The ‘Point of Ayr’ lighthouse has stood on Talacre Beach in Wales in various incarnations since 1776, watching over ships make the trek across Liverpool Bay from the Welsh town of Lllandudno.

Abandoned since 1840, it has lived through numerous cycles of disrepair and refurbishment, with the latest reconstruction in 1994, leaving it a cheery red and white candy-pole on the beach, framed by the nearby offshore wind-farm.

Point of Ayr on Talacre Beach, North Wales. Image from Richard John Linnett.

White and red in the distance.

Beginning another cycle of decay; the white paint peels away. Image from Adrian Evans.

Over the year the lighthouse witnessed many changes- during World War 2 it saw Air Force Fighters strafe the beach for target practise, shooting at wooden targets in the dunes and drogues towed by aircraft. At one point it witnessed the whole nearby village of Talacre coated in silver foil, as a guinea-pig for a new anti-radar technology. Now it’s a quiet tourist spot for beautiful views across the bay- Great Hotel Deals here.

Adjudicant to the installation of the new energy- an off-shore wind-farm.

The lighthouse is well-known in the area for its hauntings- allegedly by a ghostly lighthouse keeper walking around the top of the tower. Mediums visiting the location have claimed feeling the spirit of a lonely man, Raymond, who died of a broken heart. Some tourists have come away feeling unwell and disturbed.

To commemorate this lost soul, the lighthouse’s owner commissioned local artist Angela Smith to create The Keeper, a 7-foot tall sculpture made of hundreds of pieces of highly polished, medical-grade stainless steel pieces. The many holes in his body are intended to let the wind pass through and create ghostly chimes.

The Keeper on the beach. Image from BBC Wales.

At his post- the first time the lighthouse has been manned since 1840. Image from BBC Wales.

Silver sentinel of the sands. Image from BBC Wales.

In 2009 the lighthouse opened its doors to the public for one day, and the BBC went along to peek inside-

235 years old and counting. Image by Mark Broughton.

Text sources – Wikipedia, BBC Wales.

Dead Sentinels: 10 abandoned lighthouses

1. Rubjerg-Knude, Denmark	2. Talacre, Wales

Construction of the Rubjerg-Knude lighthouse in Jutland, Denmark straddled the last two centuries, beginning in 1899 and finishing in 1900.	The Talacre lighthouse, officially titled ‘Point of Ayr’, has stood on Talacre Beach in various incarnations since 1776, watching over ships make the trek across Liverpool Bay from the Welsh town of Lllandudno.
3. Tillamook, USA	4. Mogadishu, Somalia

The Tillamook Rock Light was built in 1881 on a rock off Oregon coast. It was born in blood; with its grand opening overshadowed by a nearby shipwreck just days before its guardian gas-light was lit.	The crumbling Italian lighthouse perched on the edge of Mogadishu’s Old Harbor was built over a century ago, and abandoned some 20 years ago as trade dried up to the failed state of Somalia.
5. Grand Cay, Bahamas	6. Klein Curacao, Caribbean

The lighthouse on Great Isaac Cay, a small island in the Bahamas around 20 miles north-east of the Bimini Islands, was built in 1859 to guide trade-ships carrying exports of sun-dried sea salt from Inagua	The Klein Curacao (‘Little Curacao’) lighthouse was first built in 1850, on a tiny spit of land 11km off the southeastern tip of Curacao in the Caribbean Sea.
7. Capo d’Otranto, Italy	8. Aniva Rock, Russia

The Capo d’Otranto lighthouse was built in 1867, situated at Italy’s most eastern point, marking the point where the Ionian and Adriatic Seas meet. It was abandoned in the 1970’s	The Aniva lighthouse was built by the Japanese in 1939, on a chunk of rock off the southern coast of Sakhalin, a thin 950 km long island situated just east of Russia.
9. Ship John Shoal, USA	10. Fish Fluke Point, Canada

Construction of the Ship John Shoal Lighthouse in Delaware Bay took 27 years, from a decision by the US Congress in 1850 that a light was needed through various incarnations.	The Grand Harbor Lighthouse on Fish Fluke Point, Ross Island, was built in 1879, a square wooden tower 32-feet tall with the Keeper’s dwelling attached.