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Open Country

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Countryside magazine featuring the people and wildlife that shape the landscape of Britain

Countryside magazine featuring the people and wildlife that shape the landscape of the British Isles

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Open Country: Lighthouses of Northern Ireland

Lighthouses of Northern Ireland

28/11/2013

BBC Radio 4 - Open Country, Lighthouses of Northern Ireland

Our infatuation with lighthouses and the need to preserve these iconic landmarks.

Exploring our infatuation with lighthouses and the need to preserve them, Helen Mark visits two of these iconic buildings undergoing a restoration in Northern Ireland.

We explore our infatuation with lighthouses as the Irish coastline spends two million pounds on renovating five of them across the region -two in County Donegal and three in Northern Ireland. Helen Mark visits two of them for Open Country. In the pretty town of Whithead sits Blackhead Lighthouse build in 1902 it proudly sits on the cliff top. St John's Point in County Down is a striking yellow and black building and was threatened with closure as it now sits empty and vacant with no purpose like so many along the the coastline. But Helen discovers a much deeper story -for most there is a need to preserve these iconic buildings as what they symbolise today is just as important.

Producer : Perminder Khatkar.

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