I spent the weekend finalising the arrangements for the District Assembly. With the sun shining outside and me stuck indoors it didn't take long for that old lags affliction "stir crazy" to set in. Edwina is in the final throws of tidying up her thesis and had been in lock-down mode for a while, so she was ready for a break. Off we went to the coast and had a great stroll along the cliffs at Nash Point, only a short drive from home. The lighthouse was open to visitors and we had not scaled its heights before, so up we went to see the old paraffin powered light with its multitude of glass lenses halfway up, now a museum piece, and finally the fully automated electric light at the top, with its red sectors marking the danger areas for shipping. The two guys looking after the visitors gave us a demonstration of the fog signal. A deep noted siren that used to blast out its presence to shipping in the Bristol Chanel when visibility was poor. Radar and GPS have rendered most of these redundant around the British coast. The old lighthouse keepers cottages are now holiday cottages for those looking to get away from it all for a while. You can even get married in the lighthouse, albeit a bit on the small side for the guests. From the top the visibility was good and we could see down the estuary beyond Mumbles Head and the Gower Peninsular, across was Minehead with its distinctive white buildings that are part of the holiday resort and we could follow the Somerset coast up to the nuclear power stations at Hinckley Point and beyond to the islands of Flatholme and Steepholme. All very refreshing and we were able to have a cup of tea with the newlyweds on the way home
Don't tell everyone that we live in such a beautiful part of the country, they will all want to come here and spoil it.
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