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I had seen the lighthouse on my flight in and never though that I would see it when I was there or even visit it.

St Mary’s Lighthouse is on the tiny St Mary’s (or Bait) Island, just north of Whitley Bay on the coast of North East England. The lighthouse is accessible via a tidal causeway and is only open at specified times.The Lighthouse, completed in 1898 on a hazardous coast for shipping, remained operational until 1984 when it was superseded by modern navigational techniques. Since then the Lighthouse and former keepers’ cottages have been operated as a visitor centre by North Tyneside Council. The surrounding Nature Reserve contains an area of rockpools, clifftop grassland, a beach and newly created wetland habitats. My entrance ticket was £1.50 – bargain.

I climbed the 137 steps to the top. As I was going up, I heard a little girl and her dad, she was saying whilst in his arms “don’t look down daddy its scary” And its one of the scariest things I have ever done.

This was the view from the first window I came across.

It’s pretty scary being at the top on your own. I ran up the stairs and never looked up or down and when I finally got to the top I just thought “**** I have to get back down”.  As I was coming down, I could not look down – I held onto the rail just looking at the steps and trying not to think it was 137 steps down. And I was so pleased to get back to the bottom.