Beacon

I like beacons, particularly beacon chains. I remember in 1981, for the Royal Wedding, being able to walk from our house to vantage points where we could see the Mow Cop beacon and the one on The Wrekin - it seems such a simple idea, but somehow a bit magic.

More importantly, the scene in The Return of the King (film) where they light the beacons to ask for help from Rohan never fails, for reasons I can't quite explain, to reduce me to tears.

I'm not sure I entirely approve of just randomly lighting fires and calling them beacons, but I'll leave that aside. Ingleborough was, however, one of the traditional defensive beacon hills, and I used that fact as a hook on which to go up Ingleborough today. The weather was much better than I'd thought - a good walking temperature, and beautifully clear - and if there is much better than the view West from Ingleborough on a clear day, towards Morecambe Bay and the Lakes, I've yet to see it. This is the beacon, all ready to go for tonight. The dark clouds were collecting as I got down, but by the time the train left Horton at ten to six it hadn't started raining, so I hope it stayed fair for them.

To add a note of cynicism, however, the attractive pattern of the beacon itself is, in fact, the logo of British Gas. Oh well, ....