Lighthouse for sale...

I’m fascinated by a lot of things – clouds, campervans, cats – and that’s just the c’s. One of my longest lasting fascinations is lighthouses. I find it hard to be within a few miles of one without being drawn to it on a visit. Of course it’s an interest I share with a lot of people; lighthouses seem to be one of those things that capture people’s imaginations. Perhaps it’s the thought of the loneliness of the lighthouse keeper, one man against the sea and the elements and all that.

This year I’ve sought out the lighthouses of Anglesey: South Stack, Penmon, the twin lights of  Llanddwyn Island. I thought I’d done Anglesey, but then, driving down a side road on the way back from lunch at Church Bay, I spied on a ragged headland another lighthouse. It didn’t look as grand as Penmon or South Stack, but it did have cottages and there was a for sale board on the track leading up to it.

Point Lynas lighthouse on the north-east coast of Anglesey in North Wales is privately owned, comes with three cottages and is a snip at 1.3 million! It’s still in use, rented back to Trinity House for a peppercorn rent, so you can’t actually live in the lighthouse itself. Mind you, it does come with it’s own build in torch - the 1,000-watt lamp shines for nine seconds out of every ten, 24 hours a day and it’s beam can be seen for 18 nautical miles, so thick curtains required. The three cottages each have three bedrooms and two are rented - £350 a week in low season and £950 high season, summer and winter. They made a gross profit of £42,000 last year which means that you’d make all of your money back in 30 years. I'm not sure about the fog horn on foggy nights though.

Of course, manned lighthouses are a thing on the past now. There are no manned lighthouses any more, they’re all automated, but a chap can dream can’t he?

That’s it. I’m off to buy a lottery ticket, I fancy myself as a lighthouse keeper.