Category Archives: United Kingdom

A Lighthouse Story – The Bell Rock Enigma

Children, Keepers, Light, Lighthouses, On The Job, Reprint, Scotland, Stories, United Kingdom, , , , , , ,
The winner , Eleanor Kirkland

In it’s seventh year the National Galleries of Scotland’s writing competition, Inspired? Get Writing! asked beginning authors to write a story or poem based on one of the gallery’s paintings. This request fired the imagination of 1,200 entrants this year (2012).

Entries are judged in five categories: Under 12s, 12-14s, 15-18s, Adults Prose and Adults Poetry. The work must be inspired by a piece of art in the National Galleries of Scotland permanent collection, which can be viewed at any of the galleries or online. Prizes include writing workshops and free tickets to major exhibitions. Three collections of winning work from the competition have already been published.

Here is one of the winners from the youth category, and naturally it is a story about a lighthouse or it wouldn’t be here on this website.

This winning story was written by eleven year old (11) Eleanor (Ellie) Kirkland of Perth, Scotland. She had never been in a lighthouse before and had no idea of the inner workings, but her imagination inspired her to create this eerie short tale. I have been given permission to publish it here for you. I think it is very good.

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The Bell Rock Lighthouse that inspired Eleanor Kirkland's short story
The Bell Rock lighthouse as it stands today - photo Wiki

THE BELL ROCK ENIGMA

ELEANOR KIRKLAND, 11, Craigclowan Prep School, Perth

 Inspiration: J. M. W. Turner’s1 Bell Rock Lighthouse

* * * Continue reading A Lighthouse Story – The Bell Rock Enigma →

Books – Chance Brothers – Early Suppliers of Equipment for Canadian Lighthouses

Books, England, History, Information, Light, Lighthouses, Old Website, Reprint, United Kingdom, , , , ,

Chance Brothers – Early Suppliers of Equipment for Canadian Lighthouses 

The graphic to the left appeared on The Lighthouse Society of Great Britain (LSGB) website.

After much Googling for it I finally found “With regret, this website has been closed.” The information below is printed with permission of Dr. Ken Tretheway. 

Dr. Trethewy’s site had all the data from this book on line in PDF files which I am going to host here as they are priceless documents showing the inner workings of older British and Canadian lighthouses. 

The available PDF file, A Few Notes on Modern Lighthouse Practice, can be read, saved, and downloaded from this link (2.45 MB).

The drawings in the gallery below are all referred to in the PDF book but are not reproduced therein.  Continue reading Books – Chance Brothers – Early Suppliers of Equipment for Canadian Lighthouses →

Book – 1855 Lights for Lighthouses

Books, Construction, England, Equipment, Foreign, History, Information, Light, Lighthouses, Reprint, United Kingdom, , , , , , ,

This book first published in 1855 is a copy of the original produced by the Chance Brothers factory. From the handwritten prices and information, it appears to be a salesman’s copy which would have been given to the prospective buyer. As each light was specifically made for one location only, then this would have been a one-of-a-kind catalogue. 

Download the complete book here in PDF format 22.5 MBs (60+ pages) – right click the link for more options)

If you wish to print the book, this scanned version size was 8.5″ x 11″ (21.5 x 28 cms.) 

The Lighthouse Keeper – A Day in the Life

Adult Memories, Advertisement, Books, Foreign, Lighthouses, Poetry, Scotland, , , , , ,
Scottish lighthouses

In December 2011 I received a Guestbook entry from a Scottish ex-lighthouse keeper who said “I was made redundant from the service in 1992 and the last Keeper retired from the service in 1998 . . .” His name is Peter Hill and he has written a few poems about his life and also a book. The poem I like the best is reproduced below. 

Peter was a keeper in Scotland and I was a keeper in Canada, and we have never met before, but he wrote in the poem below:

“I dress in darkness yet know my style, my clothes on dresser neatly piled.”

Now only a lighthouse keeper would write about this fact about dressing in the darkness to go on the morning shift. I did the same thing, as it allows our eyes to adjust to the darkness so we can see better before going outside to observe the weather for the upcoming weather report.

I hope you enjoy the poem as much as I did.

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The Lighthouse Keeper – A day in the Life

In softest echo and muffled beep, I am awakened from my shallow sleep
Anticipating that very call! It’s a wonder how I sleep at all
Accustomed and by ritual seed refreshed in body by slumbers need
My motions slow and gentle take, while sleeping Mags, am careful not to awake
I dress in darkness yet know my style, my clothes on dresser neatly piled.
Shirt and jumper left till last, washed and ready for my watch.

Just as quietly as before, I open out the double door, closing soft and handle gripped on well oiled hinge in jam it slips Continue reading The Lighthouse Keeper – A Day in the Life →

Don’t Let the Lighthouses Go Dark – special reprint

Anti-Automation, Automation, Construction, Foreign, Government, History, Lighthouses, Reprint, United Kingdom, , , , , ,

The following article by Bella Bathhurst from the Notting Hill Editions Journal was passed to me by a BC lightkeeper. It was so well written I asked permission to reprint it here. Pay special attention to the author’s reasons for keeping lighthouses.

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Don’t Let the Lighthouses go Dark by Bella Bathhurst
– published November 10, 2011

 – published with permission from Notting Hill Editions Journal

We are jettisoning lighthouses at our peril, writes Bella Bathurst, a lighthouse historian. Even in the age of GPS, they remain immensely useful, and retain deep symbolic power.

Twelve years ago, I wrote a book called The Lighthouse Stevensons about the construction of the lights around the Scottish coastline by Robert Louis Stevenson’s family. I was lucky to arrive at exactly the right moment.  In 1999, the last of the British lights were being automated and the few remaining keepers were disappearing towards extinction. The men I spoke to were mostly at or near retirement age anyway; most saw the logic of their own removal even if they weren’t persuaded by its effects.  At the beginning of the third millennium, you don’t need three grown men to change a lightbulb.  But what none of those last keepers would ever have understood or sanctioned was the idea of the lights themselves being switched off. 

The Skerryvore Lighthouse, 10 miles south-west of Tiree, in the Hebrides

Continue reading Don’t Let the Lighthouses Go Dark – special reprint →

Could the UK lighthouses be about to go in the dark?

Automation, England, Equipment, Foreign, Government, History, Lighthouses, United Kingdom, , , ,

From the BBC online news 

(NOTE: This is an image from the website. If the text is too small, hold down the CTRL key (lower left) on your keyboard and rotate the middle wheel on your mouse. The text will become larger or smaller depending on which direction you move the mouse wheel.) This applies to all websites and sites on the Internet.)

 

 

 

Book – Chance Brothers Diaphone Manual

Automation, Books, Construction, England, Equipment, Foghorns, History, Information, Lighthouses, Old Website, , , ,

Chance Diaphone Book

 

This is a PDF copy of the Chance Diaphone Manual, which explains all the workings of the Diaphone Foghorn, and lists the many versions of the foghorn, their ranges, working pressures, sizes, etc. Click the link above to read or download the book.