STORY:
Britain Beacons to Brighten Millennium Sky

Unique New Year's Eve plan calls for 2800 torches and skylights above Britain

Fire has lit up the darkness for man for thousands of years, so why not mark the change to another millennium by doing the same. Britain's Beacon Millennium project will do just that. Plans call for 2,800 flaming torches to light up the skies of Britain on December 31st 1999. The beacons will provide focal points for people in the cities and families in rural areas to take part in millennium celebrations.

The project has been funded with £1 million ($1.6 million US) by British Gas. The company is providing 130 gas-powered beacons for the event, to ensure that possible damp weather doesn't dampen the spirit of fun.

The line of lights will stretch from the highest point, on the top of Ben Nevis, to Snowdon and the River Thames. The ceremony will start as darkness falls on the northern Scottish highlands on the late afternoon of New Year's Eve. The flame of celebration will spread southwards, with the London bonfire being lit around 10pm. The last of the beacons will catch fire on the Meridian line around midnight.

The historic nature of the celebration is marked by the inclusion of the church at Monken Hadley in Hertfordshire. It was home to a beacon that warned Tudor England of the coming Armada.

Source: ITN

DATE: 8/25/99

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