Something that's intriguing me…

Who knows about either air-stations or commercial harbours?

The former RN Air Station (Portland) is now a commercial helicopter training-base, currently being used by German Navy Search-&-Rescue pilots. (Yes, working even at present.)

I cannot see it from my house but from the bedroom window, facing South, I can see the highest part of Portland, about 400ft a.s.l., above it and Portland Port.

I've noticed late at night a pair of bright lamps, on the same level as each other but some distance apart, perhaps about 300ft a.s.l, somewhere above either the air-station or the harbour.

These both shine green for a while, then very briefly amber, before red for some while – I have not timed them but probably 30 seconds or more each red and green, only a second or two amber. Then straight back to green and the cycle starts again, simultaneously on both lamps.

I've not been able to distinguish their detailed location.

Does anyone know what these might be?

They are far too high up to be landing-pad lamps, and anyway unless it's been changed that is aligned roughly West-East whereas the lights seem aimed Northwards, roughly orthogonal to my line of sight – though they might be omnidirectional.

They also seem wrongly placed for marine navigation, but although red and green are used, amber is not; and the colour is normally constant even if flashing, to indicate which way a ship must steer.

All I can think is that they are so aligned that when they appear to merge or be in vertical line the helicopter is flying parallel to the landing-strip – but that surely has its own lamps, and why the slow colour-changing?

Thank you Brian – I was hoping someone with first-hand knowledge would respond! I agree about the changes too, but at least the Air Station is still busy, and the harbour has become a genuine port rather than just the Canary Wharf Sailing Club's outpost. (The amateur sailors are catered for, but on former air-station and railway land.)

The landing area is hidden from me by houses in the next street, so I can see only that part of Portland over about 250-300feet a.s.l.

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Sam – you could be right about the amber being an artefact. The lights probably use separate luminaires but at well over a mile way they would tend to blur during any change-over momentarily showing both. They don't seem to be in the right place for guiding ships; and anyway would not change colours as they do.

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Diogenes – It's a thought. They are probably of about the right intensity, but they don't look quite right to be that, and in that location:

The only road there, at that height, serves the prison, an MoD radio station and a cafe – not open at midnight even in normal times! Also I don't know if any part of it is aligned with my line of sight. Two-lane road, not very wide – these lights look a bit too far apart, but it's hard to tell at well over a mile away.

Also temporary traffic-lights are not normally duplicated across a minor road like this one.

Constant 1 minute cycles – I timed it last night. Road-works lights often respond to an approaching vehicle, and I would see its lights – I doubt anyone would be driving up there at that time of night.

It is: Green 30s.

Amber: 1s at most and quite faint – see Sam's suggestion.

Red. 30s.

Amber ditto. Any red + amber phase would be difficult to differentiate from amber only, at that range.

Green again.

And they appear to be turned off during the day! Presently Portland is shrouded in thick mist but I would expect binoculars to reveal a faint glow, at least from the red lamps. They were not visible though in clearer daylight conditions when I tried to identify their location.

I'll have to go and look one day – but it's a long walk from home.

It's cabin fever settin' in, I do tell 'ee! I ought go and buy some scran, and get back in the workshop!

Solved!!

Ruddy 'Ell!

Turns out they are traffic lights after all – thanks to a tip from my neighbour!

Thank you all for your suggestions – Dave could still be right about a pilots' land-mark though.

They are not temporary ones on road-works as Diogenes had suggested, but permanent, on the portals of a short tunnel leading to the prison, radio-station and Jailhouse Cafe. My neighbour recalled seeing the lights when driving to the café.

Why was I fooled into thinking they are not?

Optical illusions: they are high up the hill but I still thought them well below the prison entrance. The entrance is invisible over a mile away in the dark; and lower down than I'd believed having mistaken large, bright lights higher up still, for street-lamps on its approach

No road junction there.

Width apart: the road is fairly narrow but the entrance wing-walls are very wide, and the lamps must be on those.

General location: overlooking the air-station.

Unusual behaviour – the amber so short and faint it seemed just an artefact; the 1-minute cyclic pattern; on only at night. Or not visible in daylight even in dull weather – but they might be triggered in office hours by an approaching vehicle.

So their nocturnal behaviour might mean they have a secondary role as a night-flying land-mark, as Dave suggests. They shine roughly Northwards, across the W-E landing-strip some 300+ feet below.

'

I do not have a proper tripod mount for my binoculars but from Perko's suggestion I rested them on the tripod. This gave two things:

Sufficient steadiness – I have always had shaky hands – for me to see they do follow the normal 3-colour pattern though with a briefer, fainter amber.

Aiming-points and local horizon (a house roof) for daylight-viewing; so this morning, despite thin mist, I could see the tunnel portal just above that roof-line, and verify the lights were off.

Ah well, and no it was not the first of the month!

You wouldn't think I will have lived in this area for 61 years this year, but then, on my Officially Approved walk in only in the first LD week I discovered a twitchel I had not previously known, very close to home; linking two familiar roads and passing the Infants' and Primary Schools I had attended way back. Back when steam still ruled, passenger-and goods- trains drawn by ex-GWR pannier-tanks still served Weymouth Harbour.. And pikelets and 'Wagon Wheels' were of larger diameters!

The helicopter base was there then, as RNAS Portland, and adjacent to the now-vanished railway from Weymouth. Among the manoeuvres taught in the 1960s and 70s was frigate deck-landing, using a barge moored in what was RN (Portland). I think putting a helicopter on a frigate was a development new to that era.

Thank you!

Brian –

Back when one service, No.22 I think, ran from Upwey Wishing-well right through to Portland (Southwell), or even the Bill?

The service even to the housing-estate on the road up to the prison ended years ago.

Did you know Brian Jackson in your time on the buses? I think he retired as Inspector, but was instrumental in establishing the Dorset Transport Circle, mainly among the 00-gauge section of Weymouth & District MES, and the DTC buying for preservation the Bristol single-deck bus we all came to know by its Southern National fleet-number 1613 (Reg. No. LTA 772). I may be wrong but recall the company's fleet-numbers were not mere transfers or stencils, but neat bas-relief aluminium castings – as they should be!

I had often been a passenger on 1613 during its working life, when it was regularly on the school services! Brian would drive it on DTC trips.

I don't know if DTC still exists but I know the bus was eventually sold to a new owner (museum?) in Swindon. Brian has written a lot of Dorset public-transport books, and sometimes lectures on the subject.

Variations of that combination of fleet and registration numbers came in handy at work, as PC passwords, too.