Editing Trinity House (section)

===Lighthouses===
Trinity House maintains 65<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.trinityhouse.co.uk/lighthouses/lighthouse_list/index.html| title=Lighthouse List| publisher=Trinity House| access-date=28 April 2015| archive-date=20 May 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150520065333/http://www.trinityhouse.co.uk/lighthouses/lighthouse_list/index.html| url-status=dead}}</ref> lighthouses ranging from isolated rock towers like the [[Eddystone Lighthouse|Eddystone]] to mainland towers like [[Southwold lighthouse]].

All Trinity House lighthouses have been automated since November 1998, when the UK's last staffed lighthouse, [[North Foreland]] in [[Kent]], was converted to automatic operation. Lighthouse automation began as long ago as 1910, thanks to an invention of [[Gustaf Dalén]], whose [[sun valve]] was fitted in a number of lighthouses powered by [[acetylene gas]]. Its vital component was a black metal rod suspended vertically and connected to the gas supply which, as it absorbed the sun's heat, the rod expanded downwards, cutting off the gas during the day.<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/technology/lighthouse/20th-century-lighthouses#ref593043 www.britannica.com]</ref>

Automation in the modern context began in the early 1980s, made possible firstly by the construction of lantern-top helipads at remote rock lighthouses, to enable the rapid transfer of technicians to a lighthouse in the event of a breakdown, and secondly, by the development of remote control technology, which enables all lighthouses and lightvessels to be monitored and controlled from the Trinity House Operations and Planning Centre at Harwich, Essex.<ref>''The Last Raid: The Commandos, Channel Islands and Final Nazi Raid'' {{ISBN|978-0-75096879-9}} ch. 7 (Operation Dryad)</ref>

The other General Lighthouse Authorities elsewhere in the [[British Isles]] are:
*[[Commissioners of Irish Lights]]&nbsp;— Ireland ([[Northern Ireland]] and [[Republic of Ireland]])
*[[Northern Lighthouse Board]] (formerly Commissioners of Northern Lights)&nbsp;— [[Scotland]] and [[Isle of Man|Man]]