Heidi Cowen points to a space on the floor in the middle of the Lighthouse Tearoom and says: "This is where my bedroom was.'' Miss Cowen has come home. After three decades of being away from the lighthouse, she has returned and made the place her own.

As a child she would take sandwiches up the hundreds of stairs to her grandfather, Rudolph Cowen, the last keeper at the lighthouse before it became automated.

The soaring metal structure was her back yard, the never-ending tourists her playmates over the formative years of her life.

From the age of three until six, Miss Cowen moved in with her grandparents into the lighthouse. For three years she called the place home -- a memory that has stayed with her all her life.

Now Miss Cowen, who has worked in restaurants and bars for over a decade, has bought the business and will run the tearoom.

She said: "It hasn't changed one bit. When my father, Toppy, came up to see it with me, he could not believe the kitchen. He said: `It is just the same as when I was a kid.' "This is it, this is my dream. I cannot believe that I am actually here! It is like coming home.'' Miss Cowen's enthusiasm for the lighthouse could be genetic. She comes from a long line of lighthouse keepers who kept the first ships from the perils of the reefs.

Not only was Rudolph Cowen the lighthouse keeper, but his father before him and his father before him. Now five generations of Cowen on, a Cowen is once again at the helm after she bought the tearoom from its previous owners, Janice and Michael Burke.

The Burkes, who have the Blue Water Diving Club, are said to be taking time out to concentrate on other ventures.

It has come with all the fixtures, and although she says she may make minor alterations, she loves the relaxed family atmosphere of the place and would not dream of changing it.

"What they did when they turned it from a house to a tea room in the 1990s was they just knocked all the walls down and created a big space. It is a wonderful location.

"People love the sofa and chairs and the homely feeling about it.'' Miss Cowen, who only lives a minute's walk away from the lighthouse, has taken on the business with the existing staff. Terry Iris has been working at the place as a waiter for six years, and Leo Seymour, for three and a half. They will soon be joined by a chef. She hopes to build on the reputation of the teahouse, which can serve up to 180 covers a day in the peak season, to give the tearoom more local flavour by adding more local dishes and adding more home baking to the menu.

"Tourists love it and so do the locals, so why not?'' she said.

She is also looking into extending the opening hours, currently 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., to opening in the evening for dinner.

"I still have to do my homework, but it would be nice to offer a simple menu at a reasonable price. You cannot beat value for money.'' Miss Cowen says she has not yet looked into the complexities involved in doing this, such as getting a licence or what other permission she would need.

But she is willing to try.

"Over the years there have been a lot of private functions here in the evening. It is such a beautiful place, I am sure people will come.

"The menu would have to be limited, because the kitchen is small. But it is an idea I am working on.'' Lighthouse keepers: Heidi Cowen serves up tea for her customers at the Lighthouse Tearoom, which she has just taken over. At right is her grandmother Gladys Cowen working in the kitchen in the same Southampton lighthouse in the 1960s when Ms Cowen's grandfather was its keeper.