Welsh Lighthouses

I enjoy paddling in the wild areas of our coastline and for me nothing sybolises this as much as the lighthouses that surround our coastline.  Standing proud above storm swept headlands, marking the tideraces and rocky outcrops that are the highlight of my sea paddling trips.

With this in my mind I thought I'd aim to paddle round all of the Welsh lighthouses this year.  A check of the lighthouses shows that around Wales there are 14 'proper' active lighthouses.  There are a number of active lights on the end of harbours which I'm ignoring for the sake of this exercise, mostly because I can't be bothered with paddling round the Holyhead and Fishguard breakwaters but also because a ligghthouse the big white tower on the cliffs or rocks.

Running anticlockwise around the coast from the North East the lighthouses I'm intending to visit are:

• Point Lynas
• The Skerries
• South Stack
• Bardsey
• St Tudwals
• Strumble Head
• South Bishop
• The Smalls
• Skokholm
• St Annes Head
• Mumbles Head
• Caldey Island
• Nash Point and
• Flat Holm

I've ummed and aahed about including The Smalls within the list because of the how far it lies offshore but having looked at the options it may be possible so for completeness and just because of the story behind it I feel it needs to be included even if I don't make it out there.

The list also misses out several iconic 'lighthouses' such as the Point of Ayr and Twyrn Du but as these are no longer active then, just as the Smalls are included then these aren't.