Times have changed

The children who swing and slide here on their summer holidays, and indeed their parents too, are unlikely to cast even a second glance upon this unusual-looking structure that serves as the central offices of a small caravan park perched on a coastal headland.

Sixty years ago though, this was the main observation post of a coastal defence battery with a searchlight and two gun emplacements on the cliff below. There were serious concerns about an enemy attack from the sea (as happened with the French in 1797) and this was one of many vantage points along the coast of Wales that were manned and equipped as a first line of resistance.

Of course, it was never needed and like so many other defensive structures it found a new use. And there's a certain satisfaction to be had perhaps, from the fact of children playing safely under the shadow of this ghost building still watchfully facing out to sea.