Lighthouses: Building the Impossible Series 2

Lighthouses: Building the Impossible Series 2
Rob Bell uncovers the stories behind some of Britain’s most incredible lighthouses.

Ch1. The Wolf Rock
Rob Bell uncovers the secrets of one of Britain’s most heroic feats of engineering – the rock lighthouse. In this first edition, he heads to Wolf Rock, eight miles off the Cornish coast, and sees for himself why it was such a Herculean struggle to build a stone tower here 160 years ago, with the rock fully exposed to the awesome power of the North Atlantic.

Ch2. The Smalls
Rob Bell explores the bizarre history of The Smalls, one of Britain’s most remote offshore lighthouses. Situated 20 miles off the Pembrokeshire coast, its isolated location on a reef in the Irish Sea has challenged builders, architects and keepers for over 200 years, leaving it wreathed in dark tales and mystery.

Ch3. The Longstone
Rob Bell explores the spiritual home of lifesaving – the Longstone lighthouse off the coast of Northumberland, scene of a much discussed rescue attempt by the Victorian lighthouse keeper’s daughter, Grace Darling. Rob sees why the lonely beauty of the Farne Islands is not only a refuge for wildlife, but also a deadly trap for mariners seeking refuge from the tempestuous North Sea.