Leasowe

This disused lighthouse at Hale Head, to the south east of Liverpool, was built on the site of an earlier lighthouse dating from 1838 and was completed in 1907. It is now a private residence.

The lenses from the lighthouse are preserved in the Merseyside Maritime Museum. The 250 candle power lamp was lit by oil, and it is said that the beam was visible up to 64km away.

At this point the Mersey estuary is at its widest and though there’s little waterborne traffic today, only a 100 years ago it was one of the busiest ports in the world.

During the Second World War, the lighthouse remained lit and this attracted the attention of enemy aircraft. Bombs were dropped in the vicinity and on one occasion the keeper’s wife was machine gunned, from the air, as she was opening the lighthouse shutters.