Point Lynas Lighthouse

Did you see the BBC "Coast" programme? If you did then you will remember that Point Lynas lighthouse was featured in the section covered from Holyhead to Liverpool. The presenter was able to demonstrate what used to be known as the optical telegraph system.

It appears that in the heyday of shipping owners were keen to steal a march on their competitors by getting advance information that their ship was on its way back and had stopped at Holyhead. There were telegraph stations every few miles within sight of each other and messages could be in Liverpool in a few minutes. The messages came in sets of numbers and the recipient needed the code book to be able to interpret the message.

There was a reference to the loss of the Royal Charter in an unusually strong hurricane. The BBC presenter was taken out in the Moelfre lifeboat to demonstrate how the ship was able to rig up a breeches buoy to transfer people to shore. The ship itself was lost when she approached Liverpool in the hurricane. It was the time when steam was starting to threaten sail and the Royal Charter was a sailing ship with an auxilliary steam engine. She was blown onto the rocks near Moelfre where the rocks shelved down into the sea. Despite deploying all her anchors she could not avoid the rocks. Questions were asked at the time as to why a number of crew were saved but no passengers. It was because the crew members were sent forward to rig up the rescue just before the ship broke in two. The passengers were kept back for their own safety!

If you visit Sea Watch in Moelfre during the summer you can see in the car park a section of the iron hull of the Royal Charter. At the seaward side of the building you can see a very lifelike sculpture of the late Dic Evans the former coxwain of the Moelfre lifeboat. Dic was famous for having won two gold medals for bravery and a bronze medal whilst coxwain.

Later the programme looked at the work of Bangor University's Ocean Sciences department which are located on Anglesey. Then they went on board the small ships that worked in the mussel industry. All in all it was an excellent programme.

Mention should be made of the visit to Great Orme where they showed the hidden cave. It was all fascinating and I felt proud to live in this amazing island with its extremely interesting history.