PHOTOBLOG: PENMON LIGHTHOUSE

Penmon lighthouse is just another one of those places that, once I discovered it, I keep on going back to...

The first time we went, it was because it had been recommended in one of those "Bird-Watching and Wildlife Walks" books that people like me sometimes buy. The walk in question had been described as being suitably non-strenuous and we headed off on a nice day towards the coast, winding our way with increasing incredulity along the lanes until we arrived at some old monastery buildings where there was a small car park and a gate leading to the lighthouse.

At the gate a gentleman stood, taking money from cars to allow them to use the toll road down to the sea shore. On that occasion, I didn't feel like paying a toll, so I parked up and we walked the couple of miles or so along the paths, and heard rather than saw the lighthouse first, given that it's bell still chimes regularly.

When we finally arrived at the stony beach and rocky shoreline, we believed that we had found one of the most picturesque and pleasant places on the island. The lighthouse stands slightly offshore with its dire warnings of the perils of passing on the wrong side offsetting the other "Danger" sign positioned most photogenically on the mainland, a sign which doubles as a perch for the occasional passing gull. The sea seems to "turn a corner" here and there are pleasant views of the so-called "Puffin Island" which the tourist boats regularly circle.

There's even a cafe, with customer toilets, if nature calls.

However, once we found it that afternoon, we were impressed and, having walked back to the car, whenever we've returned, we've just paid the toll and driven down there again to give us more time in that spot where the peace and tranquility is often shattered by the sea fisherpersons, but never enough to ruin it.

This is the place where I am most likely to indulge in the gentle art of stone balancing and this time there is even video evidence of me doing so, although it's currently locked inside a camera that isn't mine and is unlikely to ever publicly see the light of day.

One day I hope to go in the evening, take along a telescope, and just stargaze, because I truly believe that it might very well be a great place to do it, although it might also get a tad chilly.

These few pictures are some of the better ones from my most recent trip which already seems so very long ago now. I'm sure that this place has been photographed thousands of times and with far more skill than I could ever hope to achieve, but I thought I'd share them with you anyway, even though they look extraordinarily similar to all of the ones I've taken there on previous visits, except, of course, for the last one, which shows a very young child being taken by the hand and heading off on what seemed at that moment to be, for her, like the most important fishing expedition in the world...