Sunset and beach landscape Southport, Merseyside, UK. 5th April, 2016. UK Weather. Dramatic sunset over the Irish Sea illuminating the 'Liverpool Fleetwood Victorian Cast Iron Tidal Standard at low water. The Roman numerals suggest it relates to a ship's draft marks in bygone times marking a channel for access to the now defunct and silted up port.


The Roman numerals suggests it's to relate to a ship's draft marks (Imperial not metric, which apparently would be in Arabic numerals). 'Tidal Standard' suggests it's relevant to the tidal tables which would have been published for major ports, in this case Liverpool. Letters moulded into the cast iron say "LIVERPOOL FLEETWOOD TIDAL STANDARD" and roman numerals are marked on it towards the base - on the side nearest the camera they read 20, 19, 18 going downwards, but on the other side they said 29, 28, 27. The shoreline at Southport has moved seaward, so when this was put up the lowest tide height could have been considerably below the current level. The cast iron structure is also said to be a ventilation shaft on the old sewer discharge pipe. The pipe was disconnected when the Southport Waste Water Elevation Scheme came on line in 1996. Two similar discharge pipes north of the pier were removed a year or so later.


Size: 3600px × 2400px
Location: Southport, Merseyside, UK.
Photo credit: © MediaWorldImages / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: Yes

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