Meet Britain’s last remaining 'lighthouse keeper' who oversees a waterway 30 miles from the coast.<br /><br />Phil Austin, 83, has maintained his 35ft high red and white beacon on the banks of the beautiful Bridgewater Canal, in Grtr. Manchester, for 20 years.<br /><br />The retired management consultant said he put up his stone turret as he was barred from building a conventional home by his planning authority.<br /><br />Britain's final manned coastal beacon, the North Foreland Lighthouse, near Margate, Kent, was vacated by Dermot Cronin in November 1998.<br /><br />And though Phil's tower has no strict maritime function, he still enjoys watching vessels from his lantern room as they navigate the waterway below him.
