I have a key for the lighthouse. This wonderful old building is now a base I can use to work in, shelter in, and use whilst I'm here.
I'm sitting in what was the lamp room. The diamond shaped panes of glass surround me and then beyond is the sea. Waves roll in relentlessly, there is a constant roar from them and the wind. A large cargo ship has just passed the point of the peninsular, passing very close to the land and entering the wide Humber channel. The Humber pilot station and the lifeboat station nestle in the dunes near the point. On the Humber side of the spit are wide sand flats with their patterns of ripples with water lying and reflecting light. Then the calmer waters of the estuary lap as the tide recedes. The spit curves away to my left, the greenness of the marram topped dunes narrowing towards the curve. Then it sweeps away to the left and into the greyness where it meets the main part of Holderness somewhere in the distance.
Having access to the lighthouse makes a big difference on a day like this. Outside it is grey, wet, windy and cold (these photos were taken on a brighter day). The lighthouse is draughty and damp but there is shelter from the constant wind and I have windows on different levels from which to see the changing view.
I came across this record of a visit to Spurn and rather liked it.
The lighthouse seems to feature in most of the references I've found on flickr and elsewhere. It is such a landmark and I suppose it is natural that it becomes the focus for how people think of the place (along with the aerial view that is often featured when people refer to Spurn). It's great that YWT have received a grant for restoration of this characterful building.
Second on the landmark list is the Spurn Low Light, seen here from the top of the old lighthouse.
I grew up across the water in Grimsby and Spurn point could often be seen on a clear day from the south side, in my memory particularly from Cleethorpes beach. Of course it was the lighthouse sticking up from the low-lying land of the peninsular that made that possible.
When I visited Spurn about this time last year on a gloriously clear, sunny day and Andrew took me up the lighthouse it was the Grimsby dock tower that I saw looking across the water. And as I walked around the tip a couple of weeks ago it wasn't clear enough to see right across the mouth of the Humber but the activity of the ships coming back and forth, in and out of the estuary, grabbed my attention. They move surprisingly fast and often look very precariously loaded up with containers.
This one enjoyed a shaft of light for a moment amongst the greyness of the water and sky.
