Cumulus Outdoors happy to help the ‘Eyes Along the Coast’
November 4th, 2022
Once again, Cumulus Outdoors has provided some much appreciated support to The National Coastwatch Institution (NCI) at St Alban’s Head near Swanage.
The Lookout at St Alban’s Head (also known as St Aldhelm’s Head) is in an excellent position, 325 ft above sea level on a clifftop. Visibility and radio communications are excellent, but there are times when the station’s radar proves an important asset.
The ‘old’ radar installed there had several weaknesses, mainly due to being designed for use at sea level. NCI is a totally voluntary organisation dependent on donations, including for the station’s equipment, none of which is provided by the government, so the station was delighted to receive a generous donation to fund a new, much better radar system, including a camera.
Installing a Radar
The installation of the radar was done by the radar suppliers, but not the fitting of the camera, so Tom and Sam from Cumulus offered to come out to St Alban’s Head and fit the camera’s pedestal to the roof. This they did on a lovely sunny day!
Their kind support saved the station having to find a local tradesman prepared to make the journey along the track to the site. And the cost as well! So big thanks to Cumulus Outdoors for supporting us again.
The radar and camera are now up and running, ready for the poorer weather and visibility to come.
Cumulus Outdoors MD Sam Thompson said
“The NCI play such an important role along the UK coastline, they are truly our eyes along the coast and we were more than happy to provide some support and practical help in this situation.”