Maughold Headland and Lighthouse

Outside the Maughold church, we see across the street a field of hay bales framed by mountains and trees. You might think this is about as quintessentially Manx as you can get. But you'd be wrong.



There is a narrow road (even by Manx standards), that goes around the church and up the hill. From there, we see the church, cemetery, and village from the rear. You're seeing pretty much all there is here. It must be a brave thing to buy a house in one of these villages. You're going to have the same neighbors until either you or they die. Nothing is ever for sale.

But up on the headlands, we see the island as it really is. Fields of sheep and rugged coastline sparsely populated by the occasional white house. the crepuscular rays give this afternoon light a special character.

To the people who made pilgrimage here in the 5th to the 12th centuries, this must have seem like a magical (read: holy) place. It certainly seems that way to me.

On the edge of the headland is a lighthouse to warn the mariners. This lighthouse was completed in 1914 and uses a fresnel lens to focus the light. Interestingly, after it was automated in 1993, the keepers house was converted to a bed and breakfast. Now that would have been a cool place to stay! It was sold in 2014 for £600,000. One helluva commute from here to anywhere.

But I keep coming back to the view from here. Imaging owning the keepers house...waking up to this view in the morning and spending your day in the solitude of a place away from the world.