[Arran]

In some areas you can pick up beacons on the longwave band though I have heard that you can sometimes pick up longwave stations from Europe from the Eastern end and sometimes the middle of the continent with the right antenna. Other then that if you can pick up anything at all it's usually a navigation beacon. Apparently there is some interest, and some proposals, for using the longwave frequencies for amateur use so it may not be as useless in the future.
Does the lens in front of your dial have a window at the top?
Regards
Arran