slab was doing there. Evidently to Neil's surprise.

The blog reader would be excised for thinking Neil had vanished from my life after the sad events of last August, but that is a mere artefact of a specific blog bias; I preferentially blog about events I have taken pictures of. And since mentioned day in August we have only met to catch up, which is not a very opportune occasion for photographic documentation. So though he's been absent from the blog, he has not been absent from my life, and it was during one of these catching up sessions this conversation took place.

"You've seen more of Plymouth and surroundings in a few years than most locals do in a lifetime! I'm surprised you don't know what that is. That slab is part of a cross-section of the Eddystone Lighthouse. (This tower is widely used as the symbol for Plymouth.) It beautifully shows the interlocking stones. It even includes a metal slab, which symbolises a blob of molten lead that fell of the roof when this was on fire, into the mouth of a guy who was looking up, and eventually killed him."

Needless to say; the next time I was near I had a look. And indeed; I had been blind! It it a most interesting little display, for everyone to enjoy, but probably ignored by almost all. But maybe through the blog it might reach a few people more!

Blimey, it really says "it's rock base", right? How sad...