Today’s adventure took us to the South Stack Lighthouse, on the north-westerly tip of Holy Island, Anglesey. The lighthouse was built in 1809 by Trinity House, and towers some 300ft over the water below. That doesn’t mean winter storm surges don’t reach it – there are photos of waves exploding high above the lighthouse in the past.
Thankfully today the sea was flat calm, and the sun shining.
Our visit began with a comedy of errors, after parking in the more distant of two car parks. A pay and display car-park, with instructions to either use coins (which we didn’t have), or use an app, a website, or phone an automated service. Easily done if you have a phone signal.
After setting out on foot – hoping there would be a way of registering our car at the visitor center, we realised there was a second car-park at the visitor center – complete with a ticket machine that took card transactions. We made our way back to the car, and carried on to the much-more-better car-park.
After finally parking and buying tickets to the lighthouse, we started out down the several hundred steps that zig-zag their way down the cliffs – edging closer to the buildings and towers that were once populated by several families.
It has to be said – the team of volunteers guiding visitors around the lighthouse complex were exceptional – full of stories, anecdotes, and a mine of information.
They told one particularly harrowing story about the “Royal Charter” – a ship making the voyage from Melbourne, Australia to Liverpool – which came to grief just after passing South Stack – wrecking on the north-eastern coast of Anglesey in 1859. It is estimated that 450 people died. The coast of the United Kingdom is littered with hundreds of ship-wrecks – hundreds. The wrecks were half the reason the lighthouses were built in the first place. In the case of the Royal Charter, the coast-guard advised the ship to shelter at Holyhead, but it carried on – with fateful results.
133 ships sank during the “Royal Charter” storm.
While wandering around the South Stacks lighthouse, we passed several seagulls tending nests with eggs, and saw thousands upon thousands of guillimots, puffins and cormorants lined up along the cliffs, rocks, and headlands nearby.
Before we knew it our tour was over, and we faced the climb back up the cliffs. While chatting with the guides the rest of our cohort raced off ahead – I wondered if we might catch them back up during the climb. We did.
After completing the climb we walked a little further around the headland and found a quiet spot out of the wind to eat sandwiches we had taken with us. Afterwards the tea-shop whispered to us and we succumbed to ginger beer and flapjacks.
We’re back at the cottage now – thinking about a slow stroll to the nearby beach, and a drink at the pub. We’ll see.