Page 15 - KBHA BULLETIN 6

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accompany him.” The party had to be transported from Simon’s Town by cart for four

hours to get near to the Point. From there it was shanks pony, and strong clothes and stout

boots were recommended.

Although the lighthouse was completed in 1915 (Fig. 1.3), because of the war, the light was
not put into operation until, at a very simple ceremony, Cooper’s 3-year-old daughter,

Thurl, lit the light for the first time on the evening of 11 March 1919.

At that stage the light was a paraffin vapour type giving off 5 million candle power and was

visible 24 miles out to sea. It had a red sector giving a warning segment extending 11 miles
out to sea and covering the Point itself as well as both the infamous Bellows and Anvil

rocks. The fuel for the light was fed by gravity in a mile-long pipe from the top of Cape

Point Peak.

Watches during the day were maintained by a single person at the old lighthouse, but
during the night two keepers kept watch at the new lower lighthouse. This was mainly

because of the precarious timber staircase that was often buffeted by high winds during the
south-east gales. This staircase gave excellent service and, in spite of the harsh weather

conditions, lasted for fifty years whereafter it was replaced with an aluminium structure.

In 1936 the light was electrified and once again Cooper was involved. Some of the parts for

the 5 kW generator weighed over 500 kg and needed great ingenuity to transport to the site.
The original optics were retained with the main light being fitted with a 4 kW incandescent

bulb and the red sector fitted with a smaller bulb. This change increased the light strength
to 19 million candle power making it the most powerful lighthouse in the world. In

February 1947 an omni-directional radio beacon was put into operation with the weather

again proving a challenge for the stability of the masts - one being lost before transmission
had even started.

In 1959 the original generator had reached the end of its useful life and three new 15 kW
and two 3 kW units were installed. At the same time the lighthouse was fully automated

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