Latest news with #lighthouse
CBC
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- CBC
Nova Scotian lighthouse lamp found in B.C. thrift store ignites cross-country friendship
Julia Ghersini found a lighthouse lamp in a Maple Ridge, B.C., thrift store and realized it was a unique, hand-painted item by Nova Scotia's John and Sheila Jordan. When she posted about it on Facebook, her post went viral, and she ended up meeting Amanda Farnsworth-Thibodeau, a great-niece of the Jordans, who has her own version of the lighthouse.
CBC
07-06-2025
- CBC
His family looked after Cape Spear's lighthouse for 150 years. Now, he's beaming its history to the masses
Gerry Cantwell looks out, as he did for the bulk of his life, on a wall of fog. It's a band of thick white at lunchtime on a Thursday in June, waxing and waning along the rocky Newfoundland coast, obscuring the deep blue beyond. For decades, that fog was both his livelihood, and — as he readily admits — his nemesis. Cantwell tended to the Cape Spear lighthouse, the easternmost of its kind in North America, from 1969 until it was automated in 1997. The 78-year-old was the last in a long familial line of stewards of the old lighthouse, now a national historic site visited by 300,000 people every year and perched at the intersection of the continent and the Atlantic Ocean. But in spite of the relentless fog always seeming to haunt the Cape Spear coastline, this summer marks something novel for Cantwell. For the first time, Parks Canada will memorialize his family's legacy. The agency is in the midst of a project documenting the history of the historic structure and the people who took care of it. Cantwell and his siblings are heavily involved, and will have recordings of their interviews spread throughout the landscape this summer, in honour of the 50th anniversary of Parks Canada's stewardship of the site. "I'd like to see it before I close my eyes," Cantwell says from the base of the lighthouse, steps away from where he lived most of his life. Cantwell's ancestors became the lighthouse's keepers in 1846, just 10 years after it was built. The job was passed down through the generations, their stewardship lasting 151 years. Those seven generations were raised inside the old red-and-white lighthouse itself until Cantwell's parents moved into a small house just beside it. That house is now the Cape Spear Cafe, where tourists unknowingly eat clam chowder right where Cantwell and his siblings used to open their Christmas presents. "Our family still speaks about this as being home," he said. "The fog alarm, and the radio building, this house, that house — everything was ours." Cantwell took over the job as keeper from his father, despite urging from his parents to branch out and do something else. The pay lured him in, he said. "I didn't expect it to last that long.... It was money to start for me," he said, laughing. "[I didn't know] it would cost me 30 years of my life. But I enjoyed every moment of it." The Cantwell family bore witness to over a century of coastal history, living through drownings along the unforgiving shore and even nearby attacks by German submarines during the Second World War. "We're incredibly lucky to be one of the few Parks Canada sites that actually has people who lived and worked here who can tell us their stories," said Pascale Gerdun, the site's acting visitor experience manager. This summer's anniversary project, she adds, will include crank-operated speakers so visitors can hear recordings of Cantwell and his siblings recounting life at Cape Spear through the decades. He has an abundance of stories to tell. Cantwell became the lighthouse keeper in 1969, just six years before Parks Canada took over the site's care and maintenance. That wasn't the only thing that changed in that era: what was once a relatively active profession suddenly shifted in the 1970s, he said, with the introduction of electricity. Cantwell recalls his father lamenting that the newly powered beacon marked the beginning of the end for the lighthouse era. But even the electric light, he points out, couldn't stop the pesky fog. He'd still have to run down the craggy point to start the horn every time that wall of white rolled in — and run back down to stop it when the fog rolled out, rain or shine, several times a day. "That," he said, "was a normal state of affairs."
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Yahoo
Historic Sleepy Hollow lighthouse gutted by baby-faced arsonists one year after $3.4 million restoration: ‘Heartbreaking'
Now they're in deep ship. A group of baby-faced arsonists burned and gutted Sleepy Hollow's beloved historic lighthouse just a year after its multi-million dollar renovation, police said Wednesday. Four young suspects hopped a locked fence leading to the charming red-and-white landmark at around 3:30 a.m. Saturday then smashed a window and climbed into the 142-year-old structure, Westchester County Police Public Information Officer Kieran O'Leary told The Post. The twisted firebugs then allegedly lit parts of the bottom floor, which is set up as a museum, on fire and damaged antique furniture and books — leaving behind smoldering ash, broken glass and more than $100,000 in damage, officials said. 'Setting a fire and trashing a place is bad enough. It's also one of the county's more iconic places,' O'Leary said. 'It's a cherished landmark,' he added. 'Everybody in Westchester is really upset about it.' Outraged locals have since flooded police with tips after cops released a photo of the alleged arsonists strolling over a bridge leading to the lighthouse, O'Leary said. The wild vandalism comes a year after the county unveiled a $3.4 million renovation of the lighthouse's interior — including a restoration of the historic spotlight that guided ships away from the banks of the Hudson River for decades. Built in 1883, the lighthouse at Kingsland Point Park in Sleepy Hollow once housed a family and is now on the National Register of Historic Places. 'It's disappointing, and it's heartbreaking to see this kind of damage that was just completely unnecessary,' Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins said in News 12 footage. A Westchester County employee first spotted smoke wafting from the beloved landmark Saturday morning, prompting firefighters to rush to the blaze. The lighthouse is now temporarily closed for repairs. 'There have been weddings and proposals there and it's more recently become an Instagram spot,' O'Leary said. 'There's been a strong reaction to the vandalism.'
Arab News
30-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Arab News
In Marseille, a shadow becomes art in Banksy's latest street mural
MARSEILLE, France: The lighthouse appeared overnight. Painted on a wall tucked away in a quiet Marseille street, its beam aligned perfectly with the real-life shadow of a metal post on the pavement. At its center, stenciled in crisp white, are the words: 'I want to be what you saw in me.' Banksy had struck again. On Friday, the elusive British street artist confirmed the work by posting two images on his official Instagram account — without caption or coordinates. Fans quickly identified the location as 1 Rue Félix Frégier, in the Catalans district of Marseille's 7th arrondissement, near the sea. Since then, crowds have gathered at the site. Tourists snap photos. Children point. Locals who usually walk past the building stop to take a closer look. There is no official explanation for the phrase. But its emotional pull is unmistakable — a quiet plea for recognition, love or redemption. Some speculate it references a country ballad by Lonestar. Others call it a love letter. Or a lament. Or both. The image is deceptively simple: a lone lighthouse, dark and weathered, casting a stark white beam. But what gives it power is the way it plays with light — the real and the painted, the seen and the imagined. The post in front of the wall becomes part of the piece. Reality becomes the frame. Marseille's mayor, Benoît Payan, was quick to react online. 'Marseille x Banksy,' he wrote, adding a flame emoji. By midday, the hashtag #BanksyMarseille was trending across France, and beyond. Though often political, Banksy's art is just as often personal, exploring themes of loss, longing and identity. In recent years, his works have appeared on war-ravaged buildings in Ukraine, in support of migrants crossing the Mediterranean and on walls condemning capitalism, Brexit, and police brutality. The artist, who has never confirmed his full identity, began his career spray-painting buildings in Bristol, England, and has become one of the world's best-known artists. His mischievous and often satirical images include two male police officers kissing, armed riot police with yellow smiley faces and a chimpanzee with a sign bearing the words, 'Laugh now, but one day I'll be in charge.' His work has sold for millions of dollars at auction, and past murals on outdoor sites have often been stolen or removed by building owners soon after going up. In December 2023, after Banksy stenciled military drones on a stop sign in south London, a man was photographed taking down the sign with bolt cutters. Police later arrested two men on suspicion of theft and criminal damage. In March 2024, an environmentally themed work on a wall beside a tree in north London was splashed with paint, covered with plastic sheeting and fenced off within days of being created. Despite the fame — or infamy — at least in Marseille, not everyone walking past noticed it. Some didn't even know who Banksy was, according to the local press. On Instagram observers say this Marseille piece feels quieter. More interior. And yet, it is no less global. The work arrives just ahead of a major Banksy retrospective opening June 14 at the Museum of Art in nearby Toulon featuring 80 works, including rare originals. Another exhibit opens Saturday in Montpellier. But the Marseille mural wasn't meant for a museum. It lives in the street, exposed to weather, footsteps and time. As of Friday evening, no barriers had been erected. No glass shield installed. Just a shadow, a beam and a message that's already circling the world.
The Independent
30-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
New Banksy work appears in mystery location
Banksy has unveiled a new artwork featuring a lighthouse and the phrase "I want to be what you saw in me" at an undisclosed location. The artwork, shared on Instagram, depicts a black-and-white mural of a lighthouse tower. A tag near the artwork appears to read "Yaze", a moniker used by Canadian graffiti artist Marco The Polo, who has cited Banksy as an inspiration. The phrase in the artwork may be from a song by Tennessee-based country band Lonestar, called 'Softly'. Speculation suggests the artwork could be in the French port city of Marseille.
