I happened to spot this photo on Rightmove earlier this week.
It’s a view from the window of an apartment in the Sandbanks retirement development on King’s Gap and I like the view of not just the old Lighthouse but also the rears of the adjacent houses on Valentia Road. I wonder how Valentia Road got its name? Possibly as a result of the Romans? This wikipedia page discusses Valentia being a northern province of Roman Britain. But it could be named after Valentia Island?
I can remember the left-hand semi to the left (in the photo) of the lighthouse being for sale in the early 1990s for less than £90,000 …hindsight hey! Use Bing Maps to get a good “bird’s eye” view of the area – the imagery is evidently from a few years ago (Spring, 2007 actually) as you can the in-progress demolition and the old King’s Gap Hotel.
Personally, I’ve always thought it was rather a shame that these old, three-storey houses (anyone have an old photo of these?) were demolished to make way for the apartments :
I remember these houses so well. At one stage both were occupied by friends of my parents. If Charles Morris still follows this site he might comment.