The lighthouse was built after a passenger steamer was wrecked

Nash Point lighthouse, four miles west of Llantwit Major, was open for members of the public to look around it on Sunday.

It was the only time that Nash Point will be open to the public this year.

The guide was the lighthouse's attendant, Chris Williams, who was Britain's youngest lighthouse keeper when he worked at Nash Point for 18 months in the 1970s.

This will be a fantastic opportunity for people to see a 100-mile sweep from the Gower peninsula to the west and Bristol and Ilfracombe to the east Chris Williams, lighthouse attendant

For the last two years Mr Williams has been responsible for maintaining the lighthouse and changing the lights every three months.

"This will be a fantastic opportunity for people to see a 100-mile sweep from the Gower peninsula to the west and Bristol and Ilfracombe to the east," said Mr Williams.

Sandbanks

Nash Point was the last manned lighthouse in Wales before the change to an automated system in 1999.

Since the introduction of satellite navigational systems and the subsequent de-manning of lighthouses, a whole way of life has been lost.

Lighthouse-keeping was a specialised skill with some keepers living for weeks on end in soaring towers on or around the British coastline.

"Because Nash Point lighthouse is on the mainland it is powered by electricity all the time," added Mr Williams.

"But even if there is an electricity failure, a stand-by generator then cuts in and even if this cuts out a battery powered supply then comes on."

The lighthouse was built in 1832 to mark the sandbanks of the point at the entrance to the Bristol Channel.

The lighthouse was de-manned in 1999

The decision to build it followed a demand by the public after the passenger steamer Frolic was wrecked with heavy loss of life in 1830.

Two circular towers were built each with massive walls and a stone gallery.

Placed 300 metres apart, they provided lights to give safe passage past the sandbanks.

Both towers showed a fixed light which was either red or white depending on the direction from which a vessel approached - the red sector marking the sands.

The smaller tower was abandoned at the start of the 20th century and the main tower was modernised and painted white.

A plan to hold a permanent exhibition at the lighthouse from next year is currently being mooted.