Reprieve for 'Woolf's' lighthouse

There is a light that should not go out, protesters said

The lighthouse which inspired a Virginia Woolf novel has been saved from closure.

Officials from UK lighthouse authority Trinity House had planned to axe the Godrevy landmark near St Ives, Cornwall, by 2010.

However, a public outcry has forced the authority's re-think.

Protesters said closing the site which inspired Virginia Woolf's best known work To The Lighthouse would put lives at risk.

Light dimmed

Trinity House had argued modern navigational aids such as global position systems by satellite meant there was no need for lights.

But after numerous meetings with harbour authorities, fishermen's associations and other organisations in Cornwall, Trinity House said that in the best interests of protecting the safety of mariners the lighthouse should stay.

However, there will be some changes. The power of the light will be reduced to have a range of 10 miles (16km) instead of 12 miles (19km).

But county councillor and Mayor of Hayle Terry Lello, who campaigned to save the light, said it was the right decision that would benefit many sailors; including local fishermen.

She said: "For larger ships I didn't think there was such an issue for them, unless their navigational equipment broke down.

"But this means a huge deal to small craft users who would traverse the northern coast and who don't have that equipment and can't afford it. So this, to them, is securing the future of fishing in Hayle."

The octagonal white tower marks a reef called the Stones and has been in service since 1859.

Woolf's novel To The Lighthouse drew on her memories of childhood holidays in St Ives.