Black Nore Lighthouse lies on the Severn Estuary coastline at Portishead, Bristol, UK. The coast path is a short walk from home for us and one of our regular dog walking routes.

The lighthouse was decommissioned in 2010, by Trinity House, and was due to be demolished. It was saved by a preservation trust although it’s no longer a working lighthouse. I’m fortunate enough to have been inside the lighthouse, when it was still in use back in the 1990’s. I was working as a local policeman at the time and we were called here after a member of the public reported a suspicious man breaking into the lighthouse.

The suspicious man was in fact a maintenance engineer working for Trinity House and was in the lighthouse to service the lenses. So, work wise, for us ‘a false call with good intent‘.

However, we didn’t leave straight away as the engineer invited us in and gave us a short tour. It was a very short tour because inside it’s tiny and most of the space was taken up by the huge lens. I’m still not sure how three of us got in there. It was really interesting though as the light was produced by a very small light bulb, shining through the huge revolving lens.

Tour over we left pretty promptly as, after all, we were working. In truth, us leaving promptly probably had more to do with the chances of us being offered a cup of tea by the engineer being remote to non existent.

These days the lighthouse is a local landmark and a regular resting place for coast path walkers. It’s also a popular attraction for photographers at sunset, as per the image at the top of the article. The sun goes down behind the Welsh Hills on the opposite side of the Estuary and makes for some spectacular sunsets. I was one of those evening photographers and I shot the image below in 2009 when it was still a working lighthouse.

It’s hard to imagine that someone considered demolishing this lovely lighthouse. It’s a Grade II listed building now so it’s future should be safe with the preservation trust.

All images: ©Stephen Hyde 2007-2025 – All rights reserved.