When the son-and-heir offered to buy me the lighthouse of my choice
I reasoned that if I selected one of the iconic towers we aspired to visit and ascend, there might not be a great deal to distinguish it from other such phares at the scale these models had been produced, arrayed before us in the shop window in Roscoff. There was a wide choice – the modelling was mostly quite good although clearly at a variety of scales. So I decided upon the most distinctive, singular lighthouse of all those on offer, the model like no other displayed, complete in almost every detail, sitting on the lawn that is at the front and complete with the keeper’s house, integrated into the tower at the back. I made the right decision; the gift from Adam still graces my bookcase, kept dust free, unmistakable, the only one of its type.
That’s Bodic.
Bodic is situated on the left bank of the Trieux river, above the bank-side trees, presenting a vertical directional arrow with a green head to incoming vessels, a scintillating light at night (that is a light that flashes on and off rapidly) and acting as postérieur to La Croix (antérieur) until the vessel can pick up Les Perdrix further upstream and is thus directed onward up the river.
There is no other lighthouse like Bodic. The light is shown through the circular window at the top of the tower which is set into a great white wall and overtopped by a green painted pediment. The back of the lighthouse is a twin chimneyed house with the back of the tower rising above it to the pediment, currently all painted red, not white as my model of Bodic, which I think represents a more aesthetic colour scheme for the house, perhaps before the red upgrade.
There is no other lighthouse like Bodic. The light is shown through the circular window at the top of the tower which is set into a great white wall and overtopped by a green painted pediment. The back of the lighthouse is a twin chimneyed house with the back of the tower rising above it to the pediment, currently all painted red, not white as my model of Bodic, which I think represents a more aesthetic colour scheme for the house, perhaps before the red upgrade.
My model omits too the ladder detail on the face of Bodic and the name (the one on the tower) ought to be in a dark green. Let’s not get too critical though, and many thanks to Adam for the gift, still much appreciated.
Les Perdrix gets honourable mention here as of all the cardinals and beacons that feature in the Trieux river it is only this one feu that wasn't destroyed in ww2. No not a lighthouse, but a survivor, sited down river from Lézardrieux and the Phares et Balises depot where the lantern of Triagoz can be inspected. Les Perdrix is just a lantern (with a gallery) atop a green painted stone pylon (with name in white) flashing green or white (for the channel) every six seconds.
More details of course are available on the Lighthouse Directory.
The photographs are my own, the illustrations are the work of Jean Benoît Héron, reproduced here with thanks. I don't know who made the original model of Bodic. The camera has distorted it a bit, the model is correctly proportioned. I am fond of it!
