Point of Ayr Lighthouse in Wales: an enchanted landscape and a keeper who never left it.

We are along the north coast of Wales. As the sun sets and the sea sweeps in across Talacre beach the lighthouse often seems to float on the waves in a mysterious and beautiful optical illusion.
Correctly known as the Point of Ayr Lighthouse, but also named “Talacre Lighthouse”, it was originally built in 1776 to help guide ships away from the nearby sandbanks and provide a bearing for the great port of Liverpool to the northeast and mark the Mersey Estuary and the River Dee.
Unusually for a lighthouse, the tower was actually built on the beach. Around 1818 the original building was destroyed by the sea and in 1820 a more robust tower was erected in its place. This is the building still standing today.

The tower and the whole, huge low-tide beach is really a pictoresque place, that hypnotize visitors as they take extraordinary photos.
It is around 18 meters tall and originally featured two lights. One was directed at shipping out to sea whilst the second beam illuminated the mouth of the River Dee. After being replaced by an ocean-based metal-pile lighthouse, the Talacre tower was decommissioned between 1844 and 1883.
The structure has been damaged by storms over the years, which only adds to its unique atmosphere. In addition, It is only accessible at low tide, when the waters recede, clearing a footpath to the tower.

The lighthouse is also home to a popular ghost legend. That’s the belief of many hundreds of people who have visited it over the decades. During nocturnal visits, but not only, some people have seen a man dressed in old-fashioned clothes on the top of the lighthouse, looking at the sea. There were also reports of footprints in the sand leading to the building. People who live nearby claim to have seen ghostly lights and there are many accounts of dogs refusing to go near it and whining in fear if brought too close by their owners.
So, a paranormal team of professionals went to investigate the sightings and supposedly contacted with the ghost, called Raymond, a lighthouse keeper who died of a fever while manning the light. Mediums who have visited the tower claim to feel a great sadness in the ether emanating from a man with a broken heart.
There are so many more accounts of paranormal visions and sensations that Talacre Tower is probably Britain’s most haunted lighthouse!

Author’s note: The lighthouse is located on Talacre Beach in the homonymous village (in fact it’s also called the Talacre Lighthouse), in Flintshire, Wales.

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