Program 451: Lighthouses; Being Welsh; Working for the Earl at Stanway House

Learn about the important role lighthouses played in the 19th century, and which are the most interesting to visit in the US and France. Then hear a tour guide from Wales explain the pride that comes from belonging to this distinctive corner of Great Britain, with its own language and traditions. And listen in as Rick visits England's Stanway House estate, a somewhat eccentric version of Downton Abbey that opens for visitors in the summer. 

• Theresa Levitt, author of "A Short Bright Flash"  (W. W. Norton)
• Welsh tour guide Martin DeLewandowicz
• English tour guide Lorraine Dineen
• "Jet Lagged in Rome" feature filed by Cameron Hewitt 

• "A Short Bright Flash: Augustin Fresnel and the Birth of the Modern Lighthouse" by Theresa Levitt is published by W. W. Norton.
• A guide to lighthouses with bed and breakfast accommodations in the US, Canada, Europe and elsewhere.  
• Le Cordouan lighthouse on France's mid-Atlantic coast at Gironde, is the oldest lighthouse in France, and where Augustin-Jean Fresnel first proved his lens technology.
• The National Park Service oversees the lighthouse at Point Reyes National Seashore in California. The Cape Ann lighthouses at Gloucester, Massachusetts are designated as national landmarks.
• The public radio program Engines of Our Ingenuity discusses Fresnel and his revolutionary lighthouse lenses.
• Martin DeLewandowicz was featured in a 2001 interview in The Guardian.
• The tourism website for the town of Caernarfon, Wales includes information for visiting Caernarfon Castle.
• The official Visit Wales website.
• Rick lists some of the local choirs in Wales and their practice times. The website for the Welsh Association of Male Choirs lists its member choirs.
• Stanway House is famous for the fountain in its water garden.
• James Donald Charteris is the 13th Earl of Wemyss.  The Scotsman wrote about him in 2009, shortly after he inherited the title, after his father died.  
• Rick includes a video clip on his blog of a visit he made several years ago with Lord Neidpath at Stanway House.