Bishop Rock Lighthouse, walk through tour. mid 1990's
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- Опубликовано: 2 окт 2024
- This was shot on video tape with a fisheye lens, in the 1990's.
I got a helicopter ride out with the crew who were about to automate the place. So i only had a few hours on site. This was also the 1st time I had been back from when I was stationed here in the 80's. I was a Lighthouse Keeper from 1974 to 1997.
It was so good you were able to get some video footage for posterity! Amazing tour, thanks for sharing!
Cheers, glad you liked it.
That was fascinating to watch. Not sure if I would ever get used to the generators running and the fog horn blasting to get a hour's sleep though!
Thanks, if you look on my site there is a 50 minute movie I made of life in a wave washed lighthouse which tries to show what our keepers lives were like. As can be seen from the film, it takes a while to get used to the din of the fog horn!
I see we are men of similar interests lol
Peter Hall my dad was a keeper as a baby I learnt to sleep through fog horns and nothing wakes me now
Well done on preserving the history of this light house on video.
Thank you, I will slowly bring out more that I managed to do.
Hi my dad was a lighthouse keeper in the 40,s on bishop Rock. They used to make rag rugs to amuse themselves and for a but of extra money for families at home.
Superb film. Really enjoyed it , its such a shame that trinity house automated all its lighthouses as that would be such a good job living and working in those off shore towers.
Thank you, I agree about it would be great still to employ people to go out on the Tower Rocks.
Yeah.. For better maintenance... From 🇵🇭
I am 73 years old and have been waiting for the best part of it for your scintillating insight into life in a light house. Thank you. I strongly feel it must have been a fascinating place for people to have spent part at least of their lives in.
Thank you for your kind words. I'm now 70 and wish I could be doing my Lighthouse years all over again. Lots more to come out but a fair amount will be the inside of empty buildings, the reason being that not every Keeper wanted a camera pointed at them. I did do a good one on the Needles Lighthouse that includes Christmas and New Years celebrations on board, so hopefully I will be posting that in the not too distant future.
Fascinating! This is such valuable stuff - a proper historical record from the days before automation put an end to keepers' work. Cheers :-)
Glad you liked it, more to come later hopefully.
Yes why did they make them into automated. A good job it would have been. Another job lost for man.
Yes some progress sucks but it was inevitable I guess, at least I have the videos and memories to look back on, cheers.
Great video! Peter your time being a lighthouse keeper did you see any strange lights out at sea like UFOs and or did you hear of any other keepers talk about strange sightings ?
Thank you and no I never saw anything like that, and no other Keeper has ever mentioned it to me either. That said, we are only looking out of tiny windows and I never asked any other Keepers those questions, take care and Merry Christmas
Just caught this now, I also would like to say thank you for recording this. It's been so long since I've seen a video flimed from the 1990's with such clear picture and explanations. I hope your doing well and thanks again!
Thank you for the kind words Sweet Mammoth, glad you like the videos. Take care and stay safe.
Great stuff, and no music !,, hooray. Thanks
So it's not just me?..Ha, thanks
Thanks again Peter for another fantastic lighthouse tour. I can only imagine the obstacles the masons and engineers had to overcome so far out at sea to build this magnificent edifice in 1858.
Cheers mate, take care and stay safe.
Very interesting video. I never knew there was so much stuff in a lighthouse!! I could live there - no problem!!
Me too!, thanks, glad you found it interesting, stay safe.
fernleystephens2436
I have taken boat trips out to Bishop Rock Lighthouse and admired the other thanks to St. Mary's Boatman's Association, while holidaying on Scilly. Thanks for the tour of the inside.
Thank you very much Fernley, glad you liked the tour inside and welcome to my channel. Take care and stay safe.
Thanks Peter. Lighthouses have always fascinated me.
You are welcome, and you may have guessed already but they fascinate me too, take care
Digitizing these old tapes for prosperity is a great way to show life of a bygone era - very interesting to see how people coped living in Lighthouses
Brilliant. Really interesting but also sad that it’s all automated now
Thank you, yes it is sad, have a Merry Christmas,take care.
@@PeterHalil Sup Pete?
As a natural born loner. This place would be my vacation of a life time!!! Throw in a nice loner women to pick up after me...(Just kiddin girls!) lots of board games, books, stories, NO PHONES! Woo-Hoo!
LOL, and I was thinking with the way this virus is spreading, now would be a good time to be out there again! take care.
Peter,
Thank you for posting this fascinating video. I have always been interested in lighthouses and often wondered what it would be like to be a lighthouse keeper. Your video gives me a pretty good idea of what you had to do day to day. How did you keep from getting bored?
That's the million dollar question, most Keepers had a hobby, some fished one even made video's! Ha. Thanks for your comments.
Where is the radio you use if you see Jaw's 🦈
Thanks again Peter,they are really something these lighthouses perched upon a bit of rock,waves crashing😊
Thank you, I think so too.
Very interesting tour! Thank you very much for sharing this with us.
Glad you liked it, thanks.
Mind boggling to think of the tremendous work it took to get all the furniture, appliances, cooking utensils, bedding, etc out there and installed. I can barely comprehend how many trips it must have taken and all the hardship associated with it all. I've always wondered what these offshore lights truly looked like inside. Thanks for sharing.
You are welcome, yes indeed, and to think everything was man handled back in the day. Cheers and stay safe
Fucking air cooled Diesel engines would drive most folks bloody mad....
“Sea view of course”!
Of course, on all sides and sometimes over the top.
I couldn't take the generator noise enough to finish the video. However, praises to all those who put up with that and other things to save others.
Cheers, when I was there it was all background noise, it's only since I've had to sit through hours and days of editing that I can see what you mean Ha.
Those banana bunks look... uncomfortable!
Back in the day, I found them OK, I slept fine...nowadays though, with an older body, I'm not sure.
I love these tours so much. There’s no way most of us would ever get to experience the atmosphere of a lighthouse. You capture it perfectly. Thanks for doing it.
Thank you Dave for your kind words, glad you like them, I enjoyed making them, cheers and stay safe
I agree Dave triple wow!
@@PeterHalil I have a friend who comes from Peacehaven and his accent and pronunciation is identical to yours. If I close my eyes it could be him speaking. You're not from round that way are you?
@@davesaunders3334 Hi Dave, not sure where my accent really comes from, I was born a Cockney in Stepney, London. Moved to East Anglia when I was 8, then the Royal Navy, so I guess it must be a blend of all of that? cheers
@@larryteager6382 Thank you Larry, glad you enjoy my videos too. Take care and stay safe.
Thank you again. Being from the western US where there are no large bodies of water, I find your videos really interesting. Your walkthrough and interview videos are a valuable record.
Glad you like them Buzz, take care.
Wonderful footage ,thank you so much for sharing. What did you do after finishing in such an unusual job? It must of been hard to follow!
Hi Peter, I’m so pleased to have found this. When I was a little girl in the 80s I wrote to Trinity House and they put me in touch with one of the lighthouse keepers at Bishop Rock who wrote to me. Sadly I can’t remember the name of the lighthouse keeper but it could have been yourself of one of your colleagues. I was a lonely child and the fact that someone had taken the trouble to write to me has stayed with my for my entire life. I have always wondered about ‘my lighthouse keeper’ and what became of him and wish I had stayed in touch.
Hi Lindy, I don't think it was me that you wrote to.
If you really feel the need to try to track him down, then I suggest contacting the Association Of Lighthouse Keepers who can be found at alk.org.uk/
It may be a long shot but there is a bigger pool of ex Lighthouse Keepers to draw from there. Anyway, you have found my you tube channel and I'm pleased that my videos have reached people like yourself. I'm also glad that your request reached a Keeper that took the time to respond to you.
Hope you are OK in these troubled times, there will be many more Lighthouse videos, some longer than others. Here's hoping you like those as well. Take care and stay safe.
Peter Halil thank you so much for responding. Finding this video of the lighthouse where he wrote his letters has certainly reignited my curiosity so I might pursue the lead that you’ve given me. I am in the process of writing a book for my children which is loosely based on my communications with a lighthouse keeper so your videos are going to be a really useful source of information. I’ll certainly follow your channel with interest! Thanks, Linda
What a heartwarming storie very nice thanks Lindy!
Amazing!
Cheers mate.
Superb footage, and well done for capturing it and sharing with us.
I hadn't appreciated how tight it is inside or just how intrusive the generator noise is, a twinge of sadness knowing that this was at the time of automation. I have always admired the Bishop from afar as my family are from the Scillies, some going back in time were involved with the boat relief. I have an uncle on St Agnes who used to keep a look out on the light and would report if anything appeared wrong, I believe he mentioned that the main doors were ripped away by the waves once.
I also fondly remember the Trinity House Bo105 helicopter which was based at St Mawgan for a while, even the sound of it on your film brought back memories. Thank you again Peter.
Hi, thanks for your kind words and so glad the footage tugged at your memories. I lived in the Trinity cottages on the Scillies for a while and did a one and only winched boat relief, the rest were helicopter. I have a photo of me plus one without me in it of the damaged doors on the Bishop. The picture was taken at the Lighthouse Museum in Penzance (since closed) don't know where all the museum stuff went to or the Bishop doors, take care.
@@PeterHalil sorry for delay, that museum at Penzance was a great little place, shame like many small museums that it closed. I believe some of the exhibits went to the National Maritime Museum at Falmouth, but haven't been there to confirm.
Great tour not the greatest camera but it shows how fast the cameras are geting beter rember 15 years ago i bought a good vidio camera for close to $1000and it was huge. Now they can be straped to your head and and work so good you can buy a decent camera for like under 200 its crazzy how quik tecnolagy changes
Yes indeed, that camera, 25 plus years ago was about £1000, and you had to get screw on wide angle lenses, which were terrible. Also I had to wait a very long time before the tech enabled me to get it digitized.I now have a Gopro, which if only I could go back in time, would be brilliant! cheers.
This would be a perfect job for my wife....any chance of giving her a job with a 25 year contract without leave, Safety gear not required, her face would calm any sea....it would be much appreciated if you could help.
Shame on you!
So beautiful to see this film, and lovely to know you were at South Stack. I've loved lighthouses all my life and as a child we used to do the South Stack tour by the keepers a lot - loved it. I still remember as a child pushing the lantern around on the mercury and being amazed! Maybe it's your fault I love lighthouses! :o) Your photo with the lantern is beautiful.
Now, we are near the *beautiful* Plover Scar lighthouse (1847 - managed at one point by the Parkinson family and Mrs Parkinson was filmed managing the light in 1948!). Plover Scar was *so* fortunate to have been critically hit by shipping in 2016 and as a result was repaired. Prior to the collision, she was in a very poor state and, although a wonderful repair was done, I was so sad it wasn't a full restoration because her lanturn is now shuttered with metal plates and a solar powered light sits on the outside of her lantern. *However*: without the accident they were looking to pull her down she was in such a sad state, so we have to be thankful for small (or huge ship-shaped!) mercies that will allow her to be there for another hundred or so years. At high tide she sits two-thirds of her deep in water so the engineering is amazing that she has stayed there since 1847... and I would personally hug the ship-Captain who hit her, as she is beautiful to see and I'm so glad she's now going to be there for a long time!
Thank you Ani, so glad you enjoy my videos, I must have shown hundreds around South Stack on a tour so that's brought back some memories.
Thank you also for telling us about the Plover Scar Lighthouse, I never knew that Lighthouse existed till your memories when I hastily Googled it! Isn't it strange how many ships collide with Lighthouses that are pretty much hard to miss!...visually I mean, take care.
I sincerely enjoyed watching your video from beginning to end. I've seen the outside of New England lighthouses from Maine to Rhode Island, watched a winter storm batter Minot's Ledge Light on the Massachusetts coast, but your presentation was totally fascinating to watch. I had no idea how complicated the workings of a modern-day lighthouse were until I saw your presentation. Thank you very much for a clear description of living conditions in a lighthouse. Again, it is fascinating.
Thank you, glad you liked it. It was a dream job for me, one where I loved going to work.
Jesus is it always that loud in there??
My question is how did they get them Engine's/generators into the lighthouse? Did they have to build them in the lighthouse?
I'm assuming again!... the doorway from the engine room to the outside walkway is big enough and it is right under the crane, alternatively they came already in the structure as you suggested.
This is AMAZING. Totally comprehensive and methodical! I would love to live there alone :) Though I imagine the constant droning of the generators not to mention deafening blasts of the horns would probably go a long ways toward erasing the "romance" of the place after a very short time. The mercury vapor concentration in the lens room must have been phenomenal, would have been interesting to test the blood levels of the men after their months long work. Dare I ask what happened to all the trash the keepers accumulated during their time there?
The trash like everything in those days went out the window, but in the latter years it was all bagged up in the base of the tower to come ashore for disposal...plus if it was safe to get out on the rocks on some stations, some were burnt. The noise becomes background noise, even the fog horns you learn to sleep through. When cleaning the lens etc we had the outside door open for ventilation, but yes it would have been a good idea to test us for mercury poisoning.
haha, pretty much what I thought happened to it.
@@PeterHalil Actually, I doubt that the level of mercury in your bodies would have been all that bad. People worry rather more than necessary about 'normal' uses of mercury. There would be considerable ventilation up there too. It would certainly be detectable but then so is it detectable in everyone. You can have mercury barometers inside heated homes without any significant risk after all. The key thing is did you have to top up the mercury on any sort of regular/monthly basis? That might indicate if there ever was a problem.
@@corrigenda70 We didn't top it up on a regular basis, in fact I only saw it done once in all my time... I still remember a Science lesson in School where the teacher poured us a blob each on our desks to play with!
The attention to details is phenomenal in your videos Peter. Another incredible tour of a beautiful lighthouse
Thank you for your very kind words, glad you found my channel. Take care, cheers
I would pull a matress up to the sit room for more piece and quiet the jenny is so loud id build sound proof sroud around it
As they have automated these places, the newer engines etc got a lot quieter.I don't know if my camera made everything noisier, or, we just got so used to it all, that it was just background noise.
Day of the Triffids, Sea water is the only way to get rid of them! Must see Movie 🌴
Seen it, got it, cheers.
Thank you for posting. I live in the USA, but I'm from Canada. I remember going to the islands where my grandfather was a keeper on big fish island in Nova Scotia. The lighthouse was nothing like this one. But have times changed
Thanks for your comments, I shall now have to Google Big fish island lighthouse to see where your Grandfather served, take care.
@@PeterHalil if you look at the southern tip of Nova Scotia find a town called wedgeport it's right in the inlet to the tusket river. He also helped pease island. What country was your light?
@@dwaynepothier6161 Thanks I've found it ok. My lighthouses are all in England and Wales. This one, the Bishop rock is South of Lands end in Cornwall and offshore from the Isles of Scilly.
Thanks for sharing this fascinating piece of our maritime history. Countless lives saved by brave men.
Thanks for your comments and I loved every minute (well almost Ha! ) of my job.
Thanks for posting this video, fascinating insight , very enjoyable.
Glad you liked it, more to come hopefully.
Ik very happy to see they restored abandoned light house..
One of the dislikes is from former Blue Peter presenter Leslie Judd.
Haha, cheers.
Thats crazy how that was made there. Huge respect to those that made it. Would love to know how they did that
me too, now where is Hollywood when you need it.Ha, take care
51 metres isn't 144 feet. - but the 44 metres up to the light is 144 feet.
Noted, cheers, this mistake was rectified in my Bishop return video.
What's the point of automating lighthouses when it's the dream job for thousands of people?
Is this Bishops Rock at the Cortes Bank in the Pacific ocean?
No, it is Bishops Rock, Isles of Scilly off of the coast of Cornwall in England
shame that these lighthouses "must" be modernised and automated. im sure a team of keepers would be more effective!
am i right thinking that after the automation there wouldnt be any keeper (s) at all to make sure the automated systems stay in working properly at all times?
forgot to say thanks for this upload, its nice to see the inside of these fabulous buildings!
Hi, thanks, no nobody goes out to look after these places like the keepers used to apart from the occasional workman to service engines etc. Talking of checking on things working, when keepers were on lighthouses one of the jobs was to hand pump fuel up for the day to the top of lighthouse header tank. The keepers knew how many pumps it took. There was another Lighthouse that was automated that they had this task done automatically with a stop mechanism built in when it got full up. Worked great till one day the stop bit failed and they hadn't thought of that, there was no alarms to say what had happened and it just kept pumping and pumping overflowing all the way down through the Tower. Nobody knew till the engine stopped, you can imagine the horror that confronted them when they went out to investigate!
Pete may be referring to the Smalls Light.
On two occasions after automation fuel was lost at the Smalls. The first occasion was not through mechanical failure but the power of the sea. During a very bad storm the concrete bunker holding the fuel tanks on the landing was breached resulting in the fibre glass tank splitting.
Monitoring the Smalls from St. Anns Light we noticed the fuel figures dropping over a period of time and that was the only indication we had of the breach.
The other occasion was as described by Pete, I will never forget the shimmering slick of diesel the greeted us as we approached the Smalls, 3000lts makes a big slick.
@@PHAROS23 Hi, Thanks for confirming what I only heard in hearsay, I didn't know about the 1st incident. Take care.
1970s to 1990s?
Page 71+2
1: whatever is a double type of incorporation.
And the chair magically disappears at 13:00.
LOL. oops, I think I moved the chair so you could see the little cupboard.
Makes you wonder how they got a gas cooker up there?!!!!
and everything else! Lol...stay safe
Fascinating look at the inside of a lighthouse.
Many years ago I had to winch the keeper off Bishop Rock, we couldn’t land on it like they do now, Wessex 5, we where too big and heavy.
Very interesting as you are hovering 150ft up. Pilot has no visual reference, and the crew man, is glancing between 15ft below to instantly 150ft below.
We had... several attempts ... before we managed to get the keeper off. He was not happy with our efforts... but as he had broken ribs he had no choice but to be flown off.
great, that brings back several memories. I was a chockhead in the Navy before being a Keeper and did 2 years a piece on HMS Victorious and Ark Royal flight decks. After the Lighthouses I was a Refueler of 22 squadron rescue helicopters at RAF Valley up here on Anglesey, also did the fixed as well, but I've always loved the helos .Cheers you boys did a very tricky job in some atrocious conditions, take care
Peter Halil I was an aircrewman at Culdrose, ended up on Seakings. I’ll dig out my flying log book and see if I can find the date :)
@@999rooneydog Small world, I was also at Culdrose and Yeovil and of course up here 22 were all Seakings. I was in the Navy 64 to 72 and Lighthouses 74 to 97. The next video I'm editing as we speak should be about the Skerries up here on Anglesey and has a sequence when 22 popped in for a practice in a Wessex.
Could probably do 10 day's as long as there was a stair lift lol.
Ha, after coming ashore from a month on a tower light I found that for the first couple of days, walking in a straight line was tiring!
Thanks very much...I really enjoyed your vlog.Been to the Scillies twice now,and always wondered what the BR lighthouse was like..👍🍺
Thank you, glad you liked it, take care.
Very very cool. Reminds of the "Distant Early Warning" or DEW line . I must ask ... during the worst Gail's while laying in bed .... Did you feel anything ? Small vibration ? Echoes etc. ?
Regards
Paul
Paul, cheers mate, Yes the place would shake or quiver in a big storm. Nothing violent, just a nice rock you could feel laying in your bunk, and up in the lantern.
Peter Halil
Wow ...
I’d be looking at blue prints to convince myself it was overbuild like everything was back then lol. I do love white noise so the generators would knock me out .
I work in a Hydro electric plant in Canada . They vibrate and sway a little too 😉
Cheers 🍻
Gail is a female name.....the word for a storm is 'GALE'.
June Johnson
Thanks June my bad
Great video. Thanks. My Uncle Colin was a Keeper on the Bishop Rock, in 1988 for my 13th birthday, I was flown out to the BR as he was heading out for his month on, I was invited onto the helipad, but declined as terrified of heights. ( I deeply regret not going out now, just stayed in the helicopter).
Thanks Brian, glad you like the video, I know what you mean about heights, although I was OK if there was a railing or a safety net. At least you were one of the few that got to see the bishop out to sea from a unique angle. Your Uncles name rings a bell but I don't think we ever met, but could be wrong on that. Take care.
Why does it rotate in daylight hours when there is no need to just wearing it out would last twice as long if only used when needed
Ok, when us Keepers were there we turned the light on and off and stopped it all during daylight hours, and more importantly put curtains up. The curtains had to go up during the day because of the lens and the sun could melt stuff or start fires so when they automate the place they keep everything turning. I was on South Stack, Anglesey cleaning the lens one day. I was doing the outside and the boss was doing the inside. It was sunny but we didn't bother with all the curtains. At one point there was a yell from my boss as the sun and lens had just burnt a hole in the back of his trousers, we always put all the curtains up after that lesson. Ha
Excellent thanks
It’s like the ISS, but with gravity.
Yes Geoffrey, by the time they had filled the place with all that machinery it was almost like somebody said, hang on a mo, where do we put the men, LOL take care.
Neat vid. What did you typically do all day while manning this? I assume mostly just read books unless something had to be addressed (which was probably not all that often)?
Amazing tour.
Glad you liked it.
Hi Peter, did you ever stay at the lighthouse keepers cottages on St Marys or did you go home on leave? We go there every August and always enjoy our annual boat trip out to the Bishop. I have found out how heavy it weighs (over 5500 tonnes) and now understand how it has endured the pounding from all of the waves. All the best, Darren
Hi, I lived in one of the Lighthouse Keepers cottages on St Marys when I was stationed on the Bishop Rock. You obviously know how beautiful the Scillies are if you Holiday there so often. take care and stay safe.
wonderful tour. thanks for sharing.
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it.
The Bishop Rock Lighthouse. Thanks for recording it.
You are welcome, I enjoyed doing it, hope you found it interesting.
Thanks for such a well made record. As a child I made a number of trips to this lighthouse, in the boat of a friend of my Aunt, who lived on St Mary's, Isles of Scilly. They were mostly sightseeing tours but I'm fairly sure, on one occasion, that something was delivered to the keeper. Would have been around 1960, no helipad then.
Thank you, I was editing one of my Keeper interviews and he was on about all the "Goodies" that were sent up from the tourist boats.
Great video Peter.
I am just reading Seashaken Houses but this really brings home the level of confinement you all endured. The book reveals that the last version of this Lighthouse was built around the previous one, which explains the depth of the windows on the lower levels.
The noise from the generators seems incessant but I’d imagine it would be far more noticeable when it stopped?
The thing that seems especially difficult to comprehend is that the weight and bulk of diesel and fresh water seems too much to transport via helicopter and then to be manhandled to lower levels? Is there still an occasional resupply of large volumes brought in by boat and pumped across in calm weather?
Hi Nick, Everything comes by Helicopter and is gravity fed down from the top. The Helicopter pilots seem to handle it all very well, make it look easy, which I'm sure it isn't. Nothing can come by boat now as there is nobody there and the art of boat work has been lost, stay safe.
Terrible commentary!! "That is a window" "And here we have a door" This is the cooker" Blah blah blah!
What ship?? What Rock?? HMS Queen Mary reply to radio challenge sent from the Bishop Rock.
???
Peter, As you spent time here you became used to the surrounding and noises. What a beautiful place if you were a loner at heart. A few questions please? When you spent time here was it six men stationed here . Hopefully they somehow all got along. What about the haunting, ghostly factor? Any strange things that might be hard to explain? Thanks for the wonderful tour. Not for me.
Most of the time people got along but yes there were some occasional clashes of personality. I never heard of any ghosts on tower rocks but a few keepers had experiences with the coquet up on the north east coast. I had something that couldn't be explained on the Longstone. This is the place that made Grace Darling famous. Basically the lighthouse and quarters were separated by a small yard. The tower you had to go up to light up and to check every now and then involved the normal spiral stairs, and passing grace darlings old bedroom. On more than one occasion her bedroom door would be open and the light on, I would turn the light off and shut her door. When I came back past the room, the door would be open again and the light on. It wasn't the other Keepers playing around as it was all hours through the night. Never felt scared though, but...mmmm
Have to know what way the wind was blowing when ya emptied it.....otherwise you'd throw poo all over the side of your house.😄😄😄
Very complex .... my guess if new technology were used these days.....much less machinery needed. Just guessing I know nothing of lighthouses, not many hundreds ofmiles inland
Yes things would be far less complicated I guess, but glad I could be part of a now lost History.
Another excellent preservation video - Its so amazing to show much effort went into keeping that light burning, and how now solar and gps have changed the lighthouses and sea navigation.
Makes no sense that GPS has destroyed the existence of the lighthouse. They are notoriously fickle and work only half the time. Getting a signal is almost impossible in a storm so how does a ship find its way when the GPS equipment keeps losing its signal. Isn't the $500 unit you buy off the shelf the same used in a fishing boat?
Fantastic video Peter! This was really interesting to see. Quite educational too. Videos like this help to preserve the past and show people what life (for some) was like. Thank you very much for sharing this! I’m impressed by the complexity of the place also!
Thank you, glad you liked it. I did loads of videoing over the dieing years of us keepers so hopefully will put them out in time, once I learn more about editing. Only a few movies with us keepers in trying to show our passing way of life mainly because an awful lot of them were camera shy, the nature of the beast I guess.
I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this video. Excellent work explaining and describing each level. Outstanding. I used to be a nuclear missile maintenance officer in an underground silo and I see so many similarities. This being the world's smallest island with a building on it makes it even more fascinating.
Grief, that sounds an interesting job, glad you enjoyed our efforts, take care and stay safe.
Love it so much Thank you
Thank you, glad you loved it, take care
Fascinating. Thank you for doing this.
Thank you Jason, glad you liked it, take care.
never did real service then you make it fit? Started showing this to my old man ex raf fleet ect you want to hear how kak yours is? I would happy swap that
I saw your comment in *_RAN Sailing_* about your career as a Lighthouse Keeper, and out of curiosity found your interesting Channel. I'm glad you made that comment, so I subscribed for more fascinating walks and views of places far from my home in South East Asia.
great, where in south east asia?
@@PeterHalil Chiang Mai, Thailand. A city far from the ocean, so your videos are quite a contrast to my daily experience!
Hi Peter, I have watched most of your videos on lighthouses and find them very interesting. I've been out to see Bishop Rock many times when on holiday in the Scillies. Being a builder myself, I am in awe of how they built it on that small rock. I believe you've worked at both the Bishop and Wolf rock. Is the Bishop more prone to be hit by bigger waves than the Wolf? Thank you for all of your videos.
Hi Darren, No I haven't served on the Wolf, I was only on that one for the videoing. The wolf is renowned for it's heavy seas and spectacular waves up and over. I never did any duty in real bad weather on the Bishop. Most Keepers say the Wolf for the big stuff, but it is a much shorter tower than the Bishop, so I guess that is why it looks more spectacular in the photos etc, that said, the Bishop had it's entrance door near the base, stove in by wave action, and the door is made of bronze. take care
Hello Peter and thank you for replying. I was just wondering, apart from missing loved ones, what did you find worse, the constant diesel engine noise which I have noticed on your videos or working with other keepers you may not get on with? If you knew there were keepers you may not get on with when you're assigned to a lighthouse, could you change your posting to another lighthouse? Many thanks, Darren
@@darrengardiner1841 The constant engine noise seems to come over louder on the videos, I never found it a real problem, I guess we just put it into background noise. I suppose you could ask not to go to a lighthouse with somebody you didn't get on with, but on the whole, the assoles you tend to meet in life were few and far between in the Lighthouse service, cheers.
Why don't they stop the rotation of the lens when the bulb is off?
When they automate they keep the lens turning because all the magnification of all that glass can start fires or melt electric cables.
@@PeterHalil Thanks for the answer. I've had this question since I was a child. I never thought that this might be the reason. Only lately I was wondering if it was done in order to prevent cracks on the lens, caused by stresses due to difference in temperature between the warm and cold parts of the lens..
I love the way the fuel tanks were designed to get through the narrow stairwells, that and the 'portapotty' windows version that had to be emptied with great care unless you wanted to go back to your bendy bunk damp and smelly.
Ha Ha, yes we had to be very careful! and one of the morning jobs was to bleach the potties.
Incredible video! What is the longest period of time that you were stationed here? Now that it is automated do they ever station people at the lighthouse?
I wasn't stationed there for very long, just a few months. Also when I was a Keeper if we were on a Lighthouse out to sea, you did one month on board followed by one month free of duty ashore. I never got stuck anywhere by storms, however, the Keepers in the era long before i joined did two months on board and one ashore and every where was done by boat. Those men regularly did days and even weeks extra on a Lighthouse if stormy weather blew up.Oh yes, people go out from time to time just to maintain engines etc or to fix faults, but not sure how often or for how long.
Terrific video, thanks for putting this together.
Thanks for the kind comments, and I'm glad you liked it, more to follow hopefully.
Amazing video and yet sad at the same time, I couldn't help feeling as if the automation crew had somehow invaded and taken over this beautiful building, I feel for all the keepers who maybe spend much of their time living in memories now, respect to all of you past and present 👍
Thank you for your kind comments, much appreciated.
Thanks for posting. I have sailed past the light many times and wondered what life was like for the keepers - well, now I know!
Thanks, safe sailing.
Perhaps you haven't seen this restored 8mm film of Bishop Rock in 1976. I can't help but imagine it's you receiving the helicopter. ruclips.net/video/D8kUmsv1H40/видео.html
Lovely bit of footage thanks, can't help but think the pilot may have been "Mitch",only because of the bit of low flying display for the tourist boats!, cheers, stay safe.
I really wanna stay in a lighthouse by myself for as long as possible. Is gladly learn how to run it by myself. Having that time being alone in the middle of the sea. But not on a wobbly boat. Gosh that would be so much fun an a amazing life experience. Dream on I know😅.
Hi Brandon, never give up on your dreams, stay safe
Do rock stations need a TV licence?
Interesting. I can imagine it would look very different now. Thanks for filming this.
I've discovered that I did go back on a trip and filmed it again with most of the automation done, but I think the lens may still have been intact so will eventually try and put that up on here.
Amazing tour !! I love light houses, fascinated by them. I know that the crystals are each made so precisely, and they are extremely expensive too!! I have to ask 2 things, one, why is the lens still rotating when it is not night time? I thought you would only begin it's rotation at set times...and second, if you were to stand next to the lens when functioning (at night), how long before you were to become a crispy brown colour...??!!
Thanks for a great insight.
The lens rotates 24/7 because if it was stopped during the day the sun going into all that glass would melt or set fire to something. The automation bods never came up with automatic shutters so keep turning it must. No you can't get a nice sun tan from it unless you were inside it and neglected to put up the curtains, then it would burn in a specific area, bit like the old magnifying lens on the back of your hand but on a much bigger scale.Ha.
@@PeterHalil Ah ha...that makes sense now. Yep... it would be a giant magnifying glass if stationary. If you walked around the outside of the lens whilst its was on then you would surely cook !! Thanks again for your tour. Wish I could do that some time.
Excellent thanks I was raised on Merseyside and visited perch rock lighthouse as a kid and often wondered how that compared with other lighthouses..really informative video bud
Thanks, I live on Anglesey, so not too far from Merseyside, cheers.
Id love to have a nose around perch rock lighthouse but ive been in bidston lighthouse which is very cool especially with its bookshop inside. Its well worth a visit.
@@anthonyheath7675 sounds like a plan sometime, cheers
Another good one Peter. I wonder what it would be like, to spend a period on a remote and Post-automated Lighthouse? Is ALL sign of manned operation and habitation removed? I wonder what the atmosphere would be like - again after Automation. I'd love to try it; though I don't do ladders now. The nearest I could imagine, would be my time as a Railway Signalman, in a remote Box for 12hrs haha. Thanks for posting. Jack.
Ha Ha so you were a Lighthouse Keeper of sorts, just guiding passing trains and not ships ! Yes I often wonder what the places would be like now too, take care mate.
Yes I suppose so. A bit of a lonely life for some, but I liked it.
@@jackharrison6771 Me too, not everybody can take being alone, take care.
Fuck this lighthouse the generator noise would send me nutso....V
Awesome video! It is so sad that no one will ever be able to be a lighthouse keeper here again.
Thank you, yes sad indeed, so I'm glad that I was in the position to capture something for myself and others to see.Take care.
What are the engines for?
To power everything in the tower from the light to the fog horn etc
Hello Peter
Hope you are keeping well?. Just to thank you for a marvellous and unique set of videos documenting life before automation.
How marvellous you filmed the people and the interiors of these fascinating buildings.
The advent of You Tube has allowed many to enjoy your videos and personal insights.
I am surprised that the Northern Lights board did not invite you to film the inside of some of their lights.... particularly,
Skerryvore. It was good PR for Trinity.
I wish you a long and happy retirement.
Leo K
Hello Leo, Thank you for your very kind words. To my eternal shame, the Northern Lighthouse board did invite me to film inside some of their Lighthouses too. But, I was just in over my head, trying to get as much as I could done before my ever looming redundancy caught up with me. Then it was trying to find another job etc etc. I'm hoping to put out feelers again at sometime to be able to film up in their Lighthouse Museum at least, we shall see if that is possible. Not sure if anybody will allow me offshore to film now, my Trinity House says NO to the 2 lights that I missed. Thanks again, stay safe.
What order is the lens
It was a !st order two tiered bi form Hyper-radial (1330 mm) rotating, but the top half was removed when it was automated.