Lightship 2000 (Helwick)

I fancied doing something a bit different, so got a blip photo this evening of The Helwick Ship in Cardiff Bay, which is now a well known Cardiff Landmark, and known to most as a floating cafe. I took it from about 100 metres away and got a steel fish from the bridge in the foreground.

What most may not know is that it is known as Lightship 2000; a restored old red Lightvessel with a cafe and chapel on board situated in Cardiff Bay. During the redevelopment of Cardiff Bay, the Cardiff Bay Development Corporation called together the churches in Cardiff to discuss the role of Christianity in the Bay. Lightship 2000 is the result of these discussions

The ship was launched in 1953 and from that year until 1989 it was a working lightvessel in a number of locations around the UK, ending its working life at Rhossili on the Gower Peninsula to warn of the Helwick Swatch, a treacherous sandbank.

It was purchased in 1993 and refurbished as a floating Christian centre.