To the Lighthouse...

Family Holiday UK

To the lighthouse…

‘I’d like to take you to the lighthouse, Mr Frost often said with a twinkle in his eye. As chat up lines went, it wasn’t the best but I gathered that in his youth the old gentleman had enjoyed romantic walks to the West Usk Lighthouse with his intended. Newport and romance don’t really go hand in hand. The city has a fine industrial past and is forging ahead with re-branding itself but romantic – no.

Imagine my surprise when on a sunny summers evening my husband suggested we should go to the lighthouse. Passing the Transporter Bridge and leaving behind the bustle of the M4 and the Duffryn estate we soon emerged into a different world. Reens flowed alongside the road, cows grazed peacefully in the late afternoon sunshine and ancient farmhouses turned their windows seaward. It was a different world, almost unchanged by the passage of time.

Easing past a fast approaching car on the narrow road my husband recounted how a charabanc trip his grandfather took to the lighthouse ended in disaster when the coach tipped into the reen. It’s difficult to imagine today that the populace of Newport found trips to St. Brides, Wentloog and the Lighthouse to be the equivalent of, say, Porthcawl. Driving through the village of St. Brides we made our way to the sea wall and looked out over the hot chocolate coloured waters of the channel and the 70% cocoa solids mud. Several people were out walking their dogs but there was little evidence of the tea shops and amusements that were said to have been here. We walked toward the lighthouse scanning the shore for signs of past activity.

Yet we know that they were here because Fred Hando comments in his article Newport Super Mare that the trippers were departing as we took to the road but we left them and turned to the left for the village of St. Brides. Earlier he had been swimming in the Ebbw. This was 1924 and it appears that he must also have served in the war because he likens the landscape to that around Arras. Even if you don’t want to bathe here or set up your deckchair on the miniscule patches of sand there is an unexpected peace here beneath the large open skies. Waders pick their way delicately across the mud and curlews make their plaintive call. If you know your birds you can spot heron, little egrets, flycatchers and black headed gulls to name but a few. The metropolis could be a million miles away.

The lighthouse is now a much written about bed and breakfast and obviously the spirit of romance that Mr Frost captured in his youth lingers on, for their website boasts of the numerous proposals of marriage that have taken place here. What better place to go down on one knee than on the top of a lighthouse with the sound of the rushing tide and the call of the birds. Built in the nineteenth century and designed by a Scottish architect it was decommissioned in 1922. Now it is a haven of peace, tranquillity and alternative therapies. With views across to Clevedon and Weston you won’t find promenades and amusement arcades here, just the lonely sea and the sky. However, entertainment is not far away as Newport boasts something for all tastes – cinema’s, theatre, art gallery, shopping, golf courses, spas’s – what more could you want?

Having found no concrete evidence of the entertainment of yesteryear we decided to retrace our steps and were overtaken by a very determined cow, obviously late for a hot date on the marshes. Our next stop was to be in the village of St. Brides where we were keen to try The Inn at the Elm Tree. Recently refurbished and now reopened we found the rear of the establishment to be more hospitable than the front.

You can be assured that the hungry ‘tripper’ will find a warm welcome amid the cool, modern décor. Stone flags and exposed stone walls grace the bar and there are leather sofas to sink on to. It is a good place for a reviving drink and a glance at the menu suggests that food might be in order to. Tempted by sea bass and duck we ordered and then made our way into the spacious dining room. Service was prompt and the food very good. The waitress explained that they had only been open five weeks but there were plenty of people dining on this sunlit Wednesday evening. Sharing a cheeseboard we pondered the way things were, when people had less money, transport was scarce and the simpler things in life were appreciated.

Stepping outside the inn it was difficult to believe that we were on the outskirts of a city. We drove past St. Brides church which has the plaque commemorating the Great Flood of 1606 and headed back toward the M4. You might want to go to the lighthouse too; if you live in Newport it is a great place for a stroll with an opportunity to appreciate the river, once busy with traffic for the docks. If you don’t live in the area, have a city break with a difference and if romance is on your mind, take a leaf out of Mr. Frost’s book and take your intended for a stroll down to the lighthouse.

West Usk Lighthouse B&B www.westusklighthouse.co.uk8S
The Inn at the Elm Tree, restaurant with rooms’
St. Brides Wentloog, Newport NP10 8SQ Tel 01633 681119