LIVING IN A LIGHTHOUSE

Luke Matthews says that as soon as he saw the lighthouse he wanted to live in it. “I was looking for a place in the country where I could concentrate on my writing. I’m a successful novelist and I was fed up with people ringing the doorbell, so the lighthouse was the perfect answer.”

There’s a path from it that leads to the main road, and the nearest village is a 15-minute drive away so it’s certainly quiet. Does Luke feel lonely? “Not at all, I work much better alone. I prefer to work with the phone switched off too – I just don’t want anything to disturb me. If I want to be with friends, I can always drive to the local pub or go to London for the weekend. Besides, the views from the lighthouse are beautiful. For example, I love seeing the sun setting over the sea. Whenever I look up from my work, there’s a beautiful scene. I especially love watching the thunderstorms and lightening, luckily the lighthouse is very well built because it can get very windy at times!” In fact, the walls of the lighthouse are made from granite and the glass in the windows is thick. It stood there for over one hundred years.

“People think I live in a completely quiet place but this isn’t true. Not only is the wind quite noisy but there are also lots of sea birds. The waves crashing on the rocks can be noisy too, but I like that. When it’s calmer, I go out and do a bit of fishing – there’s nothing nicer than eating freshly caught fish. I sometimes see whales, dolphins and seals playing near the rocks. I love all this and I’m finding it difficult to return to London – I just want to be here with the smell of the sea and the wind in my hair.”

Inside the lighthouse it is comfortable, and a lot quieter too. The front door leads into the kitchen. Luke explains that the gas stove is on because he’s baking some bread. We climb the staircase and reach the living room which has a number of large armchairs, hundreds of books and no TV. “I didn’t hang any pictures – the wonderful views are enough to look at!” Next floor up is a bedroom and a small bathroom, and right at the top is the study. Here there are more books, a computer sitting on a small table and, of course, the same wonderful views. “My only regret is that it’s too windy to grow vegetables, but the rabbits would eat everything anyway. Otherwise, for me, this is simply the best place in the world!”